Hi, here you have a short analisis about this well known fairy tale,
(I was obligued by Stella to add this sort of things) and I hope you can appreciate this moving view.
Sleeping Beauty: A brief look
© Mary C. Legg
Nov 3, 2002
Controversial, fairytales invite literary criticism and interpretation, varying among readers. Written as allegory, they invite different interpretations. Although regarded as a children's story, Sleeping Beauty offers much to adults. Everyone knows about the king and queen who wanted a child. The Grimms brothers presented the story in different versions. First, a crab crawled out of the water to prophesy, but later, the famous frog. Frogs, perceived as harbingers of good, whereas toads symbolize evil as in the story about the wicked stepsister whose mouth produced toads and other slimy creatures.
Upon entering the magical world, the story is strewn with symbols lending to variant interpretations. Representing the ultimate authority over life and death in this world, the King has the total control over his subjects and society. Nobility dispersed not only land and social privileges, but also marriages and penalties, including death. However, it is the Queen, yearning for the child, who represents an unspoken desire or goal in life. Combining them as a single person, the King might be the conscious, and the Queen; the subconscious. The frog is only the projection of longing. Where does he meet her? In the family bathroom? Although memorized from childhood, the setting begs question. The Queen is bathing alone in the woods and along comes a talking frog. Robert Graves might comment that the Queen is the White Goddess, an incarnation of Artemis, the barren goddess of the hunt. In an early English translation, the frog uses "thee" and "thy". What's the difference ?
That of "Sie" und "Du". "Du" breaking through the rigid rules of class formality to address the Queen intimately. Strange, no? The frog doesn't leap from a lake, but a well, symbolizing deep longing toward a goal not easily quenched. Water is the universal symbol of the subconscious dreams and goals. The goal is a baby. Babies, too, are symbolic. Athena sprang from Zeus' head. Any product of thought or project undertaken is frequently referred as "somebody's baby." An allegory is drawn. By substituting different variables, variant meanings are discovered, deriving a business application.
After a life of unchallenged authority, the King assumes authority over life and death. Possessing twelve gold plates, he is sufficiently rich to cast the 13th, but refuses. He doesn't invite the thirteenth guest. The reason is easily guessed. Thirteen is represented by Death in the Tarot. Superstitious people think it unlucky. Erroneously, he thinks to avoid death by not inviting it, and is deluded. He has not the ultimate power over life and death, but is subject rather to destiny himself. In his turn, he will die also. Glibly taken, death is inevitable: Far better to confront and accept it, than ignore it. Adamantly, he refuses to invite the thirteenth wise woman to the christening.
Why the big party? Whom does he invite? His family, friends and acquaintances in that order. A politician, he might despise his cousin, the Duke of Saxony, but he cannot afford a political quarrel. Misfortune begets him a girl. What should he do? Ask the Hapsburgs how they consolidated an Empire. Great for politics, girl babies make alliances between enemies, marrying a Marie Antoinette off to the threatening French. Ulterior motives exist within the simple lines. His self-interest dominates, imperiling the life of the new-born child. An easy form of corporate abuse occurs when the project becomes the tool whereby the company or manager accrues more power. The project becomes a power ploy.
In neglecting the thirteenth and considering himself the ultimate authority, the King fatally blunders, destroying his schemes. The thirteenth arrives unexpectedly to take revenge. Had he invited her, placating her with wine, he would have had a familiar drunken companion instead of an enemy. By deliberately snubbing her, death is bestowed on the sleeping child, only deferred as a hundred years sleep by the eleventh, incurred by pricking a spindle in her fifteenth year.
Why fifteen? Fifteen is the age of maturity. How calamitous for a project to be struck with sudden death just upon maturity? Consider World.com, Enron or Arthur Anderson, all ripe for the picking. The allegory fits the hidden motives and greed of the corporate leaders well. But a spindle? Instead of spindle, use paperclip. Is it possible to ban all the paperclips in the world? Especially when Microsoft implants them on your screen every time a letter is written? Yet, the rash King is self-deluded, thinking to thwart destiny by his own decree. Is it possible to impose a complete ban of a book-title? How many institutions have tried? From Plato's Republic to More's Utopia, how many political essays have discussed this? Were Communists successful? The rabid, self-appointed guardians of literature? Although D.H. Lawrence died of tuberculosis and despite postal restrictions, book burnings and official censorship, his literature lives in universities across the world.
Unable to acknowledge his personal limitations, the King, became self-destructive. Wise leadership evaluates the risks of a project, confronting them rather than blindly ignoring them-- acknowledging limitations and powers beyond its control. Consider the recent demise of Enron with the vaunted egos that refused to acknowledge personal greed or legal limitations.
Sleeping Beauty isn't a nice sleepy-time fairytale to put the squalling childie into bed; but a reflection of society. The interpretation changes according to the variables employed. The interpretations are as numerous as the readers.
© Mary C. Legg
Nov 3, 2002
Controversial, fairytales invite literary criticism and interpretation, varying among readers. Written as allegory, they invite different interpretations. Although regarded as a children's story, Sleeping Beauty offers much to adults. Everyone knows about the king and queen who wanted a child. The Grimms brothers presented the story in different versions. First, a crab crawled out of the water to prophesy, but later, the famous frog. Frogs, perceived as harbingers of good, whereas toads symbolize evil as in the story about the wicked stepsister whose mouth produced toads and other slimy creatures.
Upon entering the magical world, the story is strewn with symbols lending to variant interpretations. Representing the ultimate authority over life and death in this world, the King has the total control over his subjects and society. Nobility dispersed not only land and social privileges, but also marriages and penalties, including death. However, it is the Queen, yearning for the child, who represents an unspoken desire or goal in life. Combining them as a single person, the King might be the conscious, and the Queen; the subconscious. The frog is only the projection of longing. Where does he meet her? In the family bathroom? Although memorized from childhood, the setting begs question. The Queen is bathing alone in the woods and along comes a talking frog. Robert Graves might comment that the Queen is the White Goddess, an incarnation of Artemis, the barren goddess of the hunt. In an early English translation, the frog uses "thee" and "thy". What's the difference ?
That of "Sie" und "Du". "Du" breaking through the rigid rules of class formality to address the Queen intimately. Strange, no? The frog doesn't leap from a lake, but a well, symbolizing deep longing toward a goal not easily quenched. Water is the universal symbol of the subconscious dreams and goals. The goal is a baby. Babies, too, are symbolic. Athena sprang from Zeus' head. Any product of thought or project undertaken is frequently referred as "somebody's baby." An allegory is drawn. By substituting different variables, variant meanings are discovered, deriving a business application.
After a life of unchallenged authority, the King assumes authority over life and death. Possessing twelve gold plates, he is sufficiently rich to cast the 13th, but refuses. He doesn't invite the thirteenth guest. The reason is easily guessed. Thirteen is represented by Death in the Tarot. Superstitious people think it unlucky. Erroneously, he thinks to avoid death by not inviting it, and is deluded. He has not the ultimate power over life and death, but is subject rather to destiny himself. In his turn, he will die also. Glibly taken, death is inevitable: Far better to confront and accept it, than ignore it. Adamantly, he refuses to invite the thirteenth wise woman to the christening.
Why the big party? Whom does he invite? His family, friends and acquaintances in that order. A politician, he might despise his cousin, the Duke of Saxony, but he cannot afford a political quarrel. Misfortune begets him a girl. What should he do? Ask the Hapsburgs how they consolidated an Empire. Great for politics, girl babies make alliances between enemies, marrying a Marie Antoinette off to the threatening French. Ulterior motives exist within the simple lines. His self-interest dominates, imperiling the life of the new-born child. An easy form of corporate abuse occurs when the project becomes the tool whereby the company or manager accrues more power. The project becomes a power ploy.
In neglecting the thirteenth and considering himself the ultimate authority, the King fatally blunders, destroying his schemes. The thirteenth arrives unexpectedly to take revenge. Had he invited her, placating her with wine, he would have had a familiar drunken companion instead of an enemy. By deliberately snubbing her, death is bestowed on the sleeping child, only deferred as a hundred years sleep by the eleventh, incurred by pricking a spindle in her fifteenth year.
Why fifteen? Fifteen is the age of maturity. How calamitous for a project to be struck with sudden death just upon maturity? Consider World.com, Enron or Arthur Anderson, all ripe for the picking. The allegory fits the hidden motives and greed of the corporate leaders well. But a spindle? Instead of spindle, use paperclip. Is it possible to ban all the paperclips in the world? Especially when Microsoft implants them on your screen every time a letter is written? Yet, the rash King is self-deluded, thinking to thwart destiny by his own decree. Is it possible to impose a complete ban of a book-title? How many institutions have tried? From Plato's Republic to More's Utopia, how many political essays have discussed this? Were Communists successful? The rabid, self-appointed guardians of literature? Although D.H. Lawrence died of tuberculosis and despite postal restrictions, book burnings and official censorship, his literature lives in universities across the world.
Unable to acknowledge his personal limitations, the King, became self-destructive. Wise leadership evaluates the risks of a project, confronting them rather than blindly ignoring them-- acknowledging limitations and powers beyond its control. Consider the recent demise of Enron with the vaunted egos that refused to acknowledge personal greed or legal limitations.
Sleeping Beauty isn't a nice sleepy-time fairytale to put the squalling childie into bed; but a reflection of society. The interpretation changes according to the variables employed. The interpretations are as numerous as the readers.
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