Prince decides he wants to find princess to marry.
Sends out a notice that all available maidens/princesses should come to the castle so he can choose the one he wants.
Princess/Maiden is thrilled to be chosen.
They are married.
They live happily ever after.
The kids and I recently read Sugar Cane, A Caribbean Rapunzel by Patricia Storace. I loved that in this version Rapunzel (or Sugar Cane) has dark curly hair!
Reflecting on this book further I realized it followed the same pattern as every fairy tale (which makes sense - it is more or less the story of Rapunzel).
- Why in every fairy tale the prince/male has the choice of female he chooses to marry?
- Why do all of these women flock to the castle/male with the hope that they will be the chosen one?
- What if there was a better match elsewhere?
- Why aren't there stories of men vying for a females hand in marriage?
I'm becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the language that sounds like finding a partner is a shopping adventure where one (male) "chooses" and "gets" a female once he decides he wants to get married.
I keep feeling like we "should" do fairy tales/legends and then I get frustrated and put them away for a while ... until I bring them out again and remember why I put them away last time.
