‘The Light Princess’ is a tale which explores themes of sex through using sexual symbols (McGillis 38). However, not only is the tale playing with such symbols, it also engages in two fairy tales which deal with issues of sex as well. MacDonald’s fairy tale shares similarities with the brother Grimm’s ‘Briar-Rose’ and ‘The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs’. In relation to ‘The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs’, both use a reptile to drain a source of water. How, in ‘The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs’, a toad is used which represented an embryo, whilst in ‘The Light Princess’ a snake is used, a distinctly phallic symbol and the implications of this will be touched upon later on (Roheim 7). Yet, the main focus is the relation between …show more content…
‘Briar-Rose’ and ‘The Light Princess’. MacDonald uses the ‘Briar-Rose’ plot of the uninvited fairy who curses the new born child (Billone 135). However, MacDonald’s princess is not cursed to sleep or die, instead she becomes light in terms of her attitude (her retention of innocence, to be a ‘perpetual child’) and the bodily in the loss of gravity (Billone 135). Both ‘Briar-Rose’ and ‘The Light Princess’ are tales of adolescence, the journey between childhood and reaching adulthood (McGillis 40; Reis 77). I would argue, however, that the major difference between both ‘Briar-Rose’ and ‘The Light Princess’, is in the kiss between the prince and princess. Both tales can be read as the sexual awakening of these women as they reach adolescence, the key difference being that one remains passive and does not engage in her sexuality, whilst the other takes direct engagement and becomes her cure. Sleeping Beauty in ‘Briar-Rose’, as argued by Bettelheim, is protected from premature sexual arousal by the thorn wall which kills suitors (233). The kiss as she awakens, symbolises a ‘harmonious meeting’ and implies maturity has been reached (Bettelheim 234). It is only through this passivity which allows for quiet, inward growth to take place for the Princess, allowing her to become mature as well as preventing any sexual fulfilment until she meets her one true love: There she lay, and she was so beautiful that he could not take his eyes of her, and he bent over and gave her a kiss, As he touched her with his Briar-Rose opened her eyes, awoke, and looked at him with a welcoming gaze…And then the prince’s wedding with Briar-Rose was celebrated with great splendour, and they lived happily to the end of their days. (Grimm 157) It is here that Briar-Rose is a passive accepter of the prince’s sexual advances symbolised in the form of a kiss. Kissing is an important action which symbolises not only erotic attraction and desire, but also break the barriers of personal space (Coward, 96). Briar-Rose has no say whether the prince can kiss her or not, her personal space is invaded by the prince without consent giving the action a rape like connotation. Through this, Briar-Rose’s sexual energy is held safely within the confines of heterosexual marriage. In contrast to this, The Light Princess does not go through a period of passivity, instead having to engage with her sexuality in order to break her cursed. She engages with her sexuality through the use of the lake and the prince. In contrast to Briar-Rose, the Light Princess gives a kiss to the prince of her own choice: “Will you kiss me, princess?” said he, feebly. The nonchalance was all gone now. “Yes, I will,” answered the princess, and kissed him with a long, sweet, cold kiss…The princess began to feel strange. It [the lake] touched his upper lip. He breathed though his nostrils. The princess looked wild. It covered his nostrils. Her eyes looked scared, and shone strange in the moonlight. (MacDonald 50) The chapter featuring the prince’s sacrifice for the princess abounds with sexual imagery. Not only is there the kiss, but also the feeding of the prince by the princess. Coward links together the sensations of feeding with that of sexual gratification (89). This is emphasised in the tale with the prince kissing the fingertips of the princess as she feeds him (McGillis, 39). There is also the phallic imagery of the oars and the romantic imagery of the ship linking to Petrarchan love poetry. Furthermore, the image of the prince plugging the hole in the lake is suggestive, adding to the erotic overtones of this scene. It is only after the feeding, kissing, and drowning of the prince that the princess is able to recognise what is going on, and understands the concept of death. Sex and death are interlinked together, as Horrocks explains that the procreation of the child reminds parents of their own immortality and they will be one day replaced by their children, furthermore the orgasm is also seen as a ‘self-oblivion’ (18). Furthermore, Le Guin argues that it is through death that childhood ends (46). Therefore, it can be seen that it is through death, and by extension sex with the connection Horrocks makes between the two, that allows the curse of the Light Princess to be broken. This scene represents an intertwining with dead and sex, seen in the images of feeding, kissing, and drowning. This perhaps demonstrates MacDonald’s view on sex and the importance of it in the maturing process (Reis 77). Instead of MacDonald punishing the Prince and Princess for their exploration of their sexuality outside of marriage, they are rewarded in the end with a happily ever after. Moreover, the intertwining of sex and death is linked through the image of water. The water represents death in that it near drowns the Prince. Water also, in psychoanalysis, can represent the womb, female genitals, or birth (Freud). Through being in the water the princess becomes more ‘sedate’ and experiences ‘great pleasure’ as she gains normal gravity (MacDonald 29). In other words, the princess losses her innocence in that she ceases to constantly laugh (Billone 137). The symbolism of the lake as sex and sexuality is strengthened through the actions of both Prince and Princess. The swim of the Prince and Princess is described in erotic, sensual language such as ‘ecstasies of delight, and their swim was delicious’. The use of the word ‘delicious’ goes back to Coward’s link between the pleasure of food and sexual pleasure. Yet, what is interesting is that these meetings take place at night and lack of supervision. As described in context at the start of the chapter, there were anxieties regarding the lack of parental supervisor and courtships taking place at night, and these were thought of factors of illegitimate births in Scotland. What goes on during these swims at night is also kept silent. As the reader, there is no detail given at what they do. This can also be read as part of the unknowability of what goes on during the couple’s courtships at night, whether they were having sex or just heavy petting. But this also adds more importance to kissing scene. Coward, in her discussion of kissing, notes that prostitutes where proud when they did not kiss clients as it prevented intimacy (97). The kiss between the two is not just an erotic act, but it serves to differ from the erotic swimming of the previous scene, with the romantic overtones of this particular scene. By doing this, their sexual contact in the previous scenes is forgiven, as lust turns into love, and as mentioned earlier how marriage legitimises illegitimate children, their sexual encounters are legitimised as part of their courting ritual. Furthermore, these desires of the Princess are transgressions. The King tries to stop his daughter from engaging in any form sexual activity, seen when he becomes embarrassed when she kisses a page by accident (MacDonald 24), when she falls into the water for the first time (29), but also in tying her to the ground in order to make sure she does not float away (30). The King is also referred to as a ‘tyrant’, emphasising his controlling, cruel nature (31). The King, much like ideology in relation to desire, tries to monitor and restrict his daughter from participating in expressing sexual desires. It is only through the lack of parental supervision which, in the end, allows her to break her curse as this allows her to meet the Prince (. Therefore, MacDonald could be seen to be interacting with the anxiety over parental supervisor and the lack of it. However, it is only when the Princess is free from supervision and engages with her sexuality that the curse is able to become lifted. Yet, not all expressions of desire are given free reign. Female masturbation, I want to argue, is presented in the text and can be read through concerns in Scotland during the period. A Medical Treatise with Principles and Observations to Preserve Chastity and Morality by John Moodie published in 1848 containing designs for a chastity belt for women in order to prevent them from masturbating which he had found was prevalent in Scotland. This fact becomes more interesting when coupled with the notion that during the Victorian era, these anxieties over with masturbation was applied exclusively to men and the waste of semen (Hall 27). In his original paper, he suggests that the girdle is used to help: The principal object of this apparatus is to keep out everything—the fingers, candles, artificial and natural generative organs, so that they cannot be put into the vagina or passage leading into the womb, to cause pleasurable sensations by friction. (Moodie 7) I argue that the scene of the witch and the snake can be read as a scene of pseudo-masturbation.
Mentioned beforehand, the lake in the tale can be read as symbolising the female genitals. This can be contrasted with the snake created by the witch Makemnoit. The snake, according to Freud, is the most important ‘symbol of the male member’ (Freud). Yet, this snake is not natural. Instead the snake is created through witchcraft using a ‘piece of dried seaweed’. The uncanny nature of the snake emphasis the snake as a created phallus, not a natural one (MacDonald 40). Instead of giving life through ejaculation of seminal fluids, the snake drains the water which allows the witch to cast a spell that proceeds to drain all the lakes in the Kingdom, effect the Light Princess gravely, and make babies cry without sheading a tear (42). The infertility which is presented echoes fears over women masturbating, that it would be cause infertility and damage to society (Moodie 2). The aim of this is only to grant her revenge (MacDonald 40). The revenge only grants pleasure to the witch, causing the rest of the land to become dry. In the end, the witch is punished for her obsession with revenge for her own pleasure by being crushed by her own house (53). The language within the sentence reflects that no sympathy is felt towards her, even from her brother the King, she is left buried under the rumble and forgotten about (53). Therefore, through the lens of the sexual context and culture given, the witch can be seen to represent a woman who only aims to satisfy herself through masturbation in the guise of revenge. The problem and anxiety of Scottish women masturbation is outlined by Moodie, influenced by his own interactions. Where the sexual desire of the Princess is necessary to her development, the witch’s self-desire is punished and seen as problematic not just to an individual, but to a society as a whole. This is conveyed in another of MacDonald’s text, ‘The Giant’s Heart’. The
giant Thunderthump consumes children in order to satisfy his own desire (83). The children can be seen to represent the future, the new, and acts as a reminder of the mortality of the giant, that someday he shall pass away. For this, Thunderthump is eventually punished and killed by Tricksey-Wee and Bobby, who seek to help the children and free them, thus their desire does not benefit them, but others in the community (98). In summary, through the lens of sex culture, MacDonald does not conform to strict ideology. Instead, MacDonald can be seen to be highlighting the importance of engaging with ones sexuality in order to grow. It can also be read that he presents certain issues and anxieties in the communities, such as lack of parental supervison and courtships at night, but they are not depicted as harmful nor are the characters punished for their interaction with desire. However, in opposition to this, it is only a desire which benefits the community as seen in the discussion of the witck Makemnoit and the giant Thunderthump.
Additionally, the sisters in the story only wanted jewels, blamed Beauty for their dilemma, and acted as if Beauty did not exist when she came back whereas the brothers, “begged her to stay,” “declared that nothing should make them let her go,” and even offered to fight the beast when it were to come to take Beauty. Therefore making the women seem catty, weak, materialistic, but making the men appear as brave, strong, and caring. Again, the story presents misogynist views that are unhealthy to society. Lastly, the beast projects anti-feminist views. Although the beast speaks politely after Beauty refuses his marriage proposal, he repeatedly asks her and completely disrespects her answer. As mentioned before, women were treated horrible the era the story was written in making this story acceptable at the time, but presently this story should not be read to children. For many years, people viewed Beauty and the Beast as an uprising from misogyny, but when analyzing from a feminist perspective it is clear that the story is the complete
There are several events in the play which at one point or the other take a tragic turn which constantly undercut back into the play by speeches. What is set out in the play is a festive mood where people were engaged in activities of ‘Maying’ where people get together to sing and dance in the woods, activities that led to the maids’ belief that the pursuit if true love can be scored only through divination dreams (Barber 18). The fairy’s existence is conceptualized from the act of fusing pageantry together with popular games in a menacing way bring out their actual image of a relaxed
Lady Macbeth’s atypical and complex character directly challenged the archetypal principles and beliefs of the Jacobean era which as a result, drew major fascination through the ages. Lady Macbeth was Shakespeare’s device to not only stimulate audience’s emotions, but to also provide historical context and elicit dominant themes which reflected Jacobean society. Her ambiguous character and remarkable influences in the play raised a lot of controversy and fascination amongst both modern and Jacobean audiences. She can either be seen as linked to the witches in a feminist bid to overthrow the balance of power, or as a representation of the evil side of Macbeth. Nevertheless, it was her distinct characteristics and actions which ultimately catalysed the chain of conflicts of the play. Again, this reinforces her important role in the play.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth documents a man’s desire for power, and the murderous acts that he commits in order to gain it. Nevertheless, it equally focuses on his power-crazed wife and her amplified drive for control. Macbeth and his wife are joined by more than holy matrimony. Shakespeare creates an intriguing relationship that traces the downfall of not a single person, but an entity comprised of two. The concentration is directed on this oneness through the plot progression within Macbeth, in which the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are reversed.
Lady Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters. As she is Macbeth’s wife, her role is significant in his rise and fall from royalty. She is Macbeth’s other half. During Shakespearean times, women were regarded as weak insignificant beings that were there to give birth and look beautiful. They were not thought to be as intelligent or equal to men. Though in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is the highest influence in Macbeth’s life. Her role was so large; in fact, that she uses her position to gain power, stay strong enough to support her unstable Lord, and fails miserably while their relationship falls apart. Everything about Lady Macbeth is enough to create the perfect villain because of her ability to manipulate everyone around her. It appears that even she can’t resist the perfect crime.
This shows her femininity as a strength, as she can use it to influence Macbeth and show him as the weak spouse.
Even though fairy tales don’t always end the way we want them to, we usually expect them to end with prince charming saving a princess. However, according to the Grimms Brothers version, “The Frog King,” the princess actually saves the prince. An innocent naive princess comes across a frog that once was a prince. Therefore, the only way he can overcome this curse is to ask a princess to fully have her assurance into becoming his companion. The moral of this fairy tale is express how appearances are deceiving. We don’t fully have an understanding what true beauty looks like until it is standing in front of us. The three main symbols that emphasize the true beauty in this fairytale is the frog, the fountain, and the golden ball.
Judith Butler’s concept of gender performativity suggests that there is a distinction between “sex, as a biological facticity, and gender, as the cultural interpretation or signification of that facticity” (Butler, 522). Performing certain actions that society associates with a specific gender marks you as that gender. In this way, gender is socially constructed. Alfar defines the societal expectation of women as the “constant and unquestioning feminine compliance with the desires of the masculine” (114). Considering Macbeth from a modern perspective and taking this distinction into account, it is necessary to determine if the play is concerned with sex or with gender. Before the action of the play even begins, the audience is warned that “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (1.1.11). The first scene of the play casts the world of Macbeth as a land where everything is opposite or disordered. This line at the very start of the play cautions audiences to not take the play at face value because things are not always as they appear to be. Because of this, “all the binaries become complicated, divisions blurred. Thus the binary nature of gender identities, male/female, is eliminated” (Reaves 14). In the world of Macbeth, the typical gender constructions are manipulated and atypical. If the play does not deal with sex, the qualities of Lady Macbeth cannot be applied to all women but rather, representative of society’s construction of gender, “the patriarch, and the limited, restrictive roles of women” (Reaves 11). Within this reading of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare’s examination and questioning of gender construction allows modern day readers to recognize the enduring relevance of
We see how a vigorous Lady Macbeth; initially in association with the witches’ predictions, at-tempts to mirror their disturbance of gender in psychological terms by desiring to "unsex" herself in order to carry out such a powerful action [murder], otherwise, being impossible for a woman to carry out (no offence or sexism is intended when I state this).
During the Elizabethan era, a woman did not have any say in the relationship with her husband, but Shakespeare’s Macbeth changes this accepted theory. Lady Macbeth is a woman ahead of her time; she is caught between today’s ambitious, powerful woman and a fragile, powerless creature of the Elizabethan era. At the beginning of this tragedy, she is vicious, overly ambitious, without conscience, and willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants. As Macbeth becomes less dependent on his wife, Lady Macbeth loses control of her husband, but mostly of herself. She is so wrapped up in the greedy world Shakespeare creates that she fails to consider the consequences of her actions more realistically. Lady Macbeth lives as if she is a woman ahead of her tiime, but she dies like she is from the “golden age of drama”.
The story of Lady Macbeth throughout Macbeth is one unlike those of its time in its unusually forward-thinking portrayal of a woman with thoughts and actions which would have been considered indecent. This is seen through the representation of her relationship with Macbeth and how they interact. It is also illustrated through Lady Macbeth’s morals and their effect on how she acts and reacts in situations which would weigh heavily on most peoples’ conscious. Her power-hungry attitude is one often reserved for men, especially in this era of literature. All of these factors create a character in Lady Macbeth which is dissimilar to the classic portrayal of women in the seventeenth century.
maintaining the course of their true love. A long standing couple, even the king and queen of fairies face the complications true love brings from time to time: “Ever true in loving be, / and the blots of Nature’s hand” (5.1.425-426...
The biological differences that set apart the male and female gender throughout any culture remain eminent. Men are perceived as the stronger and dominant gender; women play the role of the weaker. In each culture the expectation of the manner in which men and women behave are influenced by the ideals and customs of that culture. In most predominant cultures, the man undertakes the role as a leader, and the woman devotes her life to the husband. Throughout history, traditions and literature provide a template to the identities of various cultures. Sleeping Beauty’s classic tale of a beautiful princess takes a central precept that previous patriarchal archetypes dominated during the 17th Century. The archetypal perceptions of women resulted from conscious and unconscious literature influenced by male-dominated perspectives and social standards.
Characters in Macbeth frequently dwell on issues of gender. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband by questioning his manhood, wishes that she herself could be ?unsexed,? and does not contradict Macbeth when he says that a woman like her should give birth only to boys. In the same manner that Lady Macbeth goads her husband on to murder, Mac...
A very old Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummers Night Dream” believed to be written in 1590 and 1596 was a classical idea of fantasy. It portrays the journey of four young lovers and their interactions with fairies. They story takes place in a mythical city called Athens with an enchanted forest, where a fairy king misguides the star-crossed lovers and plays tricks on his fairy queen by transforming a poor actor into a half-donkey. This work focuses on human interactions with falling in love.