{"id":385,"date":"2021-12-10T05:20:37","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T05:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/?p=385"},"modified":"2021-12-16T02:17:25","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T02:17:25","slug":"shifting-ideologies-of-sleeping-beauty-through-the-voices-of-perrault-grimm-and-carter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/?p=385","title":{"rendered":"Shifting Ideologies of Sleeping Beauty through the Voices of Perrault, Grimm, and Carter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Morality, to the world at large, has always hinged on cultural perspective. In the western world, there is presently a widespread inclination toward more liberal ideologies like feminism, open and diverse sexuality, and universalistic faith systems, which is a shift from its generally conservative perspectives on morality that were common even 100 years ago. Through the cultural and ideological swings of time, fairytales have been a steady source of relaying moral convictions and infusing practical advice into stories for adults and children. From Europe, Charles Perrault was a French Renaissance pioneer for the fairytale movement, as were the German Grimm brothers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. While Perrault focused his tales on underlying themes of childhood development and gender roles, the Grimm brothers tailored their stories to ideas of clearly defining good and evil, and enabling children to discern between the two (Perrault; Pullman). Recently, Angela Carter joined the fairy tale ensemble with her translation of Perrault\u2019s stories, as well as her own interpretations of popular tales in The Bloody Chamber<\/em>. Her work drastically shifts the moral view from the conservative\u2014and rather Judeo-Christian\u2014perspective on morality to a liberal, feminist, and Universalist opinion that shakes the foundation of morality that these previous fairytale writers had laid. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contrast of ideologies is particularly evident in each author\u2019s rendition of Sleeping Beauty. It is apparent that the Grimm Brothers identified Perrault\u2019s moral positioning in his story, \u201cThe Sleeping Beauty in the Wood,\u201d as their version, \u201cBriar Rose,\u201d contains traces of similar moral undertones. It is clear as well that, in Carter\u2019s rendition, there are acknowledgements of the previous moral stances. She, however, observably replaces them with modern and liberal sentiments through the strategic implementation of several key literary devices. Along with the overt symbolism, displaying accepted societal principles within their work, Perrault and the Grimm Brothers implement wise, parental voice to relay their personal convictions. Through the expressive structure and tone involved in voice, Carter is able to hint at the past ideologies and juxtapose them with her new and present opinions. Folktale scholar Stephen Benson writes in his analysis of fairytale tradition and ideology, \u201cThe exemplum [of fairytales] lies in the act of facing the obstacle, of engaging with the environment, rather than the generic triumph of luck, cunning, beauty, or virtue\u201d (Benson). The close comparison of these three story-tellers and their Sleeping Beauty <\/em>tales reveals that this statement has held true\u2014although taking different forms\u2014over hundreds of years of ideological movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perrault\u2019s Sleeping Beauty: Childhood Development and Catholic Vision<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Charles Perrault\u2019s Sleeping Beauty story is centered on Renaissance ideologies of childhood development. His tales, in general, are \u201cconcerned not simply with growing up, but with the manifold anxieties, often deeply felt and disturbing, to which children are subject as their development continues\u201d (Perrault). Among such anxieties are parental interactions\u2014whether the absence of supportive parents or the overabundance of parental control\u2014and the realization that all humans are sexual beings and must come to terms with such knowledge in a healthy, proper manner. Through his stories, Perrault attempts to morally address these issues and offer children freedom to develop into the strong and virtuous adults that they were meant to be\u2014girls into graceful and kind-hearted women, and boys into strong and courageous men. Perrault\u2019s \u201cThe Sleeping Beauty in the Wood\u201d depicts both the parental and sexual aspects of childhood development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Beauty\u2019s parents attempt to eradicate the kingdom of all possibility of harm\u2014as parents generally do by filtering their children\u2019s exposure to certain sights and experiences\u2014they still fall short, demonstrating that parents will, at one time or another, regardless of their intentions, let vice enter their children\u2019s lives. The spinning wheel represents, on a broader scale, sexuality. Beauty has no idea what it was when she sees it for the first time because her parents had removed it completely from her life in an attempt to keep her safe. She is so intrigued by the mysteriousness of it\u2014as children often are with sexuality\u2014that it ultimately leads to her demise. The pricking of her finger\u2014a very small exposure to it\u2014had great consequences. She then enters into a period of waiting. In Perrault\u2019s story, Beauty\u2019s parents leave the castle and pass away while she sleeps for a hundred years. This represents the developmental importance of separating from parental authority during the transition from childhood to adulthood. The fact that Beauty waits for a hundred years depicts the importance of chastity\u2014for only one man was worthy of pursuing her\u2014as many others had attempted and failed\u2014and it requires a lot of patience and virtue to wait for the right one. Perrault\u2019s narrative demonstrates that the wait was worthwhile for both Beauty and the prince, who had virtuously found each other without the aid or manipulation of parental influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perrault\u2019s stories are almost entirely narration with very little dialogue, presenting to the readers a lofty, omniscient voice which invokes a general sense of receiving instruction from a wise and experienced individual. The voice in \u201cThe Sleeping Beauty in the Wood\u201d is strong and fatherly, which conjures a sense of desire within the reader to hear and emulate the actions dictated in its pages. \u201cHe continued on his way\u2026, for a young and ardent prince is always full of courage\u201d (Perrault 88). Upon hearing such a statement, boys would generally determine in themselves to rise to a similar standard of manhood. In a sense, young boys are inspired by the messages of virtue within the stories they hear, instilling a desire for moral betterment within themselves. In a similar manner, the narrator offers young girls the same experience by outlining the exact traits that made Beauty so desirable and virtuous; \u201cThe gift[s] that the\u2026fairy gave was that she would be the loveliest person\u2026clever as an angel\u2026do everything with all the grace imaginable…\u201d (Perrault 84). Upon hearing such characteristics, girls would devote themselves to the same development in order to emulate the essence of Beauty who \u201cin her radiant splendor had something luminous and divine about her\u201d (Perrault 89).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the divine, Perrault includes, in all his works, clear statements regarding Catholic beliefs, traditions, and ideologies. Among these are the parents\u2019 attempts to appeal to God to give them a child; \u201cthey\u2026gave presents to all the saints, went on pilgrimages, and always said their prayers,\u201d as well as the \u201cbeautiful service\u201d held for the baby to be christened (Perrault 83). The inclusion of such references underscores the source of the advice and exemplary virtues in his stories, which is Catholic ideology. In France, during the Renaissance period, this expression would have been widely accepted as solid ground for moral conviction, and every child reading the stories would have understood that the virtues within them are directly connected to their Catholic faith. With such understanding, it would have been easy to accept the wise and moral heart behind the stories, especially with the literary aid of the knowledgeable and fatherly narrating voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grimm\u2019s Sleeping Beauty: Discernment and Calvinist Perspective<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Similar to Perrault, the Grimm Brothers\u2019 stories include a broad theme of childhood development\u2014the maturation and transformation of children into honorable and virtuous adults. They leave out, however, the intricate, psychological undertones of it, like those found in Perrault\u2019s work, such as the developmental importance of separation from parental figures and the overt but healthy recognition of all humans as sexual beings. The Grimm Brothers\u2019 objective with the expression of their tales is not to make such unproven and controversial claims, but to instill within young and growing children the general ability to discern between good and evil. This discernment, to the brothers, was particularly important for the childhood processes of discovering, desiring, and emulating desirable character traits. For this reason, the Grimm stories are especially tailored to a child\u2019s mind, demonstrated by the simple manner in which their messages are written. \u201cThe characters have little interior life; their motives are clear and obvious. If people are good, they are good, and if bad, they\u2019re bad\u201d (Pullman xiii). This strategy of reaching children also evokes inspirational experiences, motivating them to admire and pursue genuine virtue and goodness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Grimm Brothers\u2019 \u201cBriar Rose\u201d was almost entirely based off of Perrault\u2019s Sleeping Beauty story. For this reason, much of the account and underlying significance is the same. The princess is cursed by an unwelcome guest with the eminent spinning-wheel event that would change her life forever. The nuances between versions, however, lie in the Brothers\u2019 different moral positioning, the simpler message they chose to convey, and their method of conveying it. The spinning wheel in this rendition also represents sexuality, but refers to it more as a temptation <\/em>rather than a natural developmental occurrence. The story conveys that it was a strong conviction of the Grimm Brothers and their society that parental influence, protection, and control until marriage was vital in raising upright and moral children. This is why the spinning wheel is portrayed as temptation that the parents tried to eradicate. The parents in the story fervently command that all spinning wheels be removed from the kingdom, again with the determination of protecting their sweet daughter from its danger and the pitfalls of temptation. The princess is depicted as very innocently falling into its trap, hinting that it was neither the parents nor the girl\u2019s fault that she did; \u201c\u2019Good morning, old lady\u2026what\u2019s that you\u2019re doing?\u2019 \u2018I\u2019m spinning\u2019\u201d (Pullman 201). The sweetness and genuineness in her voice also demonstrates an innate curiosity that pulled her toward the temptation, and an unmistakable naivety\u2014the result of her parents\u2019 over-protection and lack of healthy teaching\u2014which further resulted in very serious outcomes for her family and the kingdom. In this version of the story, the princess\u2019s parents sleep along with her for the hundred-year period, demonstrating the Grimm Brothers\u2019 opinion that parental presence is immeasurably important during the developmental stages of a child\u2019s life. The period of waiting itself demonstrates that the princess needed time to develop the virtuous traits that would render her worthy of a virtuous prince, who also waited for her. It is only after she wakes that she is referred to as her name, \u201cBriar Rose,\u201d which symbolizes the period of thorny testing and patience that precedes the beauty of matrimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar to Perrault\u2019s \u201cThe Sleeping Beauty in the Wood,\u201d \u201cBriar Rose\u201d is comprised mainly of narration along with a few lines of dialogue. This creates a similar voice of a wise and thoughtful counselor, but presents it with less intensity\u2014like a gentle parent would quietly read their fatigued child to sleep. The lines in the Grimm version are generally short and simple, which demonstrates the intention for the ears of very young children, as well as for the communication of basic good and bad principles. For example, the wake-up moment in Perrault\u2019s story is detailed, and extensive: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe came into a gilded chamber, where he saw upon a bed\u2026the most beautiful sight ever beheld\u2014a princess who appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen years of age\u2026he approached with trembling and admiration, and fell down upon his knees before her. Then, as the end of the enchantment was come, the Princess awoke\u201d (Perrault 89). <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is a very suspenseful scene with complex punctuation, vocal pauses and inflections. Contrarily, in the Grimm\u2019s version of this scene, there is hardly any suspense at all. The wake-up happens quickly with a calm voice: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe looked so beautiful that he could not take his eyes off her, so he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But the moment he kissed her she opened her eyes and awoke\u201d (Pullman 204). <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The simplicity of these lines portrays a calm, fatherly voice, which at this point appears nearly a whisper, with yearning behind it. Such a line as well, especially in the eighteenth century, would inspire girls and boys to faithfully wait for the goodness and beauty of a moment like this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to recognize that the Grimm Brothers were raised in the Calvinist faith, which is evident through the morals they express in their stories. Rather than referring to the gifting women as \u201cfairies\u201d as does Perrault in his version, the brothers name them \u201cWise Women\u201d (Pullman 200). This label moves the narrative away from a secular approach of magic and witchcraft, and toward a more divine influence within the storyline. Similarly, in their late eighteenth century German and protestant society, parental influence throughout a child\u2019s life, along with guarding their sexuality were viewed as positive and necessary developmental factors. Therefore, the Grimm Brothers were likely proponents of such treatment of children, believing it a necessary step in the development of virtuous adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carter\u2019s Sleeping Beauty: Feminism and Sexual Liberty<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Angela Carter began her revolutionary, fairytale journey with the translation of Charles Perrault\u2019s stories from French into English. Through the close reading necessary to translate Perrault\u2019s stories, she developed a strong connection to the tradition of fairy tales, as well as convictions against their \u201cworldly morals,\u201d leading to her ardent \u201cmaterialist, socialist, and feminist standpoint\u201d (Hennard). She devoted her stories to redefining societal structures that were put in place by the convictions of historical figures like Perrault and the Grimm Brothers. This approach, in a sense, is also an offering of moral-replete stories for adults and children; however, the morals in Carter\u2019s are quite contrary to those of the historical fairy tale writers. The most significant of her convictions are those of defying gender roles and embracing female sexuality. Each of these values is expressed in her rendition of the Sleeping Beauty story, \u201cLady in the House of Love,\u201d found within her book The Bloody Chamber<\/em>, which she wrote as a follow-up, adult version of her modern translation of Perrault (Hennard).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carter\u2019s story begins where Perrault and Grimm\u2019s merely transition: in the abandoned, silent mansion. The absence of the first part of the story\u2014the blessings, the curse, and the parental protection\u2014demonstrates that this kind of influence in a woman\u2019s life is not realistic. The dark and sinister opening displays that reality for most women is that of the trapped and unconscious Sleeping Beauty. In this rendition, the Beauty\u2019s parents (or \u201cancestors\u201d in Carter\u2019s words) did not try to eradicate evil and pain in her life, but they willfully subjected her to it as they had done for generations. This implies that parental and societal influence, in Carter\u2019s mind, is only a method of trapping women within a haunted existence of conformity. The haunted vampire house represents the existence of women in society\u2014lifeless, unreal, and empty. Carter emphasizes this through the description of the vampire Beauty; \u201cShe is so beautiful she is unnatural\u2026her beauty is a symptom of her disorder, of her soullessness\u201d (Carter 119). By this description, Carter rebukes the claims made in Perrault and Grimm\u2019s tales that beauty is a virtue\u2014displayed on the outside of what is contained within. She expresses through this imagery that the female image of beauty is a false attribution, heavily placed on women by societal values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bloody wedding dress that Carter\u2019s beauty wears represents a damaged perspective of society\u2019s image of purity which also points to her conviction that female purity is a false attribution and a societal structure that merely traps women in chains of unattainable and unequal expectations. By depicting the Beauty in this manner, she not only seeks to unveil the truth about women\u2019s sexuality, but also to place men in the vulnerable position of society\u2019s made-up woman. When speaking of the young English man who brought love into the Vampire\u2019s life, Carter describes him in this manner: \u201cHe has the special quality of virginity\u2026ignorance, yet at the same time power in potentia, and, furthermore, unknowingness\u201d (Carter 122). This description is one that would fit perfectly into Perrault and Grimm\u2019s image of a virtuous woman\u2014all the old-time, fairytale female characters. By characterizing the male representative in this manner\u2014pure and innocent\u2014she highlights the absurdity of societal gender structures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The voice in Carter\u2019s version is unlike both Perrault and Grimm\u2019s tales which are tailored to children\u2014the intense and simple fatherly voices of wisdom. Within them there is a lighter, more hopeful tone when held up against Carter\u2019s version. Her rendition offers a soft, subtly wise voice that speaks as if it holds the key to revolutionary knowledge, but intentionally keeps it hidden for the readers to seek out on their own. It is a complex voice\u2014foreboding yet gentle, sinister yet sincere\u2014one that not only relays the dark facts of the tale, but that also adds to the darkness simply by its tone and inflection: \u201cthe beautiful queen of the vampires sits all alone in her dark, high house under the eyes of the portraits of her demented and atrocious ancestors\u201d (Carter 117). Her story is replete with negative and brash words such as \u201cdemented,\u201d \u201cdisorder,\u201d \u201cdissolution,\u201d and \u201cdeflated.\u201d This diction adds to the complex voice by enabling it to sound harsh and sinister at various points throughout the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perrault\u2019s story portrays an intense, fatherly voice concerned with the instruction of his children; the Grimm Brothers present a softer parental voice focused on gently instilling values into the young listeners. Carter offers a complex voice mixed with hidden wisdom and sinister inflection. Each of these voices and the nuances between them are clearly depicted in the wake-up scenes of each story. Referring back to the previous analysis, Perrault approaches it with an intense complexity of diction, punctuation, and inflection: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201che saw upon a bed\u2026the most beautiful sight ever beheld\u2014a princess\u2026he approached with trembling and admiration, and fell down upon his knees before her…as the end of the enchantment was come, the Princess awoke\u201d (Perrault 89). <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The more complex words and sentence structure of this passage add to the intensity of the moment and indicates the moral importance behind it. The Grimm Brothers\u2019 use a soft voice and simple structure: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe looked so beautiful that he could not take his eyes off her, so he stooped down and gave her a kiss\u2026the moment he kissed her she opened her eyes and awoke\u201d (Pullman 204). <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This again represents the parental impartation of wisdom through subtle, persistent means. Carter, however, uses a stark, definitive voice that indicates the breaking of a longstanding structure. From Carter\u2019s convictions, this represents the break from society\u2019s understanding of the female role: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA single kiss woke the Sleeping Beauty in the Wood\u201d (Carter 123). <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As soon as the feminine-characterized Englishman entered her life, a tarot of love was drawn\u2014the first break of hope that she had ever experienced, depicting the freedom that arises when women are released from their societal chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perrault and the Grimm Brothers focus their messages on the growth and moral development of children, and they do this through the implementation of wise, parental voices within the text. In Perrault\u2019s story, there are Catholic ideologies expressed through the virtue and vices depicted within them, as well as the parental guidance involved in the establishment of them. There is no kiss in his version; Beauty awoke when it was her time, signifying it was not of man\u2019s doing\u2014not a parent or the prince\u2014but a divinely appointed moment. This divine feature is also present in the Grimm Brothers\u2019 story which expresses Protestant ideologies by way of significant parental involvement and protection, and the virtues found in those who follow them. Carter then shifts the focus from the development of children to that of adults. \u201cThe quest-and-test structure of the majority of folktales serves as an example of heroic perseverance in the face of multifarious obstacles, including inequality\u201d (Bensen). She continues the fairy tale structure, morphing it into a modern expression of liberal ideologies\u2014sexual freedom for women and a reversal of gender roles that, in her mind, is the ultimate freeing factor of a Sleeping Beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 7, 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benson, Stephen. Cycles of Influence: Fiction, Folktale and Theory<\/em>. Detroit, Wane State University Press, 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perrault, Charles. The Complete Fairy Tales. <\/em>Translated by Christopher Betts, Oxford University Press, 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pullman, Philip. Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm. <\/em>New York, Penguin Group, Inc., 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hennard Dutheil de la Roch\u00e8re, M. Reading, Translating, Rewriting: Angela Carter’s<\/em> Translational Poetics<\/em>. Detroit, Wayne State University Press, 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morality, to the world at large, has always hinged on cultural perspective. In the western world, there is presently a widespread inclination toward more liberal ideologies like feminism, open and diverse sexuality, and universalistic faith systems, which is a shift from its generally conservative perspectives on morality that were common even 100 years ago. Through…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[164,239,242,241,238,240,237,235,165,236],"class_list":["post-385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-critical-analyses","tag-angela-carter","tag-briar-rose","tag-charles-perrault","tag-fairy-tale","tag-grimm-brothers","tag-lady-in-the-house-of-love","tag-perrault","tag-sleeping-beauty","tag-the-bloody-chamber","tag-the-sleeping-beauty-in-the-wood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=385"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":419,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions\/419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}