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Peter Nguyen
Professor Haas
Writing 39B
6 March 2016
Clash of Societal Norms: Beautiful Damsel in Distress vs. Strong Independent Heroine
The Sleeper and the Spindle, a novella written by Neil Gaiman, is a mashup of two very
well known classic fairy tales, Snow White and The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood, but with a
significant plot twist at the end. Traditionally, fairy tales have been passed down for generations
through oral tradition before being written down. The first fairy tales were written down in 16th
century Italy while other famous time periods and locations for fairy tales included 17th century
France and 19th century Germany. Despite their geographical and temporal differences, these
stories usually display similarities between all of them that connect them as a genre, such as
common cultural motifs, precautionary lessons, etc. The Sleeper and the Spindle takes these well
established fairy tale conventions and reimagines them in order to appeal to a 21st century
audience. This audience mainly consists of younger and older adults who appreciate fairy tales in
general or know the stories of Snow White and The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood. These two
previously mentioned tales serve as a record that reflects the attitudes during their own time
period and places of origin, which are 17th century France and 19th century Germany,
respectively. During these time periods, women were considered to be weak and had to depend
on men for financial stability, which was reflected in classic fairy tales when women played the
damsel in distress, while men came across as strong bold characters (Lee). Adhering to such
connotations, women were trained and expected to cook, clean, and rear the children while the
men were busy working to provide for the family. Due to these perceptions and expectations of

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women and the fact that the wife did not contribute economically to the family finances, there
was a definite lessening of her status within society (Fisher). This quote from Fisher, a history
professor from Clark College, shows the result of the vicious cycle that had afflicted women of
the past. Fast forward to the 21st century and these societal norms toward women have
significantly changed, so much that they would be considered extremely liberal and progressive
in terms of 17th and 19th century standards. Women in these time periods were regularly barred
from attending schools, obtaining jobs, and doing anything besides being faithful housewives to
their husbands. In other words, womens rights and life goals in those time periods were
extremely limited compared to nowaday. Since those times, the societal norm has shifted from
women being subservient to men to women being their equal, well for the most part at least.
With such changes to the standards of society, Gaiman accordingly makes changes to several
fairy tale conventions in order for his story to likewise reflect the contemporary values of its
people just like the other two tales do. The two conventions that have been most noticeably
changed from the classic fairy tales are the struggle to achieve autonomy and the drive to be the
most beautiful. Throughout the centuries, women have been considered to be subservient to men,
but Neil Gaimans The Sleeper and the Spindle dares to defy these antiquated expectations in
order to appeal to the next generation of fairy tale readers and does so by changing how the
audience should perceive a womans struggle to achieve autonomy and drive to be the most
beautiful.
Women of the past were very limited in what they had to do and what they wanted to do.
Husbands usually expected their wives to do all of the household chores, which included
cooking, cleaning, and rearing children, and if the wives wanted to pursue any extracurricular
activities, the men of the society would usually prevent it. In the Brothers Grimms tale, Snow

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White, the titular character is seen serving the seven dwarfs by accepting to cook, sew, make
beds, wash, and knit, and keep everything clean and orderly, and in return, she will have
everything that [she] want[s] (Grimm). This sounds uncannily similar to a marriage, and it is a
message that is implied to its audience, some of which are young girls who grow up listening to
such subliminal messages. In contrast to this, The Sleeper and the Spindle provides the message
that women can be strong figures who can go on adventures to faraway lands in order to deal
with problems themselves. Usually in 17th to 19th century societies, the good female is
generally submissively accepting of her lot in life while waiting for the prince to appear and take
control of her destiny (Neikirk). This story challenges the notion that women should grow up
dreaming of the perfect man that they will one day marry, aspiring only to be his loyal
housewife. Instead, the story shows a strong, independent woman in charge of her own kingdom,
and when the kingdom nearby is struck with a plague that causes sleep in its subjects, she does
not simply call for a man to solve the problem. Rather, she elects herself to embark on the
dangerous journey, opposing the belief that women are always dependent on men for everything.
In addition, ever since education was made free and public to everyone, women have had the
chance to excel in a field that have been prohibited to them up until then. This change in society
is reflected in how the dwarfs say to the queen, You are very wise...You always were wise
(Gaiman). Another perception, or misconception, of women is that they are prone to temptation,
which goes all the way back to Eve taking the apple from the devil serpent. This was paralleled
in Snow White when she is continually tricked to open the door for her stepmother, leading up
to the third time when she gives her a poisoned apple. These two changes point to a counterpart
that is obviously smarter and stronger-willed than before, dispelling a lot of the negative
characteristics that were attributed to women. Near the end of the story, the queen thinks to

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herself that, There are choices, and then They walked east, all four of them, away from the
sunset and the lands they knew, and into the night (Gaiman). This largely differs from the
traditional ending to Snow White that everyone is accustomed to, where she is found and
awakened by her prince and then marries him. Back in 17th to 19th century Europe, marriage is
usually followed by economic stability for women, especially if they married into royalty. In the
case of the usual fairy tale, the princess would get married and live in a huge castle happily ever
after without a worry for anything. In The Sleeper and the Spindle, she forwent her wedding in
favor of going on an adventure to the land in the east and being able to make her own decision
about her future. In the beginning of the story, the queen is greatly concerned that the wedding
would be the end of her life...if life was a time of choices (Gaiman). Young girls back in the
17th and 19th centuries would never think of forgoing marriage because it meant that they would
have no other way to support themselves financially, an economic suicide. The quote from
Gaimans story shows how the modern woman has more options than just getting married and
being a housewife for the rest of her life.
The Sleeper and the Spindle explores another traditional fairy tale convention, which is
the vice of striving to be the most beautiful. In the story, the evil witch, who becomes the young
girl, tricks the young princess and steals her youth and dreams at the cost of everyone in the
kingdom and beyond falling under a deep slumber. This act of horrendous proportions is the
epitome of her overwhelming evil, and the worst part is that this premeditated act of villainy is
not followed by as much as a hint of remorse or regret. All of this is done just so that the old
witch can once again regain her youth and beauty, which shows that she wanted to be beautiful
and thus did everything in her power to achieve that goal. This is actually quite understandable to
some extent because attractiveness is the most important attribute that a woman can possess,

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and is often an indicator of chances of future happiness (Neikirk). This meant that beauty was
power since the value of a woman was determined by how beautiful they were. One study states
that beauty is one of the major means by which adolescent girls and women gain social status
and self-esteem, and that women are aware that beauty counts heavily with men and they
therefore work hard to achieve it (Baker-Sperry). In a way, this does provide somewhat
sufficient motivation for what the evil witch does. With that said, the evil witch does go through
extreme measures in a blind attempt to be more beautiful. She was successful in gaining back her
beauty, but she could not use it in any meaningful as she was confined to her bed for the entire
time. In contrast to this, the Snow White doppelganger is never mentioned as beautiful or
associated with the word beauty, which represents a modern woman who does not need to
conform to the outdated expectations of women. As the European women of the past were
concerned with their beauty, the modern women of today are concerned with other possible
career paths. Ever since 1866, the suffrage movement campaigned to get women the vote, as
well as increased employment and educational opportunities for women, reform of married
womens property law, more equitable divorce laws, and repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts,
which subjected alleged prostitutes to examination for venereal disease to some success
(Emsley). Even with minimal success, this movement jump-started the era of womens rights,
which culminated in legislation, such as the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to
vote in the United States. This gave women the ability to make their own choices and decide
their own fates by voting on legislation that was more favorable toward them. With this came the
ability to support themselves without reliance on a man, enabling them to be independent and
thus not having to strive to be the most beautiful. The evil act committed by the old witch reflects
the old societal norms, and in the end, she symbolically dies, ending with her the gross

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expectation that women should strive to and do everything in their power to be the most
beautiful.
All of these changes for women can be attributed to the Suffragette Movement in
England and the 19th Amendment in the United States, which gave women the right to vote and
thus the power to decide their own fate. This led to women having the choice to leave the
household in search for jobs and opportunities. At the rate of change that women have
experienced, The Sleeper and the Spindle only further expresses the idea that women can be
strong and independent and do not have to rely on or be a housewife to a man, especially when
there are an abundant amount of options to choose from that the previous generations of women
could only dream about.

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Works Cited
Baker-Sperry, Lori, and Liz Grauerholz. "The Pervasiveness and Persistence of the Feminine
Beauty Ideal in Children's Fairy Tales." North Seattle College | NSC. North Seattle
College, Oct. 2003. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.
Emsley, Clive, Tim Hitchcock, and Robert Shoemaker. "Historical Background - Gender in the
Proceedings." Old Bailey Proceedings Online. Old Bailey Online. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.
Fisher, Anita. "Women in the Middle Class in the 19th Century." WELCOME TO THE
PENGUIN NATION. Clark College. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.
Gaiman, Neil, and Chris Riddell. The Sleeper and the Spindle. London: Bloomsbury, 2014.
2014. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.
Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm. "Snow-White." And Other Tales of Type 709. Trans. D. L.
Ashliman. University of Pittsburgh, 1998. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.
Lee, Alicia. "Traditional Gender Roles Prevail through 21st Century." Saratoga Falcon. Saratoga
High School, 19 Mar. 2008. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.
Neikirk, Alice. ""...Happily Ever After" (or What Fairytales Teach Girls About Being Women)."
University of Hawaii at Hilo. University of Hawaii at Hilo. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.