SO COOL! Denise was amazing--my favorite fairy tales were Donkey Skin, Sleeping Beauty, and the White Cat...they have taught me a lot about feminism. Cool things I learned:
A Story I Wrote:
Behind the Beauty
By Neva Crnković Hahn
There was once a rich merchant, a widower, who had an intelligent and beautiful young daughter named Aurora. She was never prideful of her riches, always dressed humbly and was kind to everyone. One day, the merchant suddenly lost his entire fortune, and the two of them were forced to move to a small house in the country. Although she was a bit sad at their loss of fortune, Aurora quickly adapted to her new life and sought to find happiness in it.
She passed the time doing chores to help her father and reading books which he had spared from their old home and refused to sell for her sake. Because of her beauty, many suitors, rich and poor, proposed marriage to her. She denied all of them, saying that she was too young, and furthermore that her father needed her to stay with him. One day, the merchant received news that one of his ships, containing most of his riches, had been found at sea. Before he embarked on the journey to get it back, he asked Aurora what she desired from his travels, a single thing to announce the return of her past. But Aurora stopped feeling any desire for her old riches, as her mind had since grown—she read more in the country, with none of the previous distractions.
However, her father persisted, “Aurora, what will you have?”
“Well”, she answered, “because you are so kind, bring me a sunflower. None grow near our home, and I desire one so.”
The merchant went away happy and hopeful, but his ship got robbed of its riches before he arrived, so he turned home in sadness. A storm struck, and he became lost in a strange forest. He arrived at a wonderful, golden castle, and without a thought entered the golden gates. The front door opened on its own, and he was greeted by mirrors, framed in gold, covering the walls from floor to ceiling. Food was set for him on a large golden table, almost as if the owner had been expecting him. The meat and bread looked delicious, but upon eating he found the meat moldy, and the bread hard and stale. Even so, he was so hungry he ate his fill, and when sleep approached him he found a beautifully rich bed laid for him. The comforter was golden silk, but when he lay to rest the bed was hard and uncomfortable. When he awoke the next morning he hurried out to fetch his horse, as he was worried he had outstayed his welcome by the mysterious host.
As the merchant began to ride out, something caught his eye—a beautiful, tall sunflower. He reached out and quickly plucked it. Not a moment later he saw the end of a sharp sword pointed directly at him. The hand holding the sword belonged to a young prince, as it seemed, who was fuming as if he were a wild boar.
The merchant pleaded, “Forgive me, sir, please spare me! I was only trying to procure a sunflower for my daughter, it was all that she wished for!”
The prince replied haughtily, “You may call me ‘Lord’, as that is what I am. I do not care what your daughter wished for! You have poorly repaid my grand generosity. You shall die, or else bring your daughter in your stead. I give you one week to make your decision.”
The merchant fell on his knees, but once he looked up from the ground the prince was no longer there. He hurried home and sobbed to Aurora, explaining to her what had happened and making his farewells to her.
“Father, do not fear—if he is a prince he will certainly understand reason, and if not, I will go in your stead. I would rather die of a sword than of grief from losing you.” The merchant would not let her go, but Aurora eventually slipped away while he slept. When she arrived at the palace, she was greeted by the prince.
“Welcome,” he started, “upon seeing your beauty, I have decided against killing you. However, you will agree to marry me within the week, or I will reconsider my generosity.” Aurora was stunned, but she understood this must be a fate better than death.
“Prince, I will gladly marry you within the week. Thank you for your kindness.” He nodded and turned away, allowing her to explore the palace on her own. Aurora’s thoughts were running; she did not want to marry someone she barely knew, nor did she want to live in a palace where she could not find any books, no matter how hard she searched. As she sat for dinner with a soup that was mostly water, the prince arrived to make her company.
“You are indeed very beautiful,” he said, “I can barely wait to marry you in a week. You just look perfect—we will look wonderful together!”
One day, as Aurora was exploring the castle, she found a room which she had never noticed before, with a door not inlaid with gold like all the others. Behind this humble door she discovered a room filled with books. They were all very dusty, and obviously never used, but she was overjoyed that even though she was captive, she could read. In the middle of the room was a large book in a glass case. She approached it, and saw that the pages turned on their own, and that they depicted scenes from her life: her smiling with her father, her father leaving to retrieve their fortune, and him returning, distraught, to their home. She then saw a page with an illustration of her meeting the prince, and her exploring the castle. But there were still more pages, and as they turned she saw the prince, alone, admiring his reflection in a golden mirror in his golden room. The next pages showed him slowly transforming from a beautiful prince to a horrifying beast, all while in his golden room. After discovering this true form concealed within the prince, Aurora knew she must escape.
She summoned the prince and told him she could not wait, and wished to marry him as soon as the wedding preparations were done. He happily acquiesced, and began arrangements to make himself the most beautiful, lavish suit in the world.
While he was ordering his wedding clothes, Aurora said, “My Lord, how could you possibly make the most beautiful suit in the world without the silk from China, the pigment from India, the tailors from Baghdad… I would not dare to marry you without a full display of your good taste or great wealth!” The prince stopped his preparations, as he felt embarrassed to appear less than perfect at his own wedding. He immediately set out to get his boat ready for his departure to China.
“I cannot join you,” said Aurora, “I must care for my ailing father, but I will wait with bated breath for your return.” The prince hesitated, but finally nodded slowly and swiftly left, promising to return within the week.
Aurora went back to live with her father. She finally met a suitor who did not propose right away, and after a few years they married. The prince never returned, because as soon as he procured silk from China, he heard that there was even finer silk in Madagascar. He continued searching his entire life, never satisfied.
(1244 WORDS)
I decided to retain the original style and plot for the beginning of my story, except that I tried to make the protagonist less “over-the-top” good and pure, and I also omitted the extraneous (in my opinion) siblings. I chose to stray from the original in the second half. I used a flower other than a rose, because I think the rose is a conventional symbol of a young woman’s Oedipal complex, which I downplayed in my rendition of the story as I used her excuse of needing to care for her father as just that—an excuse to not marry suitors too quickly, which was an important message for me to portray. In addition, I tried to emphasize throughout the story that mind and intellect mattered more than beauty and wealth. I also chose the girl’s name to be Aurora, because I wanted it to function as a contrast to the character of Sleeping Beauty. Aurora is rewarded for her exploration of the prince’s golden palace, whereas the princess in Sleeping Beauty is punished and erased from the story because of her exploration.
I added that the castle was golden to show that the prince only really cared about his wealth and his status, not his knowledge or mind, as he never touched the room with books. In addition I added that, although the food and the bed looked beautiful, the food was actually hardly edible and the bed very uncomfortable. I did this because I thought it was important to emphasize the original moral of Beauty and the Beast, which is to not judge things by appearances. Aurora’s intelligence and curiosity, leading her to the big book, allowed her to see the true vanity, the metaphorical beast, within the pretty prince. Someone aesthetically ugly can have a beautiful soul, and someone beautiful, or something appealing, can have an ugly being behind it.
I hope my readers will be young women and men, but especially women, because I think the fairy tale emphasizes the importance of intelligence and reading, and that marrying very quickly can be dangerous. I made my story very general so as to work with different historical contexts, even though I did mention a few actual places; this is unusual in fairy tales but I thought it necessary in my rendition. I also made the cultural and historical context of my story seem both aged (by adding that she had “suitors” and that the mode of transportation was horseback) and contemporary (with the overarching morals), so as to be understood by a wider audience. I made the rich prince the antagonist. I did this because I wanted another message of my story, accompanying that of not judging by appearances, to be that being rich or having a high status will not help someone gain a desirable personality or be a good person.
I want feminist scholars to analyze my story in the future, because it is focused on the importance of not being swayed into hurriedly marrying a suitor for his beauty or his wealth, and on the importance of knowledge and independent thinking for young women.
Behind the Beauty
By Neva Crnković Hahn
There was once a rich merchant, a widower, who had an intelligent and beautiful young daughter named Aurora. She was never prideful of her riches, always dressed humbly and was kind to everyone. One day, the merchant suddenly lost his entire fortune, and the two of them were forced to move to a small house in the country. Although she was a bit sad at their loss of fortune, Aurora quickly adapted to her new life and sought to find happiness in it.
She passed the time doing chores to help her father and reading books which he had spared from their old home and refused to sell for her sake. Because of her beauty, many suitors, rich and poor, proposed marriage to her. She denied all of them, saying that she was too young, and furthermore that her father needed her to stay with him. One day, the merchant received news that one of his ships, containing most of his riches, had been found at sea. Before he embarked on the journey to get it back, he asked Aurora what she desired from his travels, a single thing to announce the return of her past. But Aurora stopped feeling any desire for her old riches, as her mind had since grown—she read more in the country, with none of the previous distractions.
However, her father persisted, “Aurora, what will you have?”
“Well”, she answered, “because you are so kind, bring me a sunflower. None grow near our home, and I desire one so.”
The merchant went away happy and hopeful, but his ship got robbed of its riches before he arrived, so he turned home in sadness. A storm struck, and he became lost in a strange forest. He arrived at a wonderful, golden castle, and without a thought entered the golden gates. The front door opened on its own, and he was greeted by mirrors, framed in gold, covering the walls from floor to ceiling. Food was set for him on a large golden table, almost as if the owner had been expecting him. The meat and bread looked delicious, but upon eating he found the meat moldy, and the bread hard and stale. Even so, he was so hungry he ate his fill, and when sleep approached him he found a beautifully rich bed laid for him. The comforter was golden silk, but when he lay to rest the bed was hard and uncomfortable. When he awoke the next morning he hurried out to fetch his horse, as he was worried he had outstayed his welcome by the mysterious host.
As the merchant began to ride out, something caught his eye—a beautiful, tall sunflower. He reached out and quickly plucked it. Not a moment later he saw the end of a sharp sword pointed directly at him. The hand holding the sword belonged to a young prince, as it seemed, who was fuming as if he were a wild boar.
The merchant pleaded, “Forgive me, sir, please spare me! I was only trying to procure a sunflower for my daughter, it was all that she wished for!”
The prince replied haughtily, “You may call me ‘Lord’, as that is what I am. I do not care what your daughter wished for! You have poorly repaid my grand generosity. You shall die, or else bring your daughter in your stead. I give you one week to make your decision.”
The merchant fell on his knees, but once he looked up from the ground the prince was no longer there. He hurried home and sobbed to Aurora, explaining to her what had happened and making his farewells to her.
“Father, do not fear—if he is a prince he will certainly understand reason, and if not, I will go in your stead. I would rather die of a sword than of grief from losing you.” The merchant would not let her go, but Aurora eventually slipped away while he slept. When she arrived at the palace, she was greeted by the prince.
“Welcome,” he started, “upon seeing your beauty, I have decided against killing you. However, you will agree to marry me within the week, or I will reconsider my generosity.” Aurora was stunned, but she understood this must be a fate better than death.
“Prince, I will gladly marry you within the week. Thank you for your kindness.” He nodded and turned away, allowing her to explore the palace on her own. Aurora’s thoughts were running; she did not want to marry someone she barely knew, nor did she want to live in a palace where she could not find any books, no matter how hard she searched. As she sat for dinner with a soup that was mostly water, the prince arrived to make her company.
“You are indeed very beautiful,” he said, “I can barely wait to marry you in a week. You just look perfect—we will look wonderful together!”
One day, as Aurora was exploring the castle, she found a room which she had never noticed before, with a door not inlaid with gold like all the others. Behind this humble door she discovered a room filled with books. They were all very dusty, and obviously never used, but she was overjoyed that even though she was captive, she could read. In the middle of the room was a large book in a glass case. She approached it, and saw that the pages turned on their own, and that they depicted scenes from her life: her smiling with her father, her father leaving to retrieve their fortune, and him returning, distraught, to their home. She then saw a page with an illustration of her meeting the prince, and her exploring the castle. But there were still more pages, and as they turned she saw the prince, alone, admiring his reflection in a golden mirror in his golden room. The next pages showed him slowly transforming from a beautiful prince to a horrifying beast, all while in his golden room. After discovering this true form concealed within the prince, Aurora knew she must escape.
She summoned the prince and told him she could not wait, and wished to marry him as soon as the wedding preparations were done. He happily acquiesced, and began arrangements to make himself the most beautiful, lavish suit in the world.
While he was ordering his wedding clothes, Aurora said, “My Lord, how could you possibly make the most beautiful suit in the world without the silk from China, the pigment from India, the tailors from Baghdad… I would not dare to marry you without a full display of your good taste or great wealth!” The prince stopped his preparations, as he felt embarrassed to appear less than perfect at his own wedding. He immediately set out to get his boat ready for his departure to China.
“I cannot join you,” said Aurora, “I must care for my ailing father, but I will wait with bated breath for your return.” The prince hesitated, but finally nodded slowly and swiftly left, promising to return within the week.
Aurora went back to live with her father. She finally met a suitor who did not propose right away, and after a few years they married. The prince never returned, because as soon as he procured silk from China, he heard that there was even finer silk in Madagascar. He continued searching his entire life, never satisfied.
(1244 WORDS)
I decided to retain the original style and plot for the beginning of my story, except that I tried to make the protagonist less “over-the-top” good and pure, and I also omitted the extraneous (in my opinion) siblings. I chose to stray from the original in the second half. I used a flower other than a rose, because I think the rose is a conventional symbol of a young woman’s Oedipal complex, which I downplayed in my rendition of the story as I used her excuse of needing to care for her father as just that—an excuse to not marry suitors too quickly, which was an important message for me to portray. In addition, I tried to emphasize throughout the story that mind and intellect mattered more than beauty and wealth. I also chose the girl’s name to be Aurora, because I wanted it to function as a contrast to the character of Sleeping Beauty. Aurora is rewarded for her exploration of the prince’s golden palace, whereas the princess in Sleeping Beauty is punished and erased from the story because of her exploration.
I added that the castle was golden to show that the prince only really cared about his wealth and his status, not his knowledge or mind, as he never touched the room with books. In addition I added that, although the food and the bed looked beautiful, the food was actually hardly edible and the bed very uncomfortable. I did this because I thought it was important to emphasize the original moral of Beauty and the Beast, which is to not judge things by appearances. Aurora’s intelligence and curiosity, leading her to the big book, allowed her to see the true vanity, the metaphorical beast, within the pretty prince. Someone aesthetically ugly can have a beautiful soul, and someone beautiful, or something appealing, can have an ugly being behind it.
I hope my readers will be young women and men, but especially women, because I think the fairy tale emphasizes the importance of intelligence and reading, and that marrying very quickly can be dangerous. I made my story very general so as to work with different historical contexts, even though I did mention a few actual places; this is unusual in fairy tales but I thought it necessary in my rendition. I also made the cultural and historical context of my story seem both aged (by adding that she had “suitors” and that the mode of transportation was horseback) and contemporary (with the overarching morals), so as to be understood by a wider audience. I made the rich prince the antagonist. I did this because I wanted another message of my story, accompanying that of not judging by appearances, to be that being rich or having a high status will not help someone gain a desirable personality or be a good person.
I want feminist scholars to analyze my story in the future, because it is focused on the importance of not being swayed into hurriedly marrying a suitor for his beauty or his wealth, and on the importance of knowledge and independent thinking for young women.
We were able to go to special collections in Suzzallo!!