Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Fairy Tale Examinations #1

The Princess and the Pea

Now, I love these stories--really. Still, I think it's time to face it: Fairy tales are thilly. For those who don't already know, thilly means "Sillier than silly." I can't think of a better description than that for The Princess and the Pea.

Enter our prince. Let's call him Fred. Many young ladies wish they could marry Fred.

Why? Well, he's a prince. Apparently, they don't need another reason.

He doesn't want to marry these ladies, because they aren't princesses.

This seems to be his only requirement in a future spouse.

This is well-known, so many young ladies pretend to be royalty, in hopes of winning his hand.

Is everyone in the fairy tale world desperate?

He doesn't want to deal with fake princesses anymore. One final princess (let's call her Sally) didn't get that memo, so she shows up. They offer her a room, with a bed piled high with mattresses.

40 of them, by my count. Imagine it. 40 mattresses wouldn't fit in my entire room.

She says nothing about this. 

Is she used to sleeping in places where rolling over could result in serious injury or death? Perhaps princesses are only allowed in towers.

Unbeknownst to Sally, Fred's mother has placed a pea under her bed. Under all 40+ mattresses.

Was this a common experiment? Also, Fred's mother seems to have an unhealthy involvement in his choice of a spouse...

In the morning, Sally complains that she couldn't sleep at all.

Here she is, accepting a room from strangers gracious enough to offer it, and she complains.

Fred realizes that only a princess could be that sensitive, and decides to marry her.

Hold on. She's worth marrying because she's whiny and sensitive? Oh boy, Fred...you got yourself a keeper here.

Let's not even get into the fact that they've known each other...what? Not even 24 hours? Even ignoring that completely, this is ridiculous.

They are married, and live happily ever after.

I sense sarcasm in this ending. At least, it would be there if I were the author!

I'm curious; what fairy tales leave you scratching your head?

4 comments:

  1. *giggle* I LOVE how you dissected this fairy tale! I always wondered why the Princess and the Pea never made any sense...now I know! Thank you so much for sharing this! I love it!

    Jessica

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  2. Thank you! I'm glad I'm not the only one bothered by it. ;)

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  3. LOL... that always was one of my least favorites. XD I mean, seriously... what a brat! I don't know if it was just the version I read, but she was just awful about how horrible the bed was - I would never complain like that to strangers who took me in! And yeah, from what I remember, his mother was looking so hard because he was too lazy to find himself a wife.
    Those two deserved each other. :P

    You have to wonder about the person who came up with that one though... What where they thinking?

    hahaha, now I suddenly want to write a story about a minstrel/bard/something similar who has a story suddenly demanded of him in a strange court - and this is ridiculous tale he comes up with. (I think he was a minstrel in disguise and that's why he couldn't think of a better story... he was actually a spy...) XD

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  4. No kidding! Haha, I suppose they did. ;)

    Really...

    Lol! You should write it!!

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Your comments make me smile!