Summary of The Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty is a fairy tale about a girl who falls asleep for one hundred years until a handsome prince wakes her up.

Plot

A king and a queen yearn for a child for many years. Finally, a baby girl is born to them. They invite all kinds of important guests to the christening. Among their guests, there are fairies as well. But they forgot to invite one who is so angry she curses the baby girl.

When she grows up, she'll prick her finger with a spindle and die. One of the other fairies can soften the curse. The girl will just fall in a long sleep. The king bans the spindles in his kingdom and hopes for the best.
The princess, however, finds a spindle in one of the towers of her castle. She pricks her finger and falls asleep. Everybody in the castle falls asleep too. The castle is surrounded by thorns.
The legend about the sleeping princess attracts many brave men. They try to reach the princess without success. After one hundred years a handsome prince comes to the castle and thorns withdraw before him.
He finds the princess sleeping. After he kisses her, she wakes up. Everybody in the castle wakes up. A magnificent marriage follows.

Characters

Sleeping Beauty: Despite being a title character her role is rather marginal. She fulfills the prophecy and falls asleep. After that, she's a mere trophy.
King: He is the main character. He tries to protect his only child and fails. This is the most important message of the fairy tale - no matter what, your children will grow up. And growing up means making mistakes!
Vicious fairy: She is jealous and punishes the royal couple where it hurts most. She curses their daughter. Viscous fairy is by far the most interesting character from a dramatic point of view in this story.
Prince: Sometimes named Prince Charming doesn't really do anything. He just shows in the right place at the right time. He doesn't have to fight. He doesn't have to be clever. His function is simple. He just has to show up and the curse will end. It's also one of the messages in the story: sometimes things just happen when the time is right.

Versions

There are hundreds of know versions of The Sleeping Beauty. There are only the main ones from the scholars' perspective:

• Legend of Brunhild
  Brunhild has to choose in an argument between two kings and Odin is not happy with her choice. She is punished by falling into sleep and surrounded by fire. But Sigurd gets through the flames and rescues her. But their love doesn't last because they were tricked.
• Sun, Moon, and Talia (by Gianbattista Basile)
  Astrologers predict that a newborn princess will prick her finger and fall asleep from which she won't wake anymore. When this happens she is left in the castle but a prince who hunts in the neighborhood finds her. He sleeps with her and later she gets two kids: Sun and Moon, who are taken care of by invisible hands. Moon sucks a flax splinter out of Talia's finger and she wakes up. The prince returns and they fall in love. The problem is he is already married (no kids) and his wife finds out about his unfaithfulness. However, her plot for revenge turns against her and the prince starts a new family with Talia.
• Sleeping Beauty in the Woods (by Charles Perrault)
  In this version, we already have the angry fairy who curses the princess at birth. A prince comes to the rescue and they marry. But his mother is a cannibal and after they move to his castle (and get two kids), she tries to eat her daughter-in-law together with both children. Prince saves his wife and kids and his mother dies.

• Briar Rose (by Brothers Grimm)
  This is the version described at the beginning of the article and the most well-known variation of the story today. It has an important flaw: the vicious fairy is never punished.
• Sleeping Beauty (by Walt Disney)
  The story follows the plot by Brothers Grimm but is improved from the dramatic point of view. There are only four fairies altogether, three good ones and evil one. The princess and the prince fall in love before she is pricked. She falls asleep later and the prince has to rescue her by killing a dragon. There are also several subplots in this musical, the last Disney movie in Walt's lifetime.
  Image credits:
  https://reallycoolblog4you.blogspot.com/2013/12/was-brynhild-real-sleeping-beaty.html https://topillustrations.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/sleeping-beauty-by-various-artists/

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