So, for obvious reasons, we talk a lot about fairy tale archetypes and how they play out or are played with in SKU.  I've just done a little mini binge of fairy-tale-centered YA fantasy today (Safe-Keepers, Thorn) and it got me thinking about a nuance to the whole "Anthy, as a girl who can't be a princess (heroine), must be a witch (villain)" and what that means in respect to Anthy's much-debated actions toward Dios.

It's not always a fairy tale trope in classical Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Charles Perrault etc, but some of it shows up and it's definitely a modern fairy tale trope: (a) the innate goodness of the fairy tale princess as (b) can be observed by how animals are her allies.  The princess's deep kindness means she speaks only the truth, generously helps those who cross her path, and is generally incapable of betrayal.  This wins others to her aid, allows the prince to spot her under enchantment, and generally speaking is why she merits her happy ending, as opposed to her lying, scheming, selfish evil counterparts.

It's especially curious to recall Anthy's apparent rapport with animals with this in mind.  From Chu-Chu, to snails, to mongeese, to elephants, it appears animals are Anthy's allies.  But why, if she's the villain of the story?

There are some dimensions to the requirement for kind selflessness that stand out for me.  For example, this is why it's so important that there are different versions of the Tale of the Rose.  If the version where Anthy is a nurturing sister who acted to help her brother is the true one, then Anthy can be a princess who gets rescued by her prince, because she is good.  If the version where Anthy tricks and captures Dios is the true one, then Anthy is the villain who must be defeated so that the prince and princess can get together.  And if the truth is somewhere in between...if Anthy acted the role of the villain for selfless reasons but with jealousy in her heart? If she schemed and betrayed for good? 

I read a book recently called Straggletaggle, the general plot of which is that the princess can and must create a paradox, use the rules of the fairy tale to create a completely untenable situation by the same rules: for example, by making the fated couple an incestuous couple.  If she accomplishes this, she can destroy the established system and replace it with a new one.

The same thing applies in SKU.  If the first version is true, the fated couple is incestuous--a no-go.  If the second version is true, it requires Anthy's brother to destroy her--also, clearly, not something Dios was willing to do.  And if the third version is true, if Anthy is, in fact, the only girl in the world who can't be a princess, then she's the one girl who is free to act out of complicated, real emotions.  She's not stuck being only sugar and space.  She can do good things for bad reasons and bad things for good reasons. 

The formula obviously can't handle that.  Even aside from the incest and fratricide, she's got to be all good or she's got to be all bad.  If she's all good, she can theoretically get help.  If there's one spec of bad, even one single lone puppy dog tail in the mix...she can't be rewarded.  But similarly, if there's one diamond among the toads?  She can't be punished--at least, not by people who themselves could later deserve rescue.

In any of the outcomes, she's an anomaly.  She's literally the only girl in the world with full agency and she creates a paradox in the fairy tale.

I'm not sure I'd suggest this should extend so far, but it's interesting to note that so long as Anthy breaks the formula, the result is that the story is kind of frozen in time; it can't figure out the happy ending to wrap everything up.  So everyone gets the freedom to be as complicated as she is, to be a mix of good and bad, and to find their own non-sanctioned happy endings.  But that, still, they're right, it is entirely Anthy's fault that no princesses get to sit back being pure with guaranteed rescue by princes anymore. (Although it's Dios's fault, too, for not being willing to weld his sister into hot iron shoes and dance her to death or whatever--and this kinda shines a light on aspects of Akio's complicated relationship with Anthy.)

Which puts something fresh for me into the question of whether or not Utena has to "take Anthy's place as the Rose Bride." All Utena has to do is become the crux of the broken rules, which she can do by, say, rejecting her prince in favor of being one herself/her best friend/her lesbian lover.  She wouldn't necessarily have to be the paradox the same way Anthy was, based on good/evil duality* and with stabbing swords and everything.  Although I guess humanity wouldn't be any more grateful to Utena than they were to Anthy.

Overall just rephrasing what's been said to death, I suppose.

Here's some quotes that are fun to apply to the Rose Bride:

Straggletaggle wrote:

You ask me to make a promise? I am in a cage. No promise I make is trustworthy because I would do anything to be rid of this cage. Promise me that you will not treat me like an animal or a spectacle, and I will see what I can do.

Straggletaggle wrote:

It is certainty that destroys the souls of men.

Straggletaggle wrote:

Perhaps this also means that a princess is only a particularly desirable kind of monstrous creature--a lure that must be kept in a box at all times.

Straggletaggle wrote:

He said I was trapped. He had trapped me. I told him to carefully consider what trapped animals do when they do not wish to be trapped.

* The oft-quoted Demian-inspired Abraxas speech is about transcending good/evil duality.

Last edited by rhyaniwyn (02-09-2016 08:38:34 PM)