The classic princesses – Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora – get a lot of criticism for being “damsels in distress,” just as Ariel gets criticized for “being dumb” by giving up her voice to become human and Belle having “Stockholm syndrome” because she fell for The Beast.
I once thought these same things about these characters as I started getting older, despite my love of Disney. However, my opinions were quickly changed when I decided to open a party princess company – dressing up as one of these iconic ladies and entertaining children at birthday parties – and had to dig deep to analyze these characters to portray them accurately. The classic princesses suddenly had more meaning to me, maybe it’s because I’m older, or maybe it’s because I forced myself to open my eyes just a little bit more.
SNOW WHITE:
Many criticize this young princess because she was a damsel in distress who had to be saved by a prince. However, when she started to live with the dwarves to hide from the Evil Queen, she took charge of the seven men, forcing them to tidy up and to control their tempers. Yes, she may do the cooking for them, and yes it can be linked to a female stereotype, but perhaps she chooses to do this because she actually enjoyed cooking and wanted to do something nice for her hosts. Was she perhaps not the smartest by taking an apple from a stranger? Yes, but the sad truth of it is that Snow White is a naive 14-year-old who chose to see only kindness in everyone. That in itself is admirable.
CINDERELLA:
Was she saved from her toxic stepfamily by marrying a prince? Yes. However, Cinderella has a lot more than what is on the surface. She was not wishing to marry Prince Charming at the beginning of her story. Cindy, a nickname many use for her, stayed strong, and chose a positive mindset over a negative one as she is abused by her stepmother and stepsisters. She went through years of abuse and pain but continued to maintain a positive outlook on her life, insisting that “a dream is a wish your heart makes.”
AURORA:
This princess is a hard one to defend, especially as she only has 18 lines in her entire movie. However, she is not fully to blame for her limited personality. The three good fairies she lived with isolated her in the forest to keep her away from Maleficent, and it is obvious they limited her contact with the outside world when she tells them that she met Prince Phillip in the woods. However, Aurora is a great example of how to show kindness and continue to have bright dreams for the future.
ARIEL:
How can anyone not like this little mermaid? I am biased as she was my introduction to the world of Disney. However, many criticize Ariel for being dumb for giving away her voice. However, this princess has so much more to offer, having a thirst for knowledge about the world above and her singing. You have to remember as far as we know, she was not looking for love at the beginning of her movie. It wasn’t until she saw Prince Eric did she start to seek love. Ariel also teaches an important lesson through her mistake of giving up her voice: there are other ways to get what you want and more safely. Ariel also helped take down Ursula in the final showdown at the end of the movie.
BELLE:
Many say this princess has Stockholm syndrome and while that may be what it looks like, it really isn’t. Yes, the Beast was awful when she first met him, I will agree with that. However, he changes because his love grows for Belle, not only because she can break the spell of being a Beast, due to having no love in his heart. As Belle sees all that he is doing for her –- such as that library, what bookworm would not fall in love with a man who did all of that for her? – her love starts to grow for him, even singing “True, that he’s no prince charming / but there’s something in him that I simply didn’t see.”
RAPUNZEL:
Never did I think I would have to defend this princess, but I do. Does Flynn/Eugene help open the door to the outside world for her? Yes, but Rapunzel has so much fire in her with the frying pan, the way she uses her hair as a tool and her words. Did Eugene save Rapunzel from Mother Gothel? Yes, but it was she who made the choice to leave her tower. We must remember that Rapunzel also saved Flynn by bringing him back to life at the end of “Tangled.”
ELSA:
Yes, this snow queen is a queen, but I will also group her in here. Did Elsa run from her problems in “Frozen?” Yes, but Elsa also shows that you can keep anxiety at bay. She went through years of anxiety, fearful of hurting people with her magic, especially Anna, which is why she ran away after her coronation. By doing so, she thought she was saving her people from herself. However, Elsa learns to control her magic and to keep her anxiety at bay. In “Frozen II,” Elsa “steps into (her) power” and becomes the fifth spirit, finally being at peace with herself and becoming who she was meant to be. Elsa has helped me learn to not let my anxiety get the best of me and has shown me to not be afraid of who I truly am. I guess you can say that she’s told me to “let it go” as “the past is in the past.”
