The traditionally sleeping European fairy tale Sleeping Beauty is still the subject of heated debate, and there is still no clear and definitive answer to the question of who wrote Sleeping Beauty.
Three main applicants
A version of the development of the plot of the author’s fairy tale by Charles Perot, who published it in 1697, is considered a textbook. There is also a slightly different version under the literary editing of the famous Grimm brothers. The earliest version is the work of Giambattista Basile, entitled “The Sun, Moon, and Thalia,” which was published earlier by more famous followers in 1634. How can we definitely determine who wrote The Sleeping Beauty? The fact is that the plot underlying the tale was very popular, according to the Aarne-Thompson classification, it has number 410 and belongs to the category of “Relations with supernatural relatives”. However, it should be noted that the international register of absolutely all types of folklore genres and the global epic is imperfect, and impossible.
From Europe to Russia
When conducting proceedings about who wrote The Sleeping Beauty, similar authorial domestic literary creations should be mentioned. For example, V. A. Zhukovsky created a fairy tale in the verses “The Sleeping Princess”, which also echoes in the plot twists and turns with earlier announced European versions. Also closely related to the plot of this tale is the narrative of Snow White and the seven dwarfs. Borrowed some of the European folklore traditions and adapted A.S. Pushkin to the Russian mentality. The sleeping beauty with the skillful hand of the author turned into a dead princess, the dwarves into seven heroes, and the whole world recognized the author’s fairy tale of the great Russian poet - "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Athletes."
About the first version
Do not torment yourself with doubts when discussing the one who wrote The Sleeping Beauty, the fact is that the very first recognized version of the tale was discovered in the 14th century in the French novel Persefore. It is practically unknown to the general public, unlike the creation of Jambattista Basile. In his fairy tale, the main characters are also the king and his baby daughter Talia, however, flax is destroyed. Years pass, and, in spite of the king’s prohibition, a beautiful woman meets an old woman spinning flax. The girl drives a splinter and falls into a deadly dream. Heartbroken parents order to leave the body in a country castle. After some time, the king who went on a hunt finds a castle of a neighboring state, sees a beautiful girl there and has sexual intercourse with her. Further, the twins Moon and the Sun are born at Thalia, and, despite the tricks of the king’s mistress, as a result, everyone lives happily ever after. Here’s such a "Sleeping Beauty" in Basile, the author did not bother with romance in the relations of the main characters.
Good option
Jambattista made another attempt to use an intriguing idea in his creation “Young Slave”, in which the fairy, hastening to celebrate the birth of baby Liza, twisted her leg, was angry and predicted that after 7 years the mother would forget the comb in her daughter’s hair and she would fall into a deadly slumber. . Her prediction came true, the girl is put in a crystal coffin. Later, a crystal sarcophagus will appear in the fairy tales of the Grimm brothers: “Glass Coffin” and “Snow White”.
Beauty Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm
While in the process of creating the author’s version, Charles Perrault somewhat softened the text of the tale, he not only removed the scene of carnal love with the sleeping princess, but also replaced the king with the prince, and his mistress with the mother. And the curse of an angry and resentful fairy made the cause of the lethargic sleep . In addition, the work does not end in his creation with a kiss, awakening and marriage, since the young couple had a test in the person of a mother-in-law cannibal, who was about to eat her grandchildren. But the girl’s parents do not live up to a happy end. The Grimm brothers not only end up at the moment of awakening kissing, they, along with the princess, fall asleep the whole kingdom. These are the differences between the French and German canons.
Confusion
If you are going to read a fairy tale to a child before going to bed, you should not worry about its semantic and emotional load, most likely, it will not be the original Charles Perrault, but paraphrases adapted for children by N. Kasatkina, T. Gabbe, A. Lyubarskaya and others. If you are adherents of the Russian mentality, choose a work written by A.S. Pushkin. The sleeping beauty in his interpretation does not spoil the baby's dream. However, all retelling is deliberately “facilitated,” that is, invariably spared from secondary details and morality intended for adults. Indeed, in fact, both Perrault and the Grimm brothers themselves were peculiar storytellers, and their creations have a fascinating background, and the Sleeping Beauty is no exception. The author of the tale, whether Charles Perrault or Grimm, canonized the same folklore plots, so sometimes confusion occurs in the proceedings regarding authorship.