Contemporary retelling of a classic fairytale
The contemporary retelling of the classic “Sleeping Beauty” entitled “Sleeping Persun of Better-than-average Attractiveness” presents a modern version of the fairytale. The use of modern words, characters, and attributes make the story easier to relate to as compared to the original story. In “Sleeping Beauty”, the king and the queen had long wanted to have a child and so they were delighted when the princess was born. On the day of the celebration for the birth of said child, fairies were invited to be the godmother of the princess. The king failed to invite one of them and so her rage caused her to cast a curse upon the young girl—that her finger will be pricked and she will die. One of the fairies who has not yet presented her wish for the princess tried to overturn the curse by declaring that the young girl will not die but instead will fall into a deep sleep. Only a kiss from a man will make the princess wake up.
The modern version of the fairytale still presented us with the same plot. There was a king and a queen who desired to have a child. The story also included the banquet where the fairies, called magickally accomplished womyn, were invited to be godmothers of the child. In the modern version, one wommon also cast a curse upon the child due to her being uninvited by the king. However, the curse in the later version of the story is made different by Garner thus,
May you grow up thinking you can’t be complete without a man, put unrealistic hopes of perfect and total happiness on your marriage and become a bored, dissatisfied and unfulfilled housewife!” (1995)
This curse appears to be in tune with the contemporary issues encountered by women. Truly, in the modern times, one of the dreadful things that could happen to be a girl is to be stuck in an unhappy marriage, and to be dependent on a man. This curse was tried to be overturned by one of the wommons invited by saying that the pre-wommon would simply fall into a deep sleep in hope that after 100 years, men have already evolved and hence her suffering would be mitigated.
Another difference that could be viewed from the two stories is the lack of a happy ending in the modern version of the fairytale. In Sleeping Beauty, the princess was awakened from sleep when the young prince planted a kiss on her lips. Thereafter, the prince and the princess lived happily ever after. This was not the case in the contemporary retelling of the fairytale. In Sleeping Persun, the princess was not awakened by a kiss on her lips, but rather a kiss planted on her feet. So also, the modern version lacked a happy ending as the prince refused to make the princess her bride. The prince was simply in search of knowledge, not of marriage.
The number of changes made in the later version of the fairytale mirrors the contemporary view of society on gender differences. In the story, it presented the plight of the women of today related to childbirth and making it big in their chosen careers. Hence, in the first chapter, the suffering that the queen had to endure during pregnancy was mentioned. The story also took note of the fact that the spouses had to think of a gender-neutral name in order for the princess to escape the obstacle of discrimination in her career path. Sleeping Persun also relayed the message that men of modern times are more career-oriented; that they are more interested in seeking knowledge and information than a bride to bring home to their respective castles. In line with this, the story also stressed on the issue of gender sensitivity as it used gender-neutral terms. Instead of using the word “perSON”, the story used “perSUN”. So also, in reference to a girl, the term “womMON” was used, and not “woMAN”.
The story presented the idea that women of today already have a sense of independence as compared to the traditional way of viewing women as submissive and subservient. As correctly stated in a review of the book by Alibris,
This is an original and humorous adaptation of classic bedtime stories to reflect more enlightened times. Garner removes any and all types of bias from these traditionally offensive tales and attempts to develop meaningful literature free from the influences of a flawed cultural past.
It also stressed on the strength of a woman when it comes to the physical and emotional difficulties brought about by bearing a child. Hence, changing the curse from dying to being dependent on a man is saying that in modern times, having a woman’s success or happiness depend on a man is equivalent to being dead. Women of today no longer have to depend on man in order for them to live. The gender relation is thus treated in a different way in the modern version of Sleeping Beauty. If not for the curse of the uninvited wommon, the princess would not find herself begging the prince to take her as his bride. She would have preserved her independent nature, education and developed personality.
In conclusion, the modern version of the fairytale, retained the plot or the flow of the original story. However, slight modifications were made in order to highlight the changes induced by the modernization of society. Hence, the story was more politically correct and gender sensitive; and it showed how the women in society have changed from being submissive characters to independent and progressive individuals. Sleeping Persun is a tool in sending the message that the role of women in society has indeed made a big leap, and that in real life, stories do not always have marriages and weddings for its happy ending.
REFERENCE
Garner, James. Once Upon A More Enlightened Time. New York: Macmillan, 1995.
“Books by Garner”. Alibris. http://www.alibris.com/search/books/author/Garner