Who wrote Sleeping Beauty? Versions and applicants for authorship

A traditional European fairy tale "The Sleeping Beauty" is still an object of heated debate, and to this day there is no clear and definitive answer to the question of who wrote the "Sleeping Beauty".

The three main contenders

A textbook is considered a variant of the development of the plot of the author's fairy tale by Charles Perot, who published it in 1697. There is also a slightly different version under the literary editorship of the famous Brothers Grimm. The earliest version recognized the work of Jambattista Basile, titled "The Sun, Moon and Thalia", which was published earlier by more famous followers in 1634. How can you unambiguously determine who wrote "Sleeping Beauty"? The fact is that the plot, which was the basis of the fairy tale, was very popular, according to Aarne-Thompson's classification, he has No. 410 and belongs to the category "Relations with supernatural relatives". However, one should take into account that the international register of absolutely all types of folklore genres and the world epic is not ideal, and it is impossible.

From Europe to Russia

Conducting proceedings on who wrote "Sleeping Beauty", it is worth mentioning and similar author's domestic literary creations. For example, VA Zhukovsky created a fairy tale in verse "The Sleeping Princess", which also echoes in the plot turns with the previously announced European versions. Also quite closely related to the plot of this tale is the narrative of Snow White and seven dwarfs. He borrowed some folklore traditions of Europeans and adapted AS Pushkin to the Russian mentality. Sleeping beauty from the skilful hand of the author turned into a dead princess, dwarfs into seven heroes, and the whole world learned the author's fairy tale of the great Russian poet - "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights".

About the first version

Do not torment yourself with doubts, arguing over who wrote "Sleeping Beauty", the fact is that the very first recognized version of the fairy tale was discovered in the 14th century in the French novel Persephorest. He is practically not known to the general public, in contrast to the creation of Jambattista Basile. In his tale are also the main characters - the king and his baby daughter Talia, but she is perishing flax. Years pass, and, despite the ban of the king, a grown-up beauty meets an old woman spinning flax. The girl chases a splinter and falls into a deadly sleep. Killed by grief, parents are instructed to leave the body in a country castle. After some time, the king who has gone on hunting finds the castle of the neighboring state, sees a beautiful girl there and engages in sexual relations with her. Next, Talia is born twins Moon and Sun, and, despite the tricks of the mistress of the king, as a result, everyone lives happily ever after. Here is Basil's "Sleeping Beauty", the author did not bother to romance himself in the relationship of the main characters.

Successful option

Jambattista made another attempt to use the intriguing idea in his work The Young Slave, in which the fairy, hastening to celebrate the birth of little Lisa, twisted her leg, became angry and predicted that in 7 years the mother would forget the comb in her daughter's hair and she would fall into the deadly drowsiness . Her prediction came true, the girl put in a crystal coffin. Later, the crystal sarcophagus will also appear in the tales of the Brothers Grimm: "The Glass Coffin" and "Snow White".

The beauty of 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 a prince, and his mistress - with his mother. And the cause of lethargic sleep made the curse of an angry and offended fairy. In addition, in his creation by a kiss, awakening and marriage, the matter does not end, since the young couple were to be tested in the person of the mother-in-law, who was about to eat her grandchildren. But the girl's parents do not live up to the happy end. The Brothers Grimm not only that everything ends at the moment of an awakening kiss, they together with the princess fall asleep the whole kingdom. These are the differences between the French and German canons.

Confusion

When 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 the adaptations for children of N. Kasatkina, T. Gabba, A. Lyubarskaya and others. If you are adherents of the Russian mentality, choose the work that AS Pushkin wrote. A sleeping beauty in his interpretation does not overshadow the baby's dream. However, all the retellings are purposely "facilitated", that is, they are invariably freed from minor details and intended for adult morality. After all, in fact, both Perrault and the Grimm brothers themselves were original tellers, and their creations have a fascinating prehistory, and the "Sleeping Beauty" is no exception. The author of the fairy tale, whether it's Charles Perrault or Grimm, canonized the same folklore subjects, that's why in the author's case sometimes confusion occurs.