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Chan Woo Park

Dr. Haas
Writing 39B
March 5th, 2016
Rhetorical Analysis Essay
The form of literature is shaped by the people of its era. Sure enough, modern culture has
also contributed in affecting the way literary genres are represented to the modern audience. The
American publishing and education corporation Scholastic defines fairy tales as folk tales or
fables that involve occurrences of magical events to its characters (Myths). Fairy tales have
shown their dynamic conventions as the genre follows the years since the seventeenth century.
Nowadays, conventions reflect the ideas of a common person of the twenty-first century. The
graphic novel The Sleeper and the Spindle embodies these changes in its content. The Sleeper
and the Spindle is a novel written by Neil Gaiman, published in 2014. Its plot is a mixture of the
two fairy tales The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods by the seventeenth century French author
Charles Perrault and Snow White by the German writers, Brothers Grimm. A queen and her
dwarfs set off to rescue a kingdom cursed with permanent sleep by killing the witch who had
disguised herself as the princess. Through his work, Neil Gaiman shows that the past
conventions of the princess-like character are not applicable to modern literature. Gaiman denies
this standard with his own character, the young queen, and introduces the new conventions of
female roles in literature. The cultures of the twenty-first century have re-imagined the
representation of gender role conventions in fairy tales, so that the values of the modern audience

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are conveyed. In Gaimans The Sleeper and the Spindle, this is depicted through the intellect of
the young queen and the dismissal of her wedding.
Unlike in the classic fairy tales from the past, the female protagonist shows an intellectual
attitude. Past conventions hold characters in place: princesses, witches, and princes each have a
predefined set of characteristics in the story. Princesses are known for their kind hearts but a
lacking use of intellect, and this overshadowed the smart character which was rarely developed
into any of the princesses. These actions from stories of different cultures had successfully
constructed the idea of dim characteristics of a typical princess. In The Sleeper and the Spindle,
the young queen shows her intelligence and ability to confront problems. As she approaches the
castle, the crew is obstructed by the thorns that surround the walls and block the path. While the
dwarves are discussing methods of getting past the thorns to enter the castle, it is the queen who
thinks of burning the thorns down, She eyed the dense tangle of thorns, living and dead It
was dry, yes. It would make good kindling. (Neil, 49). As seen from this quote, Gaiman shows
the trail of the queens progressive thoughts. When the queen explains the life span of the
sleepers, the dwarves call her out on her thoughtfulness as well, you are very wise, said a
dwarf. You always were wise (Neil, 27). Over and over throughout fairy tale genre, stories
have proven that princesses make ignorant decisions over simple matters that bring them to their
deaths. These flaws in character have built the theory that fairy tale princesses are dim, as we
have seen from Snow White as she opens the door for the evil queen for the third time. Another
example of this is Aurora, from The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, who is killed by the one thing
she was told to avoid: a spindle. But nowadays the issue of gender roles and equality has grown
to show effects on society. The traditions and laws that prevailed and oppressed females are no
longer as dominant as they were in the past centuries. Compared to the era of the writers of Snow

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White and The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, nowadays it is more than normal to see women
sharing public benefits with men. This includes getting a proper education; a report from the
United States Census Bureau, a research facility of the U.S. Department of Commerce, shows a
steady increase in the percentage of females 25 and older with an education beyond a Bachelors
degree. The study was led by Robert Bernstein, and used statistics ranging from 1960 to 2010.
The results showed over ten percent of female adults holding advanced degrees, Among young
adults 25 to 29, 35 percent of women and 27 percent of men possessed a bachelor's degree or
more in 2009. This gap has grown considerably in the last decade (Bernstein). The growing
independence of women also shows its effects in works of literature, as told by Llim in her blog
about gender perceptions in literature of the 16 th and 21st century, Gender perception has
changed since the 16th century, and in today's modern world, although there unquestionably
remains certain societal expectation based on gender, to break away from such expectations need
not be portrayed merely in a comedy (Llim). Hence, these changes are applied to The Sleeper
and the Spindle, which is why the modern audience can easily relate to the young queen and
understand the text naturally.
The life goals of modern females are different than those of the past. Marriage has been
considered a key ingredient of the conventional happily ever after conclusions in classic fairy
tales. The villain is slain, the princess finds her prince, and the two characters get married.
However, modern tales show different endings of the story, as finding a life partner is not the
only definition of happiness for women. In an interview with Gaby Wood, Neil Gaiman tells his
distaste in the princesss dependency on the prince, I dont have a lot of patience for stories in
which women are rescued by men (Wood). The young queen is an aggressive, independent and
keen character: the opposites of what a girl is expected to be in fairy tale conventions. She arms

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herself in preparation of her quest, leaving her peaceful life behind, which are actions that prince
is expected to do in his quest to save a princess. Additionally, she postpones her wedding in order
to solve the problems of the plague, I am afraid, said the queen, that there will be no wedding
tomorrow. (Neil, 22), and shows a unique order of priorities. She clearly doesnt value
weddings like other princesses do, and the fact that she has left her comfort zone to resolve the
distant conflicts show her determination in facing challenges. While in past stories the prince
appears as the conflict resolver, the young queen progresses without any help from such a man.
This self-reliance proves that she does not need a man for support. From the queens
unwillingness to participate in a traditional and prosperous event, readers can acknowledge that a
wedding is one of her smallest concerns. There is a kingdom to rescue under the powers of a
witch, and the queens presence in her kingdom does not help, which is why she decides to put
her royal life aside and lead the quest. The queen makes no further reference of her wedding until
the end of her journey. Even then, after finishing off the witch with the help of the princess, the
queen shows no eagerness of her delayed wedding. She conflicts upon whether to return home,
There are choices, she thought, when she had sat long enough. There are always choices (Neil,
67), and she starts heading east, in the opposite direction, They walked to the east, all four of
them, away from the sunset and the lands they knew, and into the night. (Neil, 67). The queen
had made her own choice, a different one than which other princesses may have chosen. This is
an unconventional happy ending with no wedding involved, but also exhibits the independence
of women in making their own life choices.
The Sleeper and the Spindle is one of many modernized fairy tales that conveys the
restructured ideologies of the present. Times have changed, and so the twenty-first century
allows its people to change their perspectives in society. The principles of the past are not

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relevant in this era, and have changed to suit the people of the twenty-first century. Some of
these perspectives are revealed through literature, and have opened up controversies into many
other social issues such as gender roles, an intense subject that wont be easily resolved.
Although not completely eradicated, many of these stereotypes and laws have been lifted from
cultures around the world throughout the decades. By addressing these issues through literature,
writers have cleverly integrated their thoughts into their texts by making significant changes
from old conventional traditions to portray modern conventions. Neil Gaiman is one of these
reformers. The change of beliefs is what allows Gaiman to create his works to include the less
conventional features of fairy tales. He has altered the conventions of fairy tales to portray his
opinions on gender roles: the character he creates has the mindset of a female from the twentyfirst century. The young queen is depicted as an independent, self-protecting individual. She is a
brave warrior who stands up for herself, and a thinker. Although she passes by her wedding, she
finds her own happiness through personal choice. Conventions of past classic fairy tales do not
portray themes of women undertaking challenges and having independent lives. Moreover, while
the audience of fairy tales during the seventeenth century were the adults of the rich bourgeois,
modern fairy tales are directed towards the younger generation. Now, many of the classic fairy
tales have been edited to suit a younger audience and are told to children with a purpose of
providing morals, and teaching them about society. As a modern fairy tale directed towards
children, The Sleeper and the Spindle holds Gaimans intentions to instill modernized outlooks
on gender roles, and discontinue the remains of outdated conventions in literature.

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Work Cited
"Myths, Folktales and Fairy Tales." Myths, Folktales and Fairy Tales. Scholastic. Web. 23
Feb. 2016.
Bernstein, Robert. "Newsroom Archive." Census Bureau Reports Nearly 6 in 10 Advanced
Degree
Holders Age 25-29 Are Women. United States Census Bureau, 20 Apr. 2010. Web. 06
Mar. 2016.
Llim. "Females in the 16th and 21st Century: Gender Perception in Literature." Females in the
16th and 21st Century: Gender Perception in Literature. Serendip Studio, 20 Apr. 2007.
Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
Neil Gaiman. The Sleeper and the Spindle. New York. HarperCollins Publishers 2015. e-book.
15
Feb.2016
Wood, Gaby. Neil Gaiman on the Meaning of Fairy Tales. The Telegraph. 1120 2014. Web.
15 Feb. 2016.
Kopf, Dan. "The Rise of the Action Movie." Priceonomics. Priceonomics, 21 July 2015. Web. 15

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Feb. 2016.