Amber LeDeit

ENGL 112B

December 7, 2005

Ditching the Damsel in Distress:

How Feminism Changed the Face of the Fairy Tale

�Someday my prince will come� is ever the refrain of little girls, wannabe princesses, and hopeless romantics everywhere. This sentiment can probably be attributed to the advent of Disney movies retelling popular stories for children. In many classic fairy tales, we are provided with a young, often beautiful, and sickeningly na�ve maiden who gets into some sort of trouble with an evil stepmother, witch or mythical beast. This maiden must either overcome her troubles or be saved by her handsome prince. Usually, it is the latter.

That is, until now. With the onslaught of feminism on American culture, many writers have begun to retell classic fairy tales with strong, opinionated female protagonists rather than the token damsels in distress. Although many elements in the stories are the same, the fresh new perspectives of this new batch of modern-thinking maidens provide better role-models for young adults than the helpless women of yore.

Dokey, Cameron. Beauty Sleep. New York: Simon Pulse, 2002.

Beauty Sleep is a retelling of the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty. The Princess Aurore of this book, however, is not the helpless pushover Sleeping Beauty of the old versions. Told in first person narration, she is easy to relate to and like. She does not fall into an enchanted sleep at the age of 16, as an evil fairy cursed her, but when strange things start happening in her kingdom, she decides to leave on an adventure into the Forbidden Forest. Although there is an element of romance, it has a surprise ending rather than the typical happily-ever-after.

Haahr, Berit. The Minstrel�s Tale. New York: Delacorte Press, 2000.

The main character of this novel is thirteen-year old girl named Judith. It is similar to fairy tales such as Donkeyskin, where girls dress as boys to escape some ugly fate. In this book, Judith meets her betrothed at a banquet and disgusted by his repulsive mannerisms, decides to dress as a boy, change her name to Jude, and travel England as a wandering minstrel. This is a light and easy read that would show young girls that they do not have to settle for what life doles out for them and that they themselves can make changes in their lives.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Just Ella. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1999.

Just Ella is a retelling of the often-retold story of Cinderella. However, this story begins after Ella becomes betrothed to Prince Charming and recounts her trials and tribulations as she attempts to fit into the stuffy royal family. This book is excellent because it deals with the shattering of a girl�s unrealistic fantasies and shows that one has to be true to oneself to be happy in life. Again, this story is told in first-person narrative, making it easy for the reader to go �inside� the character�s head and understand her feelings and emotions.

Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997.

Ella Enchanted is yet another retelling of Cinderella. Ella is put under a curse by a dimwitted fairy. The curse maintains that Ella obey any command given to her, even if she was commanded to kill herself or someone she loved. Unfortunately, the fairy will not reverse the curse and Ella has to figure out a way to either live with it and put herself and others in danger, or overcome it. Besides being light and humorous, this book shows young girls that no one can just wave a wand and make their problems disappear. If they want help, the best person to provide that help is herself.

Lickiss, Rebecca. Never After. New York: Ace Books, 2002.

Never After is a clever mishmash of fairy tales including The Frog Prince, Rumpelstiltskin, and Sleeping Beauty. It features a Princess who rejects her princess role and would rather go off on an adventure as well as a Prince who, in his search for Sleeping Beauty, finds three sleeping princes instead. The Princess Vevila is thrust into a Prince�s role as she must prove to the sleeping princes� fairy godmother that she is a true princess through a series of Princess tests. Once again, this book features a strong, self-confident female protagonist instead of the wishy-washy damsel.

McKinley, Robin. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1978.

Unlike previous Beauty and the Beast Stories, the Beauty of McKinley�s Beauty is actually not as beautiful as her two older sisters. In fact, although she has no confidence in her looks, she is very confident regarding her intelligence, talent in riding, and love of books. Because Beauty is such a realistic character and because the book is told in first person, young girls would be able to easily relate to her. Her beauty is tangible rather than unreachable, and her bright outlook on her fate of having to live with a strange beast makes her very likeable. Beyond the whole �looks are not everything� lesson, Beauty shows that young girls should have confidence in themselves even if they are not the most beautiful.

McKinley, Robin. Spindle�s End. New York: G.P. Putnam�s Sons, 2000.

Yet another book by Robin McKinley (who has retold many other fairy tales as well), Spindle�s End is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The character of Sleeping Beauty, named Rosie in this retelling, is sentenced to the same fate as other Sleeping Beauties: death by pricking. But instead of growing up a sheltered maiden, Rosie grows up a tomboy who does not like her golden hair and who doctors horses. The surprising ending is quite different from other versions because of who exactly gets kissed. This version shows that not every princess should be a wimpy, girly-girl.

Napoli, Donna Jo and Richard Tchen. Spinners. New York: Puffin Books, 1999.

Spinners is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, or rather a telling of Rumpelstiltskin�s beginnings and how he came to be such a cruel, merciless man. There is a surprising twist in the story, but the young Queen who has spun the straw into gold must still guess Rumpelstiltskin�s name in order to save her child. However, the young queen�s background is much more complex and interesting in this story than in other versions. Her resourcefulness and strength are admirable traits that young people can look up to.

Napoli, Donna Jo. Zel. New York: Puffin Books, 1996.

Zel is a retelling of the tale of Rapunzel. Set in Switzerland, this book is fascinating because it explores the nature of good and evil. The witch in this version is Zel�s mother, who is so afraid of losing her daughter that she locks her up in a tower. But Zel is not happy in the tower and cannot idly pass the time away for her prince to come save her. In fact, Zel walks the fine line into madness rather than happily ever after. An interesting factor of this story is that it is told from three points of view: Zel�s and the Prince�s in third person and the Mother�s in first person. This makes the supposed �evil� character much easier to relate to because we are inside her head rather than looking at her from the outside.

Walker, Barbara G. Feminist Fairy Tales. New York: Harper San Francisco, 1996.

Feminist Fairy Tales is actually a collection of fairy tales retold from a feminist point of view and features such gems as �Ugly and the Beast�, �Snow Night�, and �The Frog Princess�. All of the characters in this collection feature strong, female protagonists. They range from questioning the nature of good and evil, to showing that women do not need a man to survive. Although the morals contained within these stories are much less subtle than the ones contained in the previous annotations (i.e. these protagonists are self-aware feminists), they still provide an interesting read with a new perspective on classic tales.