Anna Rafferty
LIT2020- Section 10
Professor
6 February, 2015
Hear Me Roar For years, males have dominated the novel writing industry, included in this industry were many fairy tales written for entertainment and seemingly to relay obscure cultural messages. The fairy tales that our parents have read to us night after night and the Disney movies we all know and love. What we didn’t know was how the authors of these stories were strengthening the stereotypical gender performances and social constructions enforced by many institutions for hundreds of years. Males wrote of tales characterized by hopeless woman whose’ fates are solely based on their appearances and their relationships to the male characters. Leaving the males generalized by acting as the foundation of all happiness and stability in life and in the tale. Falling into this classification," The Lady and the Lion”, a less dramatized telling of Disney’s “A Beauty and the Beast”, represses its female characters and glorifies the males. Although, the stories plot is based on the women’s actions, they are never shown in a positive light throughout; the novel displays specific gender roles that designate stability and strength as male qualities and beauty, foolishness and helplessness for the female characters. Demonstrated in hundreds of literary pieces of the past, women’s independence has always been slim. The tale begins with a confrontation between a young father and the Lion prince. As the confrontation unravels, the father agrees to give the Lion the first thing that greets him upon reaching the gate of his house, in order to take the flower from the princes garden. In compliance with the argument settlement, the father is reluctantly forced to trade his youngest and fairest daughter to the Lion. Similar to scenarios in many other fairy tales, where females, in most cases princesses, are used as bargaining chips for males and are given as prizes for a victorious deed the male has achieved. And in winning that prize, the male is often able to control the female character. The Lion having married the third daughter, began to put on the gender performance expected of a husband and his wife in turn did the same; so much so that the Princess sought permission from the Prince to go to her sisters wedding at her parents home. Following this journey to her parents farm, the Lion prince who is unable to be touched with the slightest bit of light, is struck with a ray, furthering his enchantment with having to roam the land for seven years as a dove. The Prince then states, "I am going: follow it" and in response to this seemingly outrageous request, "he flew out the door, and she followed" (pg. 52). Resurfacing the characteristic of the hopeless female, the Princess does not stay at the castle to take care of their child and home. More often time than not in tales such as this, women are seen as objects of desire. The only way to operate in their society is to be attractive. As demonstrated by the Father's thoughts about his daughters and the way he views them, "as she was the fairest daughter and was very fond of flowers, her father said he would try what he could do" (pg. 49). The story goes on to tell of his trifles to get this flower, yet never mentions if the other daughters were to get their gifts, because they are unattractive, therefore unimportant. As the plot unravels and the Princess end sup getting separated from her husband as she follows his journey, the Princess begins searching for him. Along the way she asks the sun, the moon and the wind to help her by asking one request from each. Among the things that the Princess was offered was a sparking dress given by the Sun, that she was to wear to the castle of the Dragon Princess to win back her prince. Playing into this general stereotype that women are stupid with a one track mind, the Princess attempts to trick the Dragon Princess into giving the wife a chance to talk with her husband in exchange for
