FEMALE SYMBOLS AT THE CROSSROADS IN DISNEY’S FAIRYTALES (CINDERELLA, BELLE, AURORA AND MALEFICENT)
FEMALE SYMBOLS AT THE CROSSROADS IN DISNEY’S FAIRYTALES (CINDERELLA, BELLE, AURORA AND MALEFICENT)

Summary/Abstract: Beyond their entertaining role, the quests narrated by fairy tales, which take their readers/ spectators on the peaks of fantasy, also hide striking secrets unveiled by the interpretation of symbols (especially since fairy tales carry cultural and social values and have always served as education tools). The Walt Disney Company has transformed well-known fairy tales, such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast into successful animated movies, initially spreading patriarchal values that taught women about their proper social role and duties. Across time, Disney’s perspective has gradually changed, due to the evolution of social mentalities and taboos, bringing important changes particularly from a feminist perspective. This paper approaches several female characters, analyzing their evolution from passive child-like women, with a gender-based lifestyle (Cinderella and Aurora in Disney’s animated movies) into more emancipated and audacious women, whose actions lead to decisive plot twists (Cinderella in the movie Cinderella (2015) and Aurora in Maleficent (2014); Belle in the animated movie Beauty and the Beast (1991) and in the movie with the same name released in 2017). Special attention is also paid to the evolution of Maleficent, the negative female character from Sleeping Beauty, whose Disney representation is changed radically in Maleficent.

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