I think you're rather underestimating the sexism present in the work of Basile, Perrault, and the Grimms, personally.
In "Sun, Moon, and Talia" (the source for "Sleeping Beauty"), the princess is raped and impregnanted by a king and wakes up when one of her children tries to nurse from her finger, pulling out the piece of flax under her nail. Then rapist king comes back and finds Talia and the children and takes them to his castle and his wife throws a fit and tries to have Talia and the children killed. But before she can manage it, the king finds out and orders his wife's execution and marries Talia.
In Perrault's "Bluebeard", the heroine marries a serial killer who attempts to kill her after she finds out his secret, but Perrault's moral tacked on into the end is about the perils of female disobedience and curiosity. This really does not fit with the story at all, but he throws it in anyway.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2015-08-28 06:06 pm (UTC)In "Sun, Moon, and Talia" (the source for "Sleeping Beauty"), the princess is raped and impregnanted by a king and wakes up when one of her children tries to nurse from her finger, pulling out the piece of flax under her nail. Then rapist king comes back and finds Talia and the children and takes them to his castle and his wife throws a fit and tries to have Talia and the children killed. But before she can manage it, the king finds out and orders his wife's execution and marries Talia.
In Perrault's "Bluebeard", the heroine marries a serial killer who attempts to kill her after she finds out his secret, but Perrault's moral tacked on into the end is about the perils of female disobedience and curiosity. This really does not fit with the story at all, but he throws it in anyway.