The sleep of Sleeping Beauty: a symbolic and archetypal analysis

Abstract

We explain and contextualize in this article some of the possible origins of fairy tales. Dissert also about its historical development and the elements common to all stories, and seek to analyze the figure of sleep in Sleeping Beauty, Charles Perrault version, in 1967, according to the concepts of symbols and archetypes. The choice of Sleeping Beauty came by a curious and almost childish interest: the possibility of discovering that through historical links and hidden meanings can we find what we captured when we were children. Better understand the construction and importance of fairy tales was a consequence resulting from the research process and contributed to the achievement of our analysis. Developing a critical view based on categories selected was crucial, because it was from that perspective we generate comparative relations between symbolic and archetypal concepts and elements contained in our crop.