True love's kiss

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"True love's kiss" in the ballet Sleeping Beauty KCB Sleeping Beauty PRESS--16 (32949363603).jpg
"True love's kiss" in the ballet Sleeping Beauty

In fairy tales, a true love's kiss is a motif and commonly used trope whereby a kiss from a "true love" possesses magical powers and holds significant importance. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

History

The phrase "true love's kiss" in storytelling is recorded as early as the 16th century. [5] In William Shakespeare's Richard III , the title character uses the phrase "Bear her my true love's kiss" in act 4, scene 4. [6]

In 1812, Children's and Household Tales , written by the Brothers Grimm, included the concept of a magical true love's kiss from the prince to awaken the princess from her 100-year slumber in their adaptation of "Sleeping Beauty", "Dornröschen" ("Little Briar Rose"). [7] The fairy tale was already present in Mother Goose Tales , written by Charles Perrault in 1697, but in his version the princess woke up on her own when the prince knelt before her. [8] [9]

Another early example of true love's kiss can be found in the Grimms' "The True Bride" (Die wahre Braut), in which the heroine breaks the spell over her prince (an evil princess bewitched him to forget her) with true love's kiss. [10] [11]

In fiction

The concept of 'true love's kiss' appears frequently in contemporary fairytale fantasy, including in various modern retellings of fairytales by Walt Disney Pictures. [12] [13] [14] [15]

Criticism

During the 21st century, the concept of "true love's kiss" has faced some criticism due to concerns around consent and depictions of kissing asleep persons. [29] [30] Some critics have associated the trope of "true love's kiss" with heteronormativity and traditional gender stereotypes. [31] [32] [33] [34] [35]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairy tale</span> Fictional story typically featuring folkloric fantasy characters and magic

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinderella</span> European folk tale

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snow White</span> German fairy tale

"Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection Grimms' Fairy Tales, numbered as Tale 53. The original German title was Sneewittchen; the modern spelling is Schneewittchen. The Grimms completed their final revision of the story in 1854, which can be found in the 1857 version of Grimms' Fairy Tales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sleeping Beauty</span> European fairy tale

"Sleeping Beauty", also titled in English as The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, is a fairy tale about a princess cursed by an evil fairy to sleep for a hundred years before being awakened by a handsome prince. A good fairy, knowing the princess would be frightened if alone when she wakes, uses her wand to put every living person and animal in the palace and forest asleep, to awaken when the princess does.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Red Riding Hood</span> European fairy tale

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maleficent</span> Disney villain character

Maleficent is a fictional character who first appears in Walt Disney Productions' animated film, Sleeping Beauty (1959). Maleficent is a malevolent fairy and the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil", she is an incarnation of pure evil and is responsible for all the misfortune in King Stefan's kingdom. Taking offense at not being invited to the christening of Princess Aurora by Stefan and his wife, Queen Leah, Maleficent curses the princess to "prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die" before the sun sets on Aurora's sixteenth birthday. Maleficent is based on the Wicked fairy godmother character in Charles Perrault's fairy tale Sleeping Beauty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapunzel</span> German fairy tale

"Rapunzel" is a German fairy tale most notably recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales. The Brothers Grimm's story was developed from the French literary fairy tale of Persinette by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force (1698), which itself is an alternative version of the Italian fairy tale Petrosinella by Giambattista Basile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evil Queen</span> Character in Snow White fairy tale by Brothers Grimm

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairy godmother</span> Archetype

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Charming</span> A theme in storytelling, often used as a stock character

Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, including "Snow White", "Sleeping Beauty", and "Cinderella", even if in the original story they were given another name, or no name at all.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Frog Prince</span> German fairy tale

"The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in Grimm's Fairy Tales. Traditionally, it is the first story in their folktale collection. The tale is classified as Aarne-Thompson type 440.

<i>Sleeping Beauty</i> (1959 film) Animated Disney film

Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Based on Charles Perrault's 1697 fairy tale, the production was supervised by Clyde Geronimi, and was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, Eric Larson, and Les Clark. Featuring the voices of Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Barbara Luddy, Barbara Jo Allen, Taylor Holmes, and Bill Thompson, the film follows Princess Aurora, who was cursed by the evil fairy Maleficent to die from a prick from the spindle of a spinning wheel. She is saved by three good fairies, who alter the curse so that the princess falls into a deep sleep and is awakened by true love's kiss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wicked fairy (Sleeping Beauty)</span> Fictional character

The Wicked fairy is the antagonist of Sleeping Beauty. In some adaptations, she is known as Carabosse. The most notable adaptation of the character is Maleficent, a Disney villain who appeared in various Disney media, beginning with the 1959 Walt Disney film Sleeping Beauty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snow White (Disney character)</span> Title character from Disneys 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Snow White is a fictional character and a main character from Walt Disney Productions' first animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). She was originally voiced by Adriana Caselotti. The character of Snow White was derived from a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe with the best-known version being the 1812 tale collected by the Brothers Grimm.

Aurora (<i>Sleeping Beauty</i>) Title character from Disneys 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty

Aurora, also known as Sleeping Beauty or Briar Rose, is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Productions' animated film Sleeping Beauty (1959). Originally voiced by singer Mary Costa, Aurora is the only child of King Stefan and Queen Leah. An evil fairy named Maleficent seeks revenge for not being invited to Aurora's christening and curses the newborn princess, foretelling that she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle and die before sunset on her sixteenth birthday. Merryweather, one of the three good fairies, weakened the curse so Aurora would only sleep. Determined to prevent this, three good fairies raise Aurora as a peasant in order to protect her, patiently awaiting her sixteenth birthday—the day the spell can only be broken by a kiss from her true love, Prince Phillip.

<i>Sleeping Beauty</i> (1987 film) 1987 American film

Sleeping Beauty is a 1987 American/Israeli fantasy film, part of the 1980 film series Cannon Movie Tales. It is directed by David Irving and stars Tahnee Welch, Morgan Fairchild, Nicholas Clay and Sylvia Miles. It is a contemporary version of the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty of the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault. Like the other Cannon Movie Tales, the film was filmed entirely in Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather</span> Disney animated movie characters for "Sleeping Beauty"

Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are the three good fairies in Walt Disney's 1959 film Sleeping Beauty. They are characterized as Princess Aurora's fairy godmothers and guardians, who appear at baby Aurora's christening to present their gifts to her. The three were voiced by Verna Felton, Barbara Jo Allen, and Barbara Luddy, respectively.

<i>Sleeping Beauty</i> (franchise) Disney media franchise

Sleeping Beauty is a Disney media franchise that began in 1959 with the theatrical release of the animated film Sleeping Beauty, based on the homonymous fairy tale.

References

  1. ↑ Rustad, Robert (2015-02-14). True Love's Kiss: Disney Romance from Snow White to Frozen. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN   978-1-5084-1851-1.
  2. ↑ Davis, Amy M. (2007-02-20). Good Girls & Wicked Witches: Women in Disney's Feature Animation. Indiana University Press. ISBN   978-0-86196-901-2.
  3. ↑ Zipes, Jack (ed.) (2000). The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales. New York: Oxford UP. ISBN   978-0-19-860115-9.
  4. ↑ Jubas, Kaela; Taber, Nancy; Brown, Tony (2015-10-30). Popular Culture as Pedagogy: Research in the Field of Adult Education. Springer. ISBN   978-94-6300-274-5.
  5. ↑ Mitchell, Deborah (1997). "Richard III: Tonypandy in the Twentieth Century". Literature/Film Quarterly. 25 (2): 133–145. ISSN   0090-4260. JSTOR   43796785.
  6. ↑ Richard III4.4/453 , Folger Shakespeare Library
  7. ↑ Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (1884). "Little Briar Rose". Household Tales. Translated by Margaret Raine Hunt. London: George Bell. Archived from the original on 20 May 2007.
  8. ↑ Perrault, Charles (1969). Perrault's Fairy Tales. Translated by Johnson, A. E. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. pp. 3–21.
  9. ↑ "Sur La Lune || Sleeping Beauty Annotated Tale". www.surlalunefairytales.com. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  10. ↑ Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household Tales, "The True Sweetheart"
  11. ↑ D. L. Ashliman, "The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales)"
  12. ↑ Pugh, T.; Aronstein, S. (2012-12-10). The Disney Middle Ages: A Fairy-Tale and Fantasy Past. Springer. ISBN   978-1-137-06692-3.
  13. ↑ Contemporary Fairy-Tale Magic: Subverting Gender and Genre. BRILL. 2020-01-13. ISBN   978-90-04-41899-8.
  14. ↑ Beck, Crista (2019-11-19). Break The Glass Slipper: Free Yourself from Fairy Tale Fantasies and Find True Love in Real Life. Crista Beck. ISBN   978-0-578-59030-1.
  15. ↑ Fee, Christopher R.; Webb, Jeffrey B. (2016-08-29). American Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales: An Encyclopedia of American Folklore (3 volumes). ABC-CLIO. ISBN   978-1-61069-568-8.
  16. ↑ Disney (2018-07-31). Disney Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Cinestory Comic. Joe Books. ISBN   978-1-77275-792-7.
  17. ↑ Askew, Amanda (2019-06-20). Storytime Classics: Sleeping Beauty. QEB Publishing. ISBN   978-1-78603-936-1.
  18. ↑ Priyanka, M. C. "Malevolence Subverted:(Re) Defining Gender Roles in the Film Maleficent", Singularities: A transdisciplinary Biannual Research Journal 3.2 (2016): 38-42.
  19. ↑ Kosmala, Karina (2022-07-23). "6 Brothers Grimm Adaptations that Change the Original Story". Collider. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  20. ↑ Singer, A. L. (1993). Disney's the Little Mermaid. Disney Press. ISBN   978-1-56282-429-7.
  21. ↑ Lagonegro, Melissa (2017-01-03). Beauty and the Beast Big Golden Book. National Geographic Books. ISBN   978-0-7364-3575-8.
  22. ↑ Alexander, Lauren (2010-04-20). Shrek: The Novel. Penguin. ISBN   978-1-101-18694-7.
  23. ↑ Selbo, Jule (2015-07-24). Screenplay: Building Story Through Character. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-317-38696-4.
  24. ↑ Nathan, Sarah (2007-09-25). Enchanted The Movie Storybook. Disney Press. ISBN   978-1-4231-0911-2.
  25. ↑ Enchanted (Songbook). Hal Leonard. 2009-08-01. ISBN   978-1-4584-5496-6.
  26. ↑ Chainani, Soman (2013-06-06). The School for Good and Evil (Book 1). HarperCollins UK. ISBN   978-0-00-749294-7.
  27. ↑ "How True Love and True Love's Kiss Lost All Meaning On Once Upon A Time". TV Fanatic. 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  28. ↑ Mollet, Tracey L. (2020-11-21). A Cultural History of the Disney Fairy Tale: Once Upon an American Dream. Springer Nature. ISBN   978-3-030-50149-5.
  29. ↑ Paris, Lindsey (2021-05-03). "Snow White "True Love's Kiss" Causes Arguments". Inside the Magic. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  30. ↑ Palumbo, Allison P. (2020-07-23). Love and the Fighting Female: A Critical Study of Onscreen Depictions. McFarland. ISBN   978-1-4766-7739-2.
  31. ↑ Belleau, Helene; Piazzesi, Chiara; Seery, Annabelle (2020). "Conjugal Love from a Sociological Perspective: Theorizing from Observed Practices". Canadian Journal of Sociology . 45 (1): 23–46. doi: 10.29173/cjs29434 . ISSN   0318-6431. JSTOR   27081252. S2CID   216201286.
  32. ↑ Puechner, Shannon Dahmes (2016). "'But He Was Your Prince Charming!': Accounting for the End of 'Ever After' with a Divorce Fairytale". Counterpoints. 477: 163–173. ISSN   1058-1634. JSTOR   45157194.
  33. ↑ Sanagustín Cabrero, Andrea (June 2022). "Will I need a true love's kiss? The use of parody and popular culture as social commentary in new radio theatre" (final degree project). University of Alcalá, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  34. ↑ Berlianti, Anisa Dyah. "The stereotypical representation of women in the classic fairy tales Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty". Indonesian Journal of Social Sciences 13.1 (2021): 21-32.
  35. ↑ Richardson, B. J. (2012). Once upon a fairytale romance (unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.
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