A Feminist Approach to

Examining Elizabeth Rudnick’s

Maleficent

Submitted by:
Masangya, Rhea Mae T.
10- Assumption of Mary

Submitted to:
Mr. Alexis D. Par
December 02, 2019
I. Formalistic Analysis of the Text

 Characters
1) Maleficent

 A fairy who allocated herself to act as the guardian of the Moors.

Initially kind and nature-loving, she was appallingly deceived by her
human love Stefan, causing her to execrate him, and humans as well. Her
ultimate revenge against him involves cursing his daughter, Princess
Aurora. She developed a matriarchal love for Aurora after some time

2) Aurora

 The daughter of King Stefan and Queen Leila, Maleficent curses her on
the day of her christening to fall into an enchanted sleep by pricking her
finger on a spindle before sundown on her sixteenth birthday. To prevent
that from happening, the king orders her sent away into the care of the
three good fairies until the day after the curse is to take effect. She
developed an unexplained love for Maleficent as she called her
godmother.

3) Stefan

 Stefan met Maleficent as an orphan boy, attempting to steal a gemstone in

the Moors. He grew up in a barn, but wants to be king.The two became
friends and even fell in love. At the same time, though, Stefan was
climbing up in the human ranks. When the dying King Henry promised his
throne to the one who could vanquish Maleficent, Stefan obliged. Unable
to bear killing her, he severed her wings instead, earning the crown but
also triggering Maleficent's Start of Darkness. He has betrayed his love to
prove his worth.
4) Diaval

 Originally an ordinary raven caught in a net, Diaval is saved when

Maleficent transforms him into a man, scaring off the superstitious human
about to kill him. Bound to her by that life debt, Diaval serves Maleficent
primarily by acting as her new "wings". Maleficent’s loyal servant, who, on
her command, can take on different forms to suit her purposes. He serves
as Maleficent’ conscience and has strong beliefs, which he is not afraid to
act on.

5) Lysander and Hermia

 They are the parents of Maleficent. They portrayed unconditional love for
the Moors, the creatures of Moors, and most specially for their child
Maleficent. They died when Maleficent was still a baby.

6) Three little fairies

 Three pixies who arrive at Aurora's christening in order to foster peace

between the two kingdoms. When Maleficent curses the young princess,
the three of them are charged with raising Aurora in order to avoid the
curse. They are known as Knotgrass, Flittle, and Thistlewit. Knotgrass is a
tangled knot of bad humor, bossiness, and a superior to the other two
Pixies. Flittle is a blue Flower Pixie. She always has butterflies flying
around her head. Thistlewit, the youngest of the Pixies, is always giddy,
playful and childlike.

7) King Henry
  The vain, cruel king of the human kingdom at the beginning of the story.
Henry promised his people that during his reign he would conquer the
Moors. When the invasion he launches fails because of Maleficent, he
declares that whoever defeated Maleficent would be named his
successor.
8) Prince Philip

 A prince of a neighboring kingdom who encounters Aurora in the woods.

He had a mutual attraction with Aurora.

 Setting

 The story Maleficent tells about a fairy who has a good heart that was
betrayed by a human which led her to find its territory which is known as
“Moors”. Moors is a peaceful place inhabited by gentle supernatural
creatures. Another important setting in this story is the Human Kingdom. It
is ruled by power hungry king. I think the author described each setting
well as I can say that I can visualize those easily. She used descriptive
words that made me understand & feel that I am in the story itself.

 Synopsis
A powerful fairy seeks revenge on the daughter of a human she once
loved by putting a curse on her. Maleficent is an evil fairy who puts a curse
on Aurora, the daughter of King Stefan saying that on her 16th birthday,
she will prick her finger and fall into a deep sleep that only true love can
break. Maleficent and Stefan were once lovers as teenagers, however
their relationship turned sour when the King at the time ordered
Maleficent's death and Stefan cut off her wings. In exchange, Stefan was
pronounced next in line to the throne and was married off to the princess.
The act made Maleficent truly bitter and angry towards all humans and
she vowed to get back at Stefan.
 Stefan had a baby daughter Aurora and at her baptism Maleficent cursed
her. In fear of what's to come, Stefan hides Aurora in the woods with the
help of three pixies and has all the wooden spindle machines destroyed,
since the prophecy foretells that she will prick her finger on one such
contraption. Aurora grows up to become a beautiful young lady, and
Maleficent and her aide Diaval watch her through the years. Despite
Maleficent's hatred towards Stefan, she harbors affection towards Aurora
and befriends her without telling her her true identity. Growing fond of
Aurora, Maleficent tries to reverse the curse but cannot undo it. It is now
up to "true love's kiss" for Aurora to be rid of the prophecy. She runs into a
young man, Philip one day in the woods, who falls in love with her, their
short meeting makes a huge impact on him.

One day, Aurora learns of Maleficent's true identity and confronts

Maleficent, she feels betrayed and returns back to the kingdom. Her 16th
birthday is nearing and she succumbs to the prick from one of the
discarded spindles. She lays in a deep sleep. Maleficent goes to the
castle, bringing Philip with her but when he kisses her, nothing happens.
Maleficent begs for forgiveness and kisses Aurora, which does the trick.
When the King is notified of Maleficent's intrusion, guards come and try to
fight her. Maleficent is reunited with her cut off wings which were kept in
the castle. Stefan and Maleficent face-off, and in a struggle, Stefan falls to
his death.

Maleficent restores beauty to the dark part of the kingdom while Aurora is
pronounced the new Queen.

 Theme
There are numbers of themes that you can extract from the story one of
these is revenge. One thing that I find interesting in this kind of theme is
there is always an involved innocent person. People tend to hurt those
 who hurt them simply by hurting the ones their hearts are closest to. This
action will lead you nowhere but a cycle of evilness. The second one is
love. At the first part, the parents of Maleficent has shown their
unconditional love for their child as they sacrificed their own lives for her.
This was also portrayed by Maleficent to Aurora. She has also shown her
matriarchal love for her without even noticing. She chose to know her
more which led to a love that no one can explain.

In the end, Maleficent’s change of mind happen unexpectedly. Her cold

heart began to melt and feel the warmth of it. This only imply in our mind
that there can be love even if you experienced pain.

 Style of writing

 The way the author starts is with the prologue. I can say that it is effective
as it has a smooth transition from human’s world to the fairies’ world. It is
also plausible that she made use of atypical plot which does not revolve
on two opposite sex’s love but the kind of love that only people involved
can explain. The author also used symbolism in her story. Maleficent’s
wings symbolizes her virginity. When it was took off by Stefan, she felt that
something special in her life was also took off. She felt that she lose both
her purity and virginity. This scene may also be portrayed as rape by
many. The story is told in a third persona wherein the narrator isn’t in the
story itself.
 Title

 The title of this story is Maleficent simply because the story itself revolves
on the main character, Maleficent. How her life began miserably as she
lost both her parents until the moment she is free from the chains of pain
and lives happily with the peaceful creatures of Moors.

 Conflict
 Conflict is a key theme and idea in the movie Maleficent and is present in
the film in many different forms and between many different characters.
The story has shown different kinds of conflict. One of these is man vs
himself. King Stefan’s inner conflict happened when he had a hard time
thinking whether killing the person he loves is worthy of the power and
throne he’ll get. Another one is Maleficent’s inner conflict. She cursed
Aurora to fall into an eternal slumber at age 16. But as Aurora grows, she
began to develop a soft spot for her that made her love enough to be
called “true love”. The main conflict in this story is man vs man. Maleficent
was full of hatred when Stefan betrayed her only to be King. There was a
lot of revenge in this conflict therefore Maleficent decided to cast a spell
on Aurora. Maleficent's anger was so powerful she wanted to make Stefan
miserable. As she was betrayed by her once friend, she had to seek
revenge on Stefan.

II. Delving deeper into the text

Maleficent, the character and the movie, turns that narrative upon herself, by
showing a matriarchal perspective and introducing new attitudes toward women. In the
story of Maleficent, we all know that she had a relationship with a human, King Stefan.
People could have viewed Maleficent as an angry ex-girlfriend if only they read the
beginning of the story but not after the guy took her wings and give it to King Henry. I
think the wings served as her virginity and she lost them in a “one-night stand” with
Stefan. This scene is powerful that a person may look at it as rape because the guy
drugged her which added to her tragic experience.

This story is atypical as she had a choice if she will continue the curse to Aurora
or let herself find out who the child is when it grows. When she realizes that the curse
isn’t deserve by the child, she owns her mistake and find a way to undo what she has
done to the child, even if she does not believe in a true love’s kiss of a man which only
mean that there is no way for her to fix the mess she has created to Aurora.

What really makes the difference is the fact that she isn’t your typical ex-
girlfriend wanting revenge, her choices to get to know the child instead of continually
plotting her revenge. And when she realizes the curse was a mistake, she owns it and
think of some thing to undo what she has done, even though there is no way for her to
fix the mess she has created for the Aurora. This is what makes the character of
Maleficent, feminist. By portraying a heroine who is also a villain Maleficent brings forth
a fantasy character who is complicated, has numerous dimensional and whose
vulnerability doesn’t need to be masked by her ability to fight. Sure she does engage in
many brawls, she fights for her self-defense than for violence. What truly makes her a
strong woman is her vulnerability and what it enables her to do what she does and
commit the actions she does. The goal of the new story seemed to focus on the
strength of Maleficent, Angelina Jolie even mentioned to Buzz Feed , “We wanted to tell
a story about the strength of women and the things they feel between one another.”

Also the story of Maleficent incorporates the “strong women don’t need a man”
mentality that we see in movies like Frozen. Instead of a male and female true love’s
kiss, we see that it doesn’t work and that really true love’s kiss is what Maleficent can
provide for the sleeping princess that she had been watching over. Maleficent’s love is
what saves the princess from eternal sleep, the prince has no reason to take credit for
it, he ends up just being arm candy if anything.

III. Annotation of cited lines

Citation of lines Annotation

“If it was true love, you would have woken Flittle said these words when a stranger
her” -Flittle
“I don’t like children.” -Maleficent
kissed Aurora in the woods. They are all
believing that a kiss from a man would
already be considered as true love. But
unfortunately, the guy’s kiss didn’t cause
Aurora anything good as she was still
asleep.
This happened when Maleficent found out
that her past lover, Stefan, has already a
child of his own. In our history, women

“Sweet Aurora, you stole what was left of
my heart. And now I’ve lost you forever. I
swear no harm will come to you as long
as I live, and not a day shall pass that I
won’t miss your smile.” -Maleficent
“You’ll be my wings” - Maleficent
“Slowly, Maleficent rose into the air,
looking like a creature from hell. Behind
her, there was only mist. No army of her
own. No fairies or creatures. Just
Maleficent” -Narrator(page 22)
“Have you not worked it out yet? I cursed
her that way because there is no such
thing.” -Maleficent
“Hello Godmother” -Aurora
are expected to bare a child as it is one of
their duties that time. This line only
shouts that women do have choices
whether they like children or not.
Maleficent said these words when she
was begging for Aurora to wake up in her
deep sleep.
She said this to Diaval when she saved
him by turning him into a man which
scared the human who wants to kill him.
As an exchange for her kindness, he let
himself be her wings. This only signifies
Maleficent’s courage to continue her life
despite of having no wings. It portrays
women stronger than how they are
viewed by some men who thinks that they
are above women in general.
This line in this story manifests
Maleficent’s bravery. She faced the King,
considered as a powerful person, all by
herself without any fear engraved on her
face.
This happened when Maleficent was
afraid that Aurora was still angry at her.
When Aurora woke up from a deep sleep,

“Don’t kill her” -Aurora
“You are no king to me!”- Maleficent
“I retract my curse,” she commands. “Let
it be no more.” -Maleficent
IV. Response to the essential question
she surprisingly greeted her so called
godmother with a smile on her face.
Maleficent realized as she look at Aurora
that a mother and daughter love could be
the truest form of love.
Aurora said this when she saw Maleficent
was in pain as the iron touched her
exposed flesh at the time the net fell
toward her place. Even if her own father
was by her side that time, her love for
Maleficent reigns as she continued to ask
for her father’s compassion towards
Maleficent. This only manifests the
mother and daughter love.
Maleficent said this when he faced King
Henry. At this time, she was fearless
even if she was alone. She let herself
looked like a creature from hell wherein
her only goal is to protect the Moors from
an invasion of the king of human
kingdom.
This happened when Maleficent chose to
remove the curse from Aurora as she
already grew a soft spot on her. Her love
for the girl outgrows her thought of
revenge. Truly a love that cannot
compare to anyone’s love.
“How do literary theories and criticism help readers like you to deeply
comprehend selection?”

Reading books or selections is still a trend in our society. People read

selections and feel enjoyed & happy after. But not all of them fully
understand what it is trying to imply in our minds as readers. What do we
need to know then? Is it reading the selection again? No, it is not a good
idea for it will consume more time. What about literary theories and
criticisms? Sounds good.

Literary theories is the body of ideas and methods we use in the practical
reading of literature while Literary Criticism is the reasoned consideration of
literary works and issues. After knowing both of its definitions, we can
proceed to having deeper understanding of these two.Reading a selection
and sharing it to your friends has started many years ago.These stories can
be read by many people but will interpret it differently. Given the role that
critics play in demonstrating which written work should garner the most
respect from the public and in deciding what the work is ‘really’ about, literary
critics are often the target of resentment.

Literary criticism helps reader develop critical thinking skills. Criticisms

take the reader to a higher level of intellectual thought by evaluating what the
critic says, and then applying it to the piece of literature in ways that is not
how they view it before. It then becomes useful in class discussion and/or
composition. Evaluating material and then correlating it into an original piece
of writing I think is one of the most effective ways to study literature.

Literary criticisms see the literary work from some point of views. For
instance; social aspect, economy, psychology, history, and philosophy.
Those aspects can enrich our knowledge as reader base on what aspect that
become our focus because critics as tool for the reader to deeper
understand what literary work talk about, what message the author wants to
stick in a reader’s mind.
 Furthermore, in literary studies needed specific analysis to know specific
aspect toward literary work. It is because each reader has different interest
based on his/her background knowledge or critical theory that used to study
the work. By applying certain critic to the literary work, it will be possible the
reader knows what others do not know because different point of view. that
is the principle of criticism as Alhemiry argued “to understand something
accurately which is misunderstood by "other" is one of the principles
of criticism.” It is clearly that criticism help the reader to understand the work
through specific point of view to know something that the others do not
understand within the the literary work.

V. Citation of References

https://lisathatcher.com/2014/05/30/maleficent-female-power-and-the-complete-failure-
of-critical-analysis-film-review/

https://foxhugh.com/tv-series-esl-discussion-questions/maleficent-literary-elements/

http://bekk1509.blogspot.com/2014/12/critical-analysis-of-maleficent.html

https://www.sparknotes.com/film/sleepingbeauty/character/the-evil-fairy-maleficent/

https://literaryterms.net/character/

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-conflict-in-literature-6-different-types-of-
literary-conflict-and-how-to-create-conflict-in-writing

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Maleficent

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/maleficent_2014/quotes/

http://siarvindarmawan.blogspot.com/2015/07/etting-analysis-in-disney-maleficents.html

https://theurbandaily.com/2938806/maleficent-movie-feminism-lessons/
https://lonewolfmag.com/feminist-fairy-tales-disneys-maleficent-deserves-pro-women-
awards/

https://sites.psu.edu/bowserstrongwomenpopculture/2014/11/07/maleficent-looks-can-
be-deceiving/

http://characterchange.com/character-arcs-in-maleficent-2/

https://www.themainstreetmouse.com/2014/05/06/meet-the-characters-of-maleficent/

https://www.dailytexanonline.com/2019/10/17/maleficent%E2%80%99s-story-lost-in-
mess-of-uninteresting-characters-abandoned-plot-lines