Many people today love old time fairytales, and admire the beautiful princesses within the story.  Among the abundance of magical royalty is the very famous story of Sleeping Beauty. Sleeping Beauty entails the story of a princess who is cursed by a witch who makes the girl fall into a very deep sleep.  Prince Phillip saves the day by getting past the witch and waking the sleeping beauty, Briar Rose, with a kiss.  The prince and the princess then fall in love and live happily ever after.  In 1899, Henry Rheam illustrated a beautiful visual text influenced by Sleeping Beauty.  The illustration successfully depicts the plot of the fairytale and gives the viewer a solid idea of what Sleeping Beauty is about. Henry Meynell Rheam's Sleeping Beauty painting shows a prince saving the troubled girl he is in love with.  The meaning and theme of this visual text, and the aspects of love, danger, and innocence is conveyed through the use of the elements within the painting. 

Briar Rose is a very central element the illustrator used in conveying the overall meaning of Sleeping Beauty. The first thing the viewer's eyes are drawn to when looking at this visual text is the teenager lying down with a deep purple drape around her body.  The background is very black, making the girl, Briar Rose, the focal in the picture.  By placing Briar Rose in the middle of the painting, the viewer can imply that the girl is the main character in the story.  The illustrator also uses the black to convey the darkness or trouble surrounding the innocent girl.  Many people associate the color black with some type of death or evil taking place, which makes one think the illustrator is foreshadowing that something bad could possibly take place in the story Sleeping Beauty. The girl is very pale as well, contrasting with the purple draped over her.  The contrast places more emphasis on the very pale girl, making it seem as if something is harming her.  Thus, Rose's pale skin connects with the sleeping beauty being sick or endangered.  Within the painting, her eyes are closed, and she looks to be asleep, connecting with the title of the visual text.  Her eyes being closed hinders the audience from making a connection with her or understanding the expression on her face.  With Rose's eyes being closed, there is no connection between the girl and the audience.  This disconnection also brings more focus on the main character and the things around her.  Rose also has distinct features to her, portraying realism within her character. The illustrator uses the realism effect instead of the abstract art to show her beauty and to get the viewer to make a connection with the painting and the actual fairytale.  Briar Rose is drawn with a very light and smooth texture as well which is used to show her purity and innocence. The illustrator uses an even texture when painting the girl, but uses a rough texture through the remainder of painting, creating a deep contrast between Briar Rose and the rest of the painting.  This really emphasizes the black versus white, roughness versus softness, and good versus the evil when analyzing the sleeping beauty and the background of the illustration. Next, the purple drape is used to show royalty, as Briar Rose is the daughter of a king.  The purple is essential because it conveys the importance of the sleeping beauty.  Thus the colors and proximity of the girl display that the illustrator is trying to show that Briar Rose is of a royal family, and she is in some sort of danger. 

The illustrator successfully expresses the aspect of the prince's love for Rose in the Sleeping Beauty by using proper positioning and realism within Phillip's distinct features.  Prince Phillip is another major part of Rheam's painting.  Behind the sleeping beauty is a guy dressed as a prince. His clothing is also purple, conveying that he is royalty.  The prince is hovering over Briar Rose, with his gaze looking down at her face.  Since he is not looking outward, the prince is not making a connection with the audience. The guy, known as Prince Phillip, is looking down at her with a very longing expression, almost as if he wants to be with her and help save her.  The prince also has real features to his face and body, again making the connection with the fairytale.  The viewers of the painting can also relate to Prince Phillip as an actual person.  An abstract face would not be able to convey Prince Phillip's loving and protecting features for this painting.  The illustrator positions Phillip's gaze to show his affection towards her. Because Phillip's gaze is fixed on the princess, it again emphasizes the importance of the princess within the painting and the fairytale. The young prince's arms are stretched out above her to look like he is going to touch her and protect her from the darkness surrounding her.  The arm positioning is very natural, also adding to the realism effect by the illustrator. This positioning shows he is the hero, not the bad guy in this fairytale.  

Lastly, the visual text has flowers showering from the top right corner of the picture onto the sleeping beauty to show the overall meaning of the painting.  In Sleeping Beauty, Rose pricks her finger on the thorn of a flower, making her fall into a very deep slumber.  The flowers hovering onto Briar Rose represent how she became ill. There are an abundance of flowers that are illustrated as very light and pastel like, also contrasting with the completely black background. Besides Briar Rose, the flowers are the only other light thing in the painting.  The illustrator constructed the contrast between the pretty flowers and the dark background to incorporate pieces of the fairytale into the illustration.  Rheam shows how the something as pretty as a flower can be dangerous and cause trouble.  The flowers, very pink and light, also show the love between the prince and the princess.  Pink can most often be seen as a symbol of love or tenderness.  The flowers could be seen as Prince Phillip's love and tenderness showering over the sleeping beauty, connecting to the plot of the story.   All in all, the flowers connect with the interpretation of the teenage girl being in danger and Phillip coming in to save the day. 

In conclusion, Henry Meynell Rheam's illustration, Sleeping Beauty, connects well with the fairytale and successfully depicts a troubled princess that is being protected by a prince through the use of many specific visual elements in the painting. The use of contrast and color throughout the painting shows the central parts of the image, and conveys part of the plot of the actual fairytale.  Through this analyzation, the viewer can get a better the tone of the story.  Rheam also uses realism and the offset gaze and perspective of both characters when making the faces and body types to show emotion and purpose within the picture. The flowers play a part in the good versus evil theme, showing the evil in which the thorn of the flower and the meaning love and tenderness of the flowers.  The elements within the illustration point out many themes and symbols that can be seen within the text. Through the visual elements within Sleeping Beauty, one can depict the overall meaning of the painting being that there is an endangered girl being rescued by a loving prince, know the overall themes within the illustration, and note the plot of The Sleeping Beauty.

