An Analysis on The Sleeping Beauty

Based on Vladimir Propp Theory

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Submitted to fulfill the requirements of Folklore
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Name : Tantri Sundari

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 An Analysis on The Sleeping Beauty
Based on Vladimir Propp Theory

A. Introduction

Folklore is the traditional stories handed down within a community, it

preceded the invention of writing by thousands of years yet exists alongside written
literature and film as a source of storytelling entertainment and social functions.
Folklore is also called as a set of customs passed down the years in a specific
community (beliefs, sayings, stories, songs, dance, objects, rituals). Amos (1982)
states that folklore can be restricted to customs and observances that each individual
adheres to in the privacy of his home, though all the people in the society abide by
them. One of genres of folklore is fables or folktales. Folktale is general term for any
of numerous varieties of traditional narrative. Folktale is a type of folklore which can
be formed in oral and written form. There are so many kinds of folktale books that
could be enjoyed by everyone. One of the most famous books about folktale is “The
Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm”. The Sleeping Beauty includes
in that phenomenal book. This folktale tells about a princess who was cursed by a
witch that she will fall asleep for a hundred years if she hurts by a spindle. But then a
handsome prince come to save her.

Vladimir Propp examined hundreds of folk myths and fairy tales in Russia in
1928. His work was generally unnoticed in the West until it was translated in the
1950s. The Russian formalist scholar identified 8 typical characters and 31 functions
which can be applied to almost any story, be it in literature, film, theatre and
television. Propp‟s theory is a form of structuralism which is a view that all media is
inevitably in the form of certain fixed structures. While Propp‟s research is focussed
on Russian folktales, I‟ve chosen to focus on the sleeping beauty by Grimms and
apply his functions and character types to the story.

B. Vladimir Propp’s Theory

Vladimir Propp‟s Morphology of the Folktale is widely acknowledged

by narratologists as one of the most impressive contributions to the understanding of

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plot structure. This work has exhibited a continued fascination both for writers of
screenplays and for structuralist analysts of narrative fiction. Essentially, what Propp
did in his important study was to offer a means for analyzing folktales in terms of
their functions. For Propp, “ function denotes the action of the character from the
point of view of its significance for the progress of the narrative ” (Propp,
1968, p. 74). To take a concrete example: “ if an eagle takes the hero to the
country of the princess, we do not have the function of flying on a bird but one of
transfer to the place where the object of the search is located ” (Propp, 1968, p. 73).
As Propp argues,“ my analysis originated in the observation that in the wondertale
different characters perform identical actions, or, what is the same thing, that
identical actions can be performed in very different ways ”(Propp, 1968, p. 74).

According to Propp, excluding the initial situation, these functions

may be gathered into six distinct groupings (Propp, 1968, p. 25):

 The Initial Situation is not a Function

 Functions 1-7 = Preparation,
 Functions 8-10 = Complication,
 Functions 11-15 = Transference,
 Functions 16-18 = Struggle,
 Functions 19-26 = Return,
 Functions 27-31 = Recognition,

As well as finding the 31 narratemes, Vladimir Propp also identified a

limited set of eight broad character types (Propp, 1968):

a) The hero, in every story there is major character with whom the reader
will normally associate the most strongly and who is the key person
around which the story is told.
b) The helper, the hero is supported in his or her quest by a helper, often wise
old man or magician, who appears at critical moment to provide support.
c) The villain, the sharpest contrast against the hero is the villain, who
struggles directly against the hero.

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 d) The false hero, a variant on the villain and a potential complication within
the plot is the false hero, who appears to act heroically and may even be
initially mistaken for the real hero.
e) The donor is someone who gives the hero something special, such as a
magical weapon or some particular wisdom.
f) The dispatcher, an early role in the story is that of the dispatcher who
sends the hero to a mission.
g) The princess, she maybe the object which is deliberately sought by the
hero, or she may be the reward after the hero completing the mission.
h) The princess father, who constraint the princess or who may dispatch the
hero on his mission to save princess.
C. The Story of The Sleeping Beauty/ Little Brier-Rose
A long time ago there were a King and Queen who said every day, "Ah, if
only we had a child!" but they never had one. But it happened that once when the
Queen was bathing, a frog crept out of the water on to the land, and said to her, "Your
wish shall be fulfilled; before a year has gone by, you shall have a daughter." What
the frog had said came true, and the Queen had a little girl who was so pretty that the
King could not contain himself for joy, and ordered a great feast. The feast was held
with all manner of splendour and when it came to an end the Wise Women bestowed
their magic gifts upon the baby: one gave virtue, another beauty, a third riches, and so
on with everything in the world that one can wish for.
When eleven of them had made their promises, suddenly the thirteenth came
in. She wished to avenge herself for not having been invited, and without greeting, or
even looking at any one, she cried with a loud voice, "The King's daughter shall in
her fifteenth year prick herself with a spindle, and fall down dead." And, without
saying a word more, she turned round and left the room. They were all shocked; but
the twelfth, whose good wish still remained unspoken, came forward, and as she
could not undo the evil sentence, but only soften it, she said, "It shall not be death,
but a deep sleep of a hundred years, into which the princess shall fall."
The King, who would fain keep his dear child from the misfortune, gave
orders that every spindle in the whole kingdom should be burnt. Meanwhile the gifts
of the Wise Women were plenteously fulfilled on the young girl, for she was so
beautiful, modest, good-natured, and wise, that everyone who saw her was bound to
love her.

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 It happened that on the very day when she was fifteen years old, the King and
Queen were not at home, and the maiden was left in the palace quite alone. So she
went round into all sorts of places, looked into rooms and bed-chambers just as she
liked, and at last came to an old tower. She climbed up the narrow winding-staircase,
and reached a little door. A rusty key was in the lock, and when she turned it the door
sprang open, and there in a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily
spinning her flax.
"Good day, old dame," said the King's daughter; "what are you doing there?" "I am
spinning," said the old woman, and nodded her head. "What sort of thing is that, that
rattles round so merrily?" said the girl, and she took the spindle and wanted to spin
too. But scarcely had she touched the spindle when the magic decree was fulfilled,
and she pricked her finger with it.
And, in the very moment when she felt the prick, she fell down upon the bed
that stood there, and lay in a deep sleep. And this sleep extended over the whole
palace; the King and Queen who had just come home, and had entered the great hall,
began to go to sleep, and the whole of the court with them. But the story of the
beautiful sleeping "Briar-rose," for so the princess was named, went about the
country, so that from time to time kings' sons came and tried to get through the
thorny hedge into the castle.
After long, long years a King's son came again to that country, and heard an
old man talking about the thorn-hedge, and that a castle was said to stand behind it in
which a wonderfully beautiful princess, named Briar-rose, had been asleep for a
hundred years; and that the King and Queen and the whole court were asleep
likewise. He had heard, too, from his grandfather, that many kings' sons had already
come, and had tried to get through the thorny hedge, but they had remained sticking
fast in it, and had died a pitiful death. Then the youth said, "I am not afraid, I will go
and see the beautiful Briar-rose." The good old man might dissuade him as he would,
he did not listen to his words.
Then he went on still farther, and all was so quiet that a breath could be heard,
and at last he came to the tower, and opened the door into the little room where
Sleeping Beautywas sleeping. There she lay, so beautiful that he could not turn his
eyes away; and he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But as soon as he kissed her,
Sleeping Beauty opened her eyes and awoke, and looked at him quite sweetly. Then
they went down together, and the King awoke, and the Queen, and the whole court,

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 and looked at each other in great astonishment And then the marriage of the King's
son with Sleeping Beautywas celebrated with all splendour, and they lived contented
to the end of their days. (Grimm & Grimm, 2014)

D. The Analysis of Dramatis Personae

1) The Villain
In this story the first villain is a friend of people who‟s they called as wise
woman, those wise women maybe a kind of fairy or witch. The thirteenth of
those fairy suspected as the villain.
The next villain is a woman who was spinning, it is impossible for the princess
to find a spindle because he already orders to burn the spindle in the whole
kingdom. So, I think it was a set up for the Princess.
2) The Donor
The first donor appears as a frog that gave magic wish to the King and Queen.
The second donor is the Prince‟s grandfather who told the story of sleeping
beauty to the Prince.
3) The helper
There is helper in the story of Sleeping Beauty, but no psychical form of the
helper.
4) The Princess
The Princess is called by Sleeping Beauty or Briar-Rose. She is the who was
cursed by the fairy.
5) The Dispatcher
The dispatcher is the Prince‟s grandfather who told the story of sleeping
beauty to put the test on the Prince.
6) The Hero
The hero is the Prince who kissed Sleeping Beauty. He went to the dangerous
horn-hedge to saw and saved the Princess.
7) Princess Father
The king is the Princess father who order the guard to burn all spindle.
8) The False Hero
There is no false hero in the story of Sleeping Beauty or Briar-Rose.

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E. The Analysis of Function
1) The Initial Situation 0
This part of the story is not a function, it is more giving some information
about the state condition on the beginning of a story. The initial situation will
trigger other function, and it is the base of story.
A long time ago there were a King and Queen who said every day, "Ah,
if only we had a child!" but they never had one. (Grimm & Grimm,
2014, p. 247)
2) Function 14: protagonist acquires use of magical agent = acquisition of
magical agent (donor)
The donor appears as a frog which gave magic wish to the King and Queen.
But it happened that once when the Queen was bathing, a frog crept out
of the water on to the land, and said to her, "Your wish shall be fulfilled;
before a year has gone by, you shall have a daughter." (Grimm &
Grimm, 2014, p. 247)
3) Function 8: antagonist(s) causes harm or injury to victim(s)/member of
protagonist's family
The harm came from a friend of people who‟s they called as wise woman,
those wise women maybe a kind of fairy or witch. The thirteenth of those fairy
suspected as the villain. She put a curse to the Princess, because she
disappointed not being invited to the feast.
She wished to avenge herself for not having been invited, and without
greeting, or even looking at any one, she cried with a loud voice, "The
King's daughter shall in her fifteenth year prick herself with a spindle,
and fall down dead."
…she said, "It shall not be death, but a deep sleep of a hundred years,
into which the princess shall fall." (Grimm & Grimm, 2014, p. 247)
4) Function 2: an interdiction is addressed to protagonist(s) = interdiction
Because of the curse, the king ordered his soldiers to burn all the spindle in the
whole country. He did it as a protection of his daughter, and the safety of the
Princess.
The King, who would fain keep his dear child from the misfortune, gave
orders that every spindle in the whole kingdom should be burnt. (Grimm
& Grimm, 2014, pp. 247-248)

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5) Function 1: member(s) of family absents themselves from home =
absentation
King and Queen were not beside the Princess on her fifteenth years old. As we
know that made Princess wander around the palace and found the spindle.
It happened that on the very day when she was fifteen years old, the King
and Queen were not at home, and the maiden was left in the palace quite
alone. (Grimm & Grimm, 2014, p. 248)
6) Function 3: interdiction is violated = violation
The protagonist ignores the interdiction (warning not to do something) and
goes ahead. The Princess wandered around the palace then found a woman
who was spinning. She definitely ignores his father prohibition about the
spindle.
She climbed up the narrow winding-staircase, and reached a little door.
A rusty key was in the lock, and when she turned it the door sprang
open, and there in a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily
spinning her flax. (Grimm & Grimm, 2014, p. 248)
7) Function 7: victim(s) / protagonist(s) accept deception and unwittingly
help antagonist(s) = complicity
The trickery of the villain now works and the hero or victim naively acts in a
way that helps the villain in some way. The Princess wandered around the
palace then found a woman who was spinning, then she tried spinning but
unfortunately it trigger the curse.
"Good day, old dame," said the King's daughter; "what are you doing
there?" "I am spinning," said the old woman, and nodded her head.
"What sort of thing is that, that rattles round so merrily?" said the girl,
and she took the spindle and wanted to spin too. But scarcely had she
touched the spindle when the magic decree was fulfilled, and she pricked
her finger with it. (Grimm & Grimm, 2014, p. 248)
8) Function 9: misfortune/lack made known, protagonist(s) approached with
request/command, they are allowed to go/dispatched = mediation, the
connective incident.
The news about a beautiful princess who falls asleep along with her palace
spread all over the world. It made some people come to the abandon castle
where knows full of the thorn-hedge, that make it dangerous to go there.

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 "Briar-rose," for so the princess was named, went about the country, so
that from time to time kings' sons came and tried to get through the
thorny hedge into the castle. But they found it impossible, for the thorns
held fast together, as if they had hands, and the youths were caught in
them, could not get loose again, and died a miserable death. (Grimm &
Grimm, 2014, p. 249)
But there is a brave young handsome Prince who heard the story of Sleeping
Beauty from his grand father.
After long, long years a King's son came again to that country, and
heard an old man talking about the thorn-hedge, and that a castle was
said to stand behind it in which a wonderfully beautiful princess, named
Briar-rose, had been asleep for a hundred years; and that the King and
Queen and the whole court were asleep likewise. He had heard, too,
from his grandfather. (Grimm & Grimm, 2014, p. 249)
9) Function 10: protagonist(s) agrees to or decides on counteraction =
beginning counteraction
After listen to his grand father story, a brave young handsome Prince intend to
go to the haunted castle to save the Sleeping Beauty/ Briar-Rose.
Then the youth said, "I am not afraid, I will go and see the beautiful
Briar-rose." (Grimm & Grimm, 2014, p. 249)
10) Function 12: protagonist(s) tested, interogates, attacked, etc. which
prepares way for receiving magical agent or helper = first function of
donor
The test was given by his grand father who told him the story of Sleeping
Beauty. He already told the Prince that it is a dangerous mission, but actually it
is a kind of a test to him. If he really goes it means that he could be a brave
king someday.

The good old man might dissuade him as he would, he did not listen to
his words. (Grimm & Grimm, 2014, p. 249)
11) Function 15: protagonist(s) transferred, delivered or led to vicinity of
object of search = transference, guidance function 15: protagonist(s)
transferred, delivered or led to vicinity of object of search = transference,
guidance

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 The Prince finally came to the Sleeping Beauty castle, he can go through the
dangerous hedge of torn easily.
When the King's son came near to the thorn-hedge, it was nothing but
large and beautiful flowers, which parted from each other of their own
accord, and let him pass unhurt, then they closed again behind him like
a hedge. (Grimm & Grimm, 2014, p. 250)
12) Function 19: initial misfortune or lack is liquidated = liquidation
The Prince went inside the castle and found the Sleeping beauty body lay
down on her bed. Then he kissed her, and awake.
Then he went on still farther, and all was so quiet that a breath could be
heard, and at last he came to the tower, and opened the door into the
little room where Sleeping Beauty was sleeping. There she lay, so
beautiful that he could not turn his eyes away; and he stooped down and
gave her a kiss. But as soon as he kissed her, Sleeping Beauty opened
her eyes and awoke, and looked at him quite sweetly. (Grimm & Grimm,
2014, p. 250)
13) Function 26: task resolved = solution
After the Prince kissed Sleeping Beauty, and she wake up. It means that his
mission to search and save the Princess is accomplished.
Then they went down together, and the King awoke, and the Queen, and
the whole court, and looked at each other in great astonishment. (Grimm
& Grimm, 2014, p. 250)
14) Function 31: protagonist(s) marries and ascends throne = wedding
The Prince and The Princess finally get married, and happily ever after.

And then the marriage of the King's son with Sleeping Beautywas
celebrated with all splendour, and they lived contented to the end of
their days. (Grimm & Grimm, 2014, p. 250)
The Sleeping Beauty story by Grimm Brother has fourteen functions out of
thirty-one.

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F. The Analysis on Frequency of Dramatis Personae in The Sleeping Beauty

The analysis on frequency of dramatis personae in The Sleeping Beauty will

be started by the appearance of antagonist. There are two appearance of antagonist on
the beginning of the story. First, the antagonist character appears suddenly to terrorize
the victim‟s life. The antagonist is a wise lady who jealous and angry on the King
who didn‟t invite her to the celebration of his daughter. Then, the antagonist also
appears as an old woman doing spin. The antagonist character is exist and appear in
the Sleeping Beauty, but it was done by a different person. Vladimir Propp (1968:21)
explains, “functions of characters serve as stable, constant elements in a tale,
independent of how and by whom they are fulfilled”.

The appearance of antagonist because the lack of careful by the other

character. By the opportunity to disturb the main character, the antagonist tries to
control the main character‟s life and take the revenge of her being insult. The
antagonist used to have relation with the victim‟s life. In The Sleeping Beauty, the
antagonist is one of the thirteen wise women who very closed to the kingdom. They
are the guest on the celebration of King‟s daughter. That‟s why the antagonist has
access to hurt her target.

In contrast with the appearance of the antagonist, the appearance of donor in

The Sleeping Beauty happens because of hope and by chance. First, the donor appears
when the king and the queen wish on having baby. The donor appears as a magical
frog that which can grant their wish. The magical frog says some words that is a
promise. Second, the donor appears as an old man. A prince from a random kingdom
accidently meets this old man, and he gives him a test by telling him a creepy story
about the searching and rescuing a sleeping princess. Because of his determination, he
can pass the test and save the princess.

Almost the same by the appearance of the donor, the appearance of the helper
happens accidently. This character use to be a present. In this story, the helper comes
out when the queen taking shower as a magical frog. The miraculous promise appears
to help the king and queen to have a baby. After that event, the king and queen are
having their first daughter.

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 The other characters like the dispatcher, the hero, the false hero and princess
used to appear on the beginning. In The Sleeping Beauty, the dispatcher appears to
spread the story about a princess who is misfortune and cursed to sleep for a hundred
years. The dispatcher in this story comes out twice. First, the character is roled by the
citizens around the kingdom who know about the curse. Second, the dispatcher is
roled by an old man who also becomes the donor, but the old man function is more as
the news spreader. The double character here happens because the old man becomes
the news spreader first, and becomes the donor then. This statement is supported by
Propp “if a character operates in two spheres of functions, he is introduced in those
forms in which he first begins to act” (1968:85). In other words, if there is double
character in the story, so it should be included as the first character it has.

The appearance of the princess happens twice in The Sleeping Beauty. This
character is roled by Briar Rose, a princess who was cursed by supernatural woman.
The first appearance is on the beginning of the story, when the story tells about the
princess identity and her role in The Sleeping Beauty as a victim of antagonist
character. Second, when the princess is found sleeping in the tower and rescued by the
prince who wakes her up then marry her.

The hero in this story appears to saves the princess and makes the condition as
it is used to be. Because of that reason, the hero in The Sleeping Beauty is categorized
as the rescuer, because the hero should do the rescue and dismiss the calamity.

The distribution of seven dramatis personae, but there is also deviation of

some characters in the story. Deviation in story is the absence of character. In The
Sleeping Beauty, there is no appearance of the false hero. It is a normal thing in the
story. We can also see that the appearance of helper is bias, because it appearance is
not followed by it appearance psychically in this story. The appearance of the helper
only can be felt by the prince, because he does the search and find the palace which is
covered by bushes easily. This kind of deviation has been predicted by Propp “if a
donor is missing from a tale, the forms of his appearance are transferred to the
next character in line; namely, to the helper” (1968:84), so the appearance of the
donor and helper can complete each other, when there is no appearance of others
character.

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G. The Analysis on Assimilation of The Functions

Assimilation on the functions is a function that has double meaning when it is

happen in story. The double meaning happen because a function can be explain only
by a single event, it needs the other events, so it will create a series of event that
include some meanings. From the assimilation, the reader can understand the story
plot and link one event to the others. Propp explains „In following the enumeration
of the functions, one becomes convinced that they must also be defined
independently of how and in what manner they are fulfilled‟ (1968:66).

These are the assimilation on The Sleeping Beauty story:

 The Initial Situation 0:

I. There is a feeling of the king and queen to have a baby (α).
II. The donor who appears as magical frog gives a miraculous words to grant
them a child (F1).
III. The king and queen can feel the power of the miraculous words (F).
 Member(s) of family absents themselves from home = absentation.
I. King and Queen were not beside the Princess on her fifteenth years old.
As we know that made Princess wander around the palace and found the
spindle (δ).
II. The Princess wandered around the palace then found a woman who was
spinning, then she tried spinning but unfortunately it trigger the curse (θ).
 An old man who has double characters as the donor and the dispatcher.
I. An old man tells a story about a calamity and a cursed princess (B4).
II. An old man gives a test to the prince by telling a creepy story about the
way to go to the palace where Rosamond sleep (D). But at the reality, the
prince doesn‟t aware of the test and go a head to save the princess (d7).
H. CONCLUSION
From the discussion, we can take a conclusion that the story of The Sleeping
Beauty has a similar structure as Russian folktale as Vladimir Propp. Only fourteen
functions appear in the story, but Propp never mention that the story should contain
all the function. It might be influenced by the culture where the story come from, or
based on the genre of story; family, love, heroism. While based on the analysis on the
dramatis personae, the story of Sleeping Beauty only has six categories.

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 Some deviations also exist in The Sleeping Beauty, that is the absence of the
false hero, the substitution of the donor and the helper. If one of the characters
appears and dominates the story, so the other character will look inferior and even
doesn‟t exist at all. Beside deviation, there is also assimilation on the function. This
happen because inability of a function in giving interpretation, so it should be explain
in some functions.

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