SLEEPING BEAUTY

The versions of Sleeping Beauty varied over time. In the very first version, Talia, the sleeping beauty, was raped and abandoned by the king. Talia, representing females, suffered from the unethical, appalling treatment. According to Sun, Moon, and Talia, the king raped Talia and intended to abandon her even when he knew that Talia had given birth to two children. It indicates that society's attitude towards women was demeaning, which means the society treated women more like objects than human beings. In the end, the king executed the queen and brought Talia home, but no one denounced the atrocity of the king's. No one questioned the justification of his behavior, and everyone in the story - even the narrator himself - considered the ending as a happy one. The first version strongly indicates the indifferent attitude - no one cares about females' feeling.

The second version's theme grows better. In this version, the prince does care about sleeping beauty and takes care of her and her children. As always, the queen, portraited as both a villain and an evil being, tried to murder the princess. However, the kind chef saved the princess and her children, and the queen eventually got devoured by the creatures ordered by herself.

The third version is completely an adapted version for bedtime reading: elements and descriptions of cannibalism, rape, dismemberment, and violence are removed. The prince kissed the sleeping beauty and they lived together - a classic happy ending.

Nevertheless, in all three versions, females are described as a rather weak, dependent figure. Their fate is on men's hands. The princess grows her own characters and consciousness only if the prince kisses her.

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