Maleficent: Not Your Typical Sleeping Beauty Story

The first known version of Sleeping Beauty was written in the 1300s. Walt Disney’s animated version brought the story to the general public in the 1950s, introducing us to the princess, Aurora, and the evil fairy, Maleficent.

The movie Maleficent reinvents the classic tale by giving Maleficent a history. She is not simply a slighted fairy but a woman betrayed, robbed, and brokenhearted. It is the story of what drives her to the dark side; a story of love turned to bitterness, hatred, and revenge.

Maleficent is an innocent fairy that is in charge of caring for her land and all who dwell there. Stephon, a human who wanders into her land, becomes her friend and finally her lover. As his ambition grows, he steals Maleficent’s wings, her beautiful, precious, powerful wings, to win the king’s favor and be named heir to the throne.

Stephon soon becomes the king, marries, and has a baby, Aurora. Maleficent curses the baby, saying she will prick her finger on a spindle on her sixteenth birthday and fall into a deep sleep. The spell, Maleficent says, can only be broken by true love’s kiss. Trying to protect his daughter, the king puts Aurora in the care of three incompetent caretakers deep in the forest, and burns all the spinning wheels in the land in the castle dungeons.

Throughout the years, Maleficent watches Aurora, having to save her on many occasions because her caretakers were incompetent. As Maleficent protects and cares for Aurora, she falls in love with her. When she realizes her love fo