Herbie Murray
Sleeping Beauty, also known as The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood, is a fairy tale about a princess who is cursed to sleep for a hundred years. The story has been adapted countless times, including in the 1959 Disney film, in which the princess, Aurora, is awakened by a kiss from her true love, Phillip, with whom she was betrothed since infancy. The two then get married. Shortly before her sixteenth birthday, Aurora was to switch clothes with her maidservant and escape to a nearby forest, where she would meet and fall in love with the prince. In the original tale, the princess and the prince have two children together before they get married.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the princess | Aurora, also known as Briar Rose and Sleeping Beauty |
| Age of the princess when she got married | 16 years old |
| Name of the prince | Phillip |
| Relationship with the prince | Betrothed since infancy |
| Time spent with the prince before falling in love | 3 minutes |
| Time spent with the prince before getting married | A few years |
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What You'll Learn
- In the 1959 film, Princess Aurora is cursed to die before her 16th birthday
- The good fairy alters the curse so she will sleep until awoken by true love's kiss
- The prince fights Maleficent, breaks the curse and marries Aurora
- In the original tale, the princess and prince have two children before he returns to his parents
- The earliest version of the tale is found in the medieval romance Perceforest
In the 1959 film, Princess Aurora is cursed to die before her 16th birthday
In the 1959 film Sleeping Beauty, Princess Aurora is cursed to die before her 16th birthday. The film is an American animated musical fantasy produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. It is based on Charles Perrault's 1697 fairy tale about a princess who is cursed to sleep for a hundred years. In the 1959 adaptation, the princess is given the name Aurora and is cursed by the evil fairy Maleficent to die before her 16th birthday by pricking her finger on a spinning wheel.
Three good fairies alter the curse so that instead of dying, Aurora will fall into a deep sleep and can only be awakened by true love's kiss. The film depicts Aurora as a romantic and loving character who enjoys the company of woodland creatures. She is betrothed as an infant to Prince Phillip, but falls in love with a man she meets in the forest, unaware that he is the same person to whom she has been betrothed.
The film took nearly a decade and $6 million to produce, making it Disney's most expensive animated feature at the time. It faced challenges in differentiating itself from previous Disney films such as Snow White and Cinderella, and in developing convincing relationships between the characters. The story artists expanded the fairies' roles, turning the good fairies into comical guardians of the princess and the evil fairy into a more powerful villain.
Aurora has been described as a passive character who acts as a pawn, lacking agency and showing no character growth throughout the film. She has been criticised for dreaming only of finding a man, rather than displaying traits such as wisdom or strength. Despite this, she is considered a classic Disney heroine and is one of the three original Disney princesses, alongside Snow White and Cinderella.
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The good fairy alters the curse so she will sleep until awoken by true love's kiss
The tale of Sleeping Beauty has been adapted countless times throughout history, with the earliest known version found in the French narrative Perceforest, written between 1330 and 1344. Another early version is the tale of Sun, Moon, and Talia, written by Giambattista Basile and published posthumously between 1634 and 1636.
In the 1959 Disney film adaptation, Sleeping Beauty, the good fairy Merryweather alters the curse so that Princess Aurora will not die from pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel on her 16th birthday, but will instead fall into a deep sleep and be awakened by true love's kiss. In this version, Aurora is betrothed as an infant to a prince named Phillip, and the two fall in love when she is sixteen years old, without her knowing his true identity. Phillip eventually awakens her with a kiss, also breaking the spell cast upon the rest of the kingdom.
In Basile's version of the tale, Sun, Moon, and Talia, Talia is awoken not by true love's kiss, but by the birth of her child. While asleep, Talia is impregnated by her lover, Troylus, who returns later to marry her.
In the Dark Parables video game series, which is based on the story of Sleeping Beauty, the prince kisses the sleeping Princess Briar Rose, successfully awakening everyone in the castle except for her. It is explained that the kiss did not work because Briar Rose and the prince had never met and therefore could not have been in love.
In a writing prompt posted on Reddit, a similar story is told in which a cursed princess can only be awoken by true love's kiss. Princes from all over the world attempt to wake her, but all fail. Eventually, a peasant boy douses the princess in cold water and she wakes up.
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The prince fights Maleficent, breaks the curse and marries Aurora
The tale of Sleeping Beauty has been adapted countless times, but the 1959 Disney film and its source material, Charles Perrault's fairy tale, are among the most well-known. In these versions, the sleeping beauty is named Aurora, and she is cursed by the evil fairy Maleficent to die before her 16th birthday by pricking her finger on a spinning wheel. Three good fairies alter the curse so that Aurora will only fall asleep and be awakened by true love's kiss.
The prince, Phillip, fights Maleficent with the help of the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. They rescue Phillip and arm him with the magical Sword of Truth and Shield of Virtue. Maleficent surrounds King Stefan's castle with a forest of thorns, but Phillip breaks through it. Enraged, Maleficent transforms into a giant, fire-breathing dragon, overpowering Phillip. The fairies enchant Phillip's sword, which he throws straight into Maleficent's heart, killing her.
Phillip ascends the castle and finds the sleeping Aurora. He awakens her with a kiss, breaking the curse and waking everyone else in the kingdom. Aurora, now 16 years old, reunites with her parents and happily dances with Phillip. They get married, and the two descend to the ballroom, where King Hubert, Phillip's father, looks on with shock and confusion.
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In the original tale, the princess and prince have two children before he returns to his parents
The tale of Sleeping Beauty has been adapted countless times throughout history, with the earliest known version of the tale found in the French narrative Perceforest, written between 1330 and 1344. In this version, a princess named Zellandine falls in love with a man named Troylus. While Troylus is away, Zellandine falls into an enchanted sleep. Troylus finds her and impregnates her in her sleep. When their child is born, the child draws the flax from her finger that caused her sleep. In this version, Zellandine and Troylus are not married, and it is unclear whether they have more than one child.
Another early version of the tale is Giambattista Basile's "Sun, Moon, and Talia", written between 1634 and 1636. In this dark version of the story, Talia gives birth to twins while she is asleep. The story then focuses on the children, who are placed in a chest with Talia and set out to sea. They eventually wash up on a king's shore, and the king falls in love with Talia, watching over her as she sleeps. Once again, in this version, Talia and the king are not married and only have two children.
The best-known version of Sleeping Beauty is the 1959 Disney film, in which the princess is named Aurora. In this version, Aurora is betrothed as an infant to a prince named Phillip, but she does not know his true identity when they meet and fall in love as teenagers. After being put to sleep by the evil fairy Maleficent's curse, Aurora is awakened by Phillip's kiss. The film does not depict any children, and it is unclear whether Aurora and Phillip get married.
In some versions of the tale, such as the one described in a parent-child discussion guide for the 1959 film, the princess and prince have two children before he returns to his parents. However, this detail is not included in the film's plot, and it is unclear which version of the tale the discussion guide is based on.
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The earliest version of the tale is found in the medieval romance Perceforest
The tale of Sleeping Beauty has been adapted countless times throughout history and retold by modern storytellers across various media. The earliest known version of the tale is found in the medieval romance "Perceforest", written in French between 1330 and 1344. It is a lengthy work of over one million words, consisting of six or eight volumes and about 530 chapters. The story describes a fictional origin of Great Britain and provides an original genesis of the Arthurian world. Refugees from Troy flee to Britain and establish a new kingdom.
In this early version of the Sleeping Beauty tale, a princess named Zellandine falls in love with a man named Troylus. Her father sends him on a quest to prove himself worthy of her, and while he is away, Zellandine falls into an enchanted sleep. Troylus finds her and impregnates her while she sleeps. When their child is born, the child draws the flax that caused her sleep from her finger. Upon waking, she realizes from the ring Troylus left her that he is the father, and the two later marry.
The next known version of the tale is "Sun, Moon, and Talia", written by Italian poet Giambattista Basile between 1634 and 1636. This version is darker and includes immoral details that are absent from later adaptations. In this story, the sleeping beauty is named Talia, and her father learns from wise men and astrologers that she will be in danger from a splinter of flax. Talia sees an old woman spinning outside her window and, now grown, pricks her finger, fulfilling the prophecy.
The tale was later adapted by Charles Perrault in "Histoires ou contes du temps passé" in 1697. This version is written in two parts, with the first part ending with the prince discovering the sleeping princess and refraining from any physical interaction. The second part continues with the marriage and the events that follow. In the earliest variations, the prince impregnates the princess in her sleep and then leaves. She wakes up when she gives birth to her children, and one of them suckles her finger, removing the flax.
Sleeping Beauty was later adapted by the Brothers Grimm, who vehemently denied that their version was derived from Perrault's tale. The Grimm version ends earlier than the others, with the princess awakening with the prince's chaste kiss.
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Frequently asked questions
Sleeping Beauty was 16 years old when she married her prince.
Yes, in all versions of the story, Sleeping Beauty marries the prince who awakens her.
In the 1959 Disney film, Sleeping Beauty, the prince is called Phillip.
Yes, the prince and princess had two children.
In the Disney version, Aurora is initially sad about having to marry a prince because she thinks she is in love with a man she met in the forest. However, she only knew him for about three minutes.
