Aurora

Our third princess, who made her debut in 1959, was the last princess Walt Disney lived to see. And while Snow White and Cinderella shared similar situations, Aurora became the focal point of an entirely different kind of story. The first two princesses were meant, for the most part, to relate to their audiences. Their obstacles were much like the obstacles of every day people of the time, only in a kind of storybook form. But Aurora’s story is a great deal more fantastical.

Everything about the tale of Sleeping Beauty, including the way the story is drawn and narrated, alludes to the time in which it takes place: the fourteenth century. It is a medieval time, a period ruled by kings and the knights who served them. Aurora is the daughter of King Stephan and his beloved queen. She is their treasure, as they had not been able to have children until they were at last blessed with her. The day of her birth is declared a national holiday, and everyone who is anyone is invited to celebrate and pay tribute to her. It is even decided that she would become betrothed to Prince Phillip, which would create a partnership with a friendly neighboring kingdom. Given the culture and circumstances, really it just couldn’t be going any better.

The conflict arises when magic comes into play, and magic is essentially the ruling force in this movie. The three good fairies come to bestow their gifts on the princess, and two of them succeed. Aurora is granted beauty and the ability to sing. I always wondered what the third gift would have been, if evil had not interfered. But in storms Maleficent, who is, in my opinion, one of the best and baddest Disney villains of them all. She is the self-proclaimed “mistress of all evil,” and I could easily do an entire article just on her, but I digress. The point is, she too bestows a “gift,” though we would call it a curse. Aurora is to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday.

Something which everyone present finds deeply distressing. And unfortunately, Maleficent escapes their attempts to seize her, and the deed is done. Her curse cannot be lifted. It is lessened, however, by the gift of the last good fairy, who proclaims that Aurora will not die, but only fall into a deep sleep until true love’s kiss break the spell. Nevertheless, every possible measure is taken from that moment on to prevent the curse from ever coming to fruition. Reluctant but desperate, the king and queen agree to allow their daughter to be raised by the good fairies, hidden away in a cottage in the forest. The sixteen years that follow are filled with anxiety for the bereft parents, and with a great deal of frustration for Maleficent.

I’d like to skip right to the controversy with Princess Aurora, because she does not fit the mold of the strong, independent women. In fact, I’m almost tempted to say that she’s even less feminist than Snow White, the reason being that Aurora speaks less than any other Disney princess. She only has eleven lines of dialogue in the whole film, not including her singing. And I can’t say that she ever resists whatever is happening to her, good or bad, because she doesn’t. However, as I said before, I personally don’t think that Aurora is meant to function as a relatable character, not the way Snow White or Cinderella did. While the situations of the last two princesses reflected the situations of the audiences, Aurora’s story is actually more about the clash of good and evil. Her personal struggle isn’t the focus.

This is the focus. This is Prince Phillip, armed with the shield of virtue and the sword of truth (given to him by the good fairies), facing off Maleficent and all of her deadly power. And on that note, I’d like to point out that Aurora doesn’t really have to be the feminist figure in this movie, because all of the most powerful magical characters are women. I rather think that Aurora represents innocence, and she is therefore defended by the good and attacked by the bad. And what a fight it is.

I don’t want to say that Aurora is an underdeveloped character, however, because I don’t believe she is. It may be that she speaks less and it may be that she spends the last half of the movie asleep. Nevertheless, I implore you to take a closer look. Princess Aurora has some of the most telling facial expressions of any Disney character. In the above picture, she’s being sent away by the three fairies (her “aunts”) so that they can put together a surprise birthday for her. Judging by her face, we know that she knows something’s up, though she says nothing. And it’s like that with her all the time.

This is her meeting Prince Phillip for the first time. She’s not supposed to talk to strangers, and he is one. She’s pulling back, but she doesn’t want to be impolite either. She’s shy, but intrigued. She’s skeptical, but not cold.

This is Aurora later that same day, when her world has been turned upside down. She didn’t know that the man she’d met was Prince Phillip, her betrothed. All she knows in this moment is that she’s suddenly a princess, torn away from the life she’s always known, destined to marry a man she believes she’s never met. She sees herself in the mirror, and she’s never looked more regal, but her look can only be described as one of despair as she silently (but with head held high) yields to her duty.

This is one of my favorites. She’s being led by a glowing (and very creepy) green light towards a spinning wheel, which of course will fulfill the curse. Now, part of this is that she is unable to resist the light’s allure. Maleficent obviously has some sort of hold on her. But that’s not the whole story. Look at her face now. Look at that distinctively quirked eyebrow. She’s curious. There is at least a small part of her saying “what the heck is that thing? I want to find out.” That’s not necessary to the story, but its a detail that speaks volumes for her personality.

And this is arguably the most important one. Disney is about hope, about the belief that good always triumphs over evil. So of course Prince Phillip defeats the dragon (Maleficent), and of course they get to be together in the end. This is when he has just kissed her, thus breaking the curse and waking her up. This is when she sees him. Her face is serene; she has just recognized him. And her lips are just beginning to form a smile. Not an excited one. This is not an “I can’t believe you’re here!” moment. This face says “I knew it was you. And I know now that everything will be okay.”

Princess Aurora, not unlike her Disney predecessors, is a woman of inner and outer beauty. She isn’t active in her own destiny, and yet she throws an enormous battle of good and evil into motion just by existing. As I said, I think she’s more of a representation or embodiment, if you will, of innocence, or perhaps idealism. Every other character in the movie has one motive or another to either protect her or destroy her, and they all fight fiercely to meet their ends. It’s interesting, because she’s very neutral. She’s good, yes, but she doesn’t fight for good. She just…is.

But of course, if we go off of my theory as to what she represents, that works very well. Stories are all about symbolism, representations, personification, allegories, clever hidden ways to say things without saying them outright. That’s why, for example, all Disney heroines are shown as being beautiful. It’s meant to represent who they are on the inside. I believe Aurora is special because she is more than Aurora, the sixteen year old cursed princess. She also plays the role of something worth fighting for. Values and qualities that people have been willing to fight over for thousands of years. To me, that goes beyond the question of whether she’s “weak” or not. She’s good, and therefore the forces of good are behind her. That being the case, there are few who could be considered more powerful.