I found this in a blog post at http://blondesense.blogspot.com/2007/04/modern-fairy-tale.html
A Modern Fairy Tale
Once upon a time
In a land far away,
A beautiful, independent,
Self-assured princess
Happened upon a frog as she sat
Contemplating ecological issues
On the shores of an unpolluted pond
In a verdant meadow near her castle.
The frog hopped into the princess' lap
And said: "Elegant Lady,
I was once a handsome prince,
Until an evil witch cast a spell upon me.
One kiss from you, however,
And I will turn back
Into the dapper, young prince that I am
And then, my sweet, we can marry
And set up housekeeping in your castle
With my mother,
Where you can prepare my meals,
Clean my clothes, bear my children,
And forever feel
Grateful and happy doing so. "
That night,
As the princess dined sumptuously
On lightly sauteed frog legs
Seasoned in a white wine
And onion cream sauce,
She chuckled and thought to herself:
I don't fucking think so.
I found this retelling of The Frog Prince hilarious and very interesting for several reasons: 1) the princess is an environmentalist contemplating ecological issues- when has the princess ever before been allowed to think about something outside the context of the fairytale plot? 2) the prince automatically assumes that it is indeed the princess’s sole goal in life to marry a prince, keep house for him, and be happy doing it- little does he know how wrong she is; 3) the fact that the prince wants to move in with his mother is all too telling, especially the fact that he makes a specific point to mention it; 4) the amount of detail spent on how the frog legs are cooked is hilarious; 5) good punch-line, excuse the language. This version pokes fun at the assumptions made in fairytales regarding the way in which characters think. It reminded me of the animated opening of the film Enchanted in which Prince Edward and Giselle know instantaneously upon their first meeting that they are meant for each other and will “be married in the morning.” The character of the frog prince in this case probably wholeheartedly believes that simply by revealing his title of prince to the princess he will get what he wants and in his mind live happily ever after with his new wife waiting on his hand and foot. The princess, however, is clearly thinking outside the box when it comes to her “fairytale” situation. She doesn’t want what the prince has to offer, so why should she accept it? While in a realistic situation (not that princes are in reality transformed into frogs) the princess’ decision to kill and eat that which threatened her freedom, it gets the point across that in this case the princess does not owe it to any fairytale trope to lay down and let an arrogant prince walk all over her.
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Everything is so over the top here, which I enjoy. It doesn't try to be subtle at all. Is this going to win any real notoriety for its masterful use of the English language? Doubtful. But it is effective in making its point. It definitely takes a swipe at the glorification of fairytale endings. Note the first paragraph which clearly lays out that this princess is an independent, intelligent woman. Not to mention she is a princess that lives in a beautiful castle. I guess I never noticed it before, but this telling of the fairytale really makes it obvious that this girl is really pretty well off at the beginning of the story. Why would she need some random Prince to come sweep her off her feet, much less one currently in the form of an amphibian? This is not unique to this version, many a tale begin with a princess who already has everything she could want. So is it simply an issue of when these tales were originally written? That no matter how well off a woman is, she must marry a man of status? Regardless of prevailing thoughts at the time, that something like this can be written, read, and completely understood says that we have come a long way in allowing women to choose their own path.
ReplyDeleteI have seen this poem before, although I don't remember where or when. The thing that stuck out to me was that the frog prince wanted to go live in the princess's castle! Not only did he want her to wait on him hand and foot, live with his mother, and be grateful for it, the frog wanted to do so in the princess's castle. The stupid frog literally had to do nothing to live a life of luxury- he was not providing the princess with anything she did not already have (and I am going to assume he was providing her with several things she did not want, sorry mother-in-law).
ReplyDeleteLooking back, this scenario happens in a variety of the "classic" fairy tales we read, whenever the prince arrives in the princess’s kingdom and marries her. For example, The Glass Mountain left a princess in her castle with her treasure and now, whether she likes it or not, a husband. Along the same line are some versions of Sleeping Beauty. Like Justin said, the princess just seems to be waiting for a prince even though she is pretty well off without him.