A Feminist Reading on Sleeping Beauty

The fairy tale is usually regarded as children’s literature. It shapes the characters through rich fantasy and exaggeration. The story reflects every aspect of our life and has an educational effect on readers, especially on children. Originated from the folk lore, fairy tale is one of the most important materials for the research on local conditions and customs at that time as well as its function of moral education. However, feminists analyze it from a brand new perspective. As most of the fairy tales are written or edited during the period when men hold the leading role in society, it is unavoidable that they contain the ideology of patriarchy to some extent. The paper will focus on one classic fairy tale in The Grimm Fairy Tale -- Sleeping Beauty (Briar Rose in Grimm’s book) and try to analyze the contexts from the angle of feminism. The purpose is to reveal the patriarchy hidden behind the seemingly romantic story. What’s more, it is also helpful to put forward the depth and scope of the research of feminism to improve and develop the women’s liberation, and enrich the diversification of the methodology and perspective of research. From the angle of feminism, it can be concluded from the fairy tales that in patriarchal society, women are in the position of “the other†and totally dependent on men, mentally and financially. They have to obey the social rules set by men and meet men’s pleasure for the seemingly happy ending. There are so much left for us to accomplish in the purpose of changing this situation.