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The 1970 film adaption of ‘this fairy tale, by Jacques Demy, called Peau d'Âne closely follows the plot of the original tale, making slight changes to the story with the addition of musical numbers, minor changes in the characters roles and choices, and the completely irrelevant addition of a scene where the king flies in for the wedding of Donkey Skin and the prince in a helicopter, completely breaking the historical illusion the rest of the movie tries to maintain. This adaption of “Donkeyskin” mocks the serious nature of incest in the fairy tale and it seemingly supports the classically patriarchal society, which makes the tale still relevant, by stereotyping the princess as the typical fairy tale princess, sweet, innocent as a babe, and stunningly beautiful, unhappy and lost until she finds her true purpose in life, which, of course, is to marry a prince and regain her status as a princess. The actress in the film fits the typical criteria for a fairy tale princess perfectly, with her flawless skin, long blonde hair, big doe eyes, and graceful, overtly feminine manner, perpetuating the image of a woman of upper class and high birth. The film makes it clear that there is a division between what is good, the uppercrust of society, and what is bad, the menial lives of the working class, by the portrayal of the princess during her time as Donkey Skin, wearing the entire skin of the donkey, with the skinned head worn on the princess’ own head as the hood of the dress/robe, rather than the skin being made into a societally acceptable dress of sorts. Despite the era in which the movie Peau d'Âne was made, it still represents the old ideals of women and as such also follows the same ideals of how women should be represented, especiall... ... middle of paper ... ...ecome princess once again. There have been many arguments to the idea that the princess Donkey Skin actively chooses to manipulate her fate by her clothing choices, but there also have been theories that the princess is either forced out of fear and necessity, or out of shame. But all of this criticism begs the question of whether or not the princess’ life was indeed better when she chooses to wear her royal attire again, and by doing such she finds her prince, or whether her fate is actually better when she is able to live her own life, free from the bonds of beauty and patriarchal society? This fairy tale, whether it is viewed as just a simple story of a princess overcoming her obstacles, or as a tale of a woman using her beauty to get ahead in life, it definitively shows how fashion can be an important element in fairy tales, as it has been throughout history.

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