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Giambattista Basile's The Sleeping Beauty Briar-Rose

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Giambattista Basile's The Sleeping Beauty Briar-Rose
Then one prince heard the story of the beautiful Briar-Rose from his grandfather and decided to rescue the girl. When this prince reached the fortress the thorns were nothing but flowers that separated with ease to allow him through. He made his way into the castle and the flowers turned back into thorns. The prince saw all of the sleeping creatures and people until he found her, the beautiful princess. The prince was so overwhelmed by her beauty that he bent down and kissed her. With that kiss she woke, as did the rest of those under the curse. In the end the prince and Briar-Rose got married and lived happily until they died (Ashliman 2013). Over the years the story of The Sleeping Beauty, a happily ever after tale, has changed from what was originally a story of graphic intent with the not …show more content…
Throughout the centuries, this story was used and adapted to teach society, what women should be longed for when only passive, beautiful, and young; men can freely take advantage as they please. Giambattista Basile’s tale of the Sun, Moon, and Talia was written in 1634. This was a tale of an already married king raping young Talia in her sleep, to which she has twins, has a happy ending when they get married and die in the end. This version also portrays an evil wife (of the king who raped Talia) trying to get revenge by feeding the twins to the king and throwing Talia in a fire, but all is well when the cook spares the children’s lives and the king instead throws his wife in the fire (Ashliman 2013). The male dominance of this story is shown in the original version when the king not only rapes a young, unconscious woman but also murders his wife after cheating on her. This story was written in a

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