Sun Moon and Talia
Sun, Moon and Talia: The Story of Sleeping Beauty
A princess doomed to sleep forever until true loves first kiss... that is how the story goes right? That assumption would be wrong. The classic story of Sleeping Beauty has been around for hundreds of years. The general idea of the story has remained unchanged but the "how" of the story has evolved over the last 300 years. From the original works of Giamattista Basile, The Brothers Grimm to Walt Disney, authors have slowly changed the tale for the public, allowing them to fall in love more easily with the cursed princess.
In 1634 Giamattista Basile wrote the story of Sun, Moon and Talia, better known today as Sleeping Beauty. A princess not cursed but prophesized to die once flax pierced her skin. Her father, the king, hearing this decreed anything made of flax was to be destroyed. On the eve of Talia’s 15th birthday the family traveled to a country house. There a spinning wheel forgotten or placed maliciously was found by the curious princess. She pricked her finger and promptly “died”. Overcome with grief the king took his daughter to her deathbed. He locked up the castle and left never to return.
This story coincides with the most current version that is known today, but this is barely the beginning of Giamattista’s tale. This prophesized “death”, Talia is under symbolized man’s sin. Something so beautiful and pure had to be taken to absolve man's sin, much like Jesus in the Bible. However, unlike Jesus she doesn’t die, she is cursed to sleep forever never growing older. With this meaning, sin is still here and will remain unchanging until the end of time.
The tale of Talia now starts to change from the original works to what is now known, Sleeping Beauty. A long time later a new king is wandering through the woods with his hunting party when he comes across an overgrown castle. After scaling the castle wall and gaining entry he finds the “dead” princess and is overcome with lust and takes her. After he is spent
A princess doomed to sleep forever until true loves first kiss... that is how the story goes right? That assumption would be wrong. The classic story of Sleeping Beauty has been around for hundreds of years. The general idea of the story has remained unchanged but the "how" of the story has evolved over the last 300 years. From the original works of Giamattista Basile, The Brothers Grimm to Walt Disney, authors have slowly changed the tale for the public, allowing them to fall in love more easily with the cursed princess.
In 1634 Giamattista Basile wrote the story of Sun, Moon and Talia, better known today as Sleeping Beauty. A princess not cursed but prophesized to die once flax pierced her skin. Her father, the king, hearing this decreed anything made of flax was to be destroyed. On the eve of Talia’s 15th birthday the family traveled to a country house. There a spinning wheel forgotten or placed maliciously was found by the curious princess. She pricked her finger and promptly “died”. Overcome with grief the king took his daughter to her deathbed. He locked up the castle and left never to return.
This story coincides with the most current version that is known today, but this is barely the beginning of Giamattista’s tale. This prophesized “death”, Talia is under symbolized man’s sin. Something so beautiful and pure had to be taken to absolve man's sin, much like Jesus in the Bible. However, unlike Jesus she doesn’t die, she is cursed to sleep forever never growing older. With this meaning, sin is still here and will remain unchanging until the end of time.
The tale of Talia now starts to change from the original works to what is now known, Sleeping Beauty. A long time later a new king is wandering through the woods with his hunting party when he comes across an overgrown castle. After scaling the castle wall and gaining entry he finds the “dead” princess and is overcome with lust and takes her. After he is spent
Cited: Basile, Giambattista. “Sun, Moon, and Talia”.iastate.edu. Iowa State University. Nd. n. pag. Web. September 09, 2011. Sleeping Beauty. Dir. Clyde Geronimiet all. Narr. Marvin Miller. Walt Disney Productions. 1959. DVD.