Like most of these tales, Sleeping Beauty existed in many, many versions before the Grimm brothers collected it for their definitive collection of fairy tales in the 18th century. In one of those earlier versions that originated in the 13th century, the princess is raped and gives birth to twins, all while still asleep! Even the pain of childbirth doesn't wake her up. She's woken when one of her newborn children sucks the splinter from her finger by mistake. (YIKES!)
There's a TON of books out there discussing the evolution of fairy tales. One that I own is called The Hard Facts of the Brothers Grimm by Maria Tatar; it gives a good overview of their life and career, and discusses what these stories meant to the people that read them. You can also buy books about individual tales! One of my favorites is Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale. It provides a good template for how classic folk tales grow and evolve over time as cultural values and storytelling traditions change.
Finally, my favorite way to learn about fairy tales is to read the contemporary re-tellings of them by modern authors. There's a three book (I believe?) anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. The first in the series is called Snow White, Blood Red. The collection contains some fantastic authors (Tanith Lee! Joyce Carol Oates! Neil Gaiman!). The authors who write them have studied the original tales, and their re-tellings pick up on the dark undertones that are present in the classic versions.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-02-08 03:52 pm (UTC)There's a TON of books out there discussing the evolution of fairy tales. One that I own is called The Hard Facts of the Brothers Grimm by Maria Tatar; it gives a good overview of their life and career, and discusses what these stories meant to the people that read them. You can also buy books about individual tales! One of my favorites is Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale. It provides a good template for how classic folk tales grow and evolve over time as cultural values and storytelling traditions change.
Finally, my favorite way to learn about fairy tales is to read the contemporary re-tellings of them by modern authors. There's a three book (I believe?) anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. The first in the series is called Snow White, Blood Red. The collection contains some fantastic authors (Tanith Lee! Joyce Carol Oates! Neil Gaiman!). The authors who write them have studied the original tales, and their re-tellings pick up on the dark undertones that are present in the classic versions.