Art has taken an increasingly retrospective tone in recent history in that most artists acknowledge the essentiality of their predecessors when creating their own product. This comprehensive attitude toward art’s history serves as an indicator of differences in the social, political and ideological climate of particular cultures and time periods and a platform for contemporary artists’ reactions to previous periods of art. Generally these different periods in art’s history are categorized by the genre or style that typifies the ideals most prevalent during that period. The fairytale, a genre often associated with the exploits of European royalty in a fantastical alternate universe, is commonly used to express feudalistic values and old-fashioned morals some of which are occasionally considered antiquated and no longer relevant to acceptable social behavior. Charles Perrault’s classic fairytale “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood,” and writer Margaret Atwood’s short story “There Was Once” offer both an archaic and modern perspective on the genre, respectively. Atwood and Perrault’s works considered together indicate the evolving purpose of literature as evinced by varying adherence to literary conventions, distinct social environments and the significance of different literature in influencing an audience’s perspective.

The most noticeable dissimilarity between the two works is the straightforwardness of the material or lack thereof. “Sleeping Beauty” follows a fairly common narrative arc: a young, capable male character (generally a prince or king) must rescue a hapless or vulnerable young female character which usually involves an enchantment or curse that contributes to the conflict of the narrative. In Atwood’s piece the reader is not introduced to a setting and is given little context. The sequence of events and the setting are unclear but both characters display colorful personality traits and generally seem to be informed on contemporary social issues. The length of each story also seems to illustrate each to what extent each writer is reliant on conventions. “Sleeping Beauty” is a typically long-winded fairytale; it goes into every minute detail to give the reader all the context needed to understand exactly what transpires so that the story seems palpable and cinematic. For example, in the passage in which the prince is preparing to enter the castle of the princess, Perrault provides a lengthy description of the image of the castle. Atwood’s piece however, does not explain character actions or provide descriptive images of what is happening but rather requires the reader to use dialogue to infer the situation using contextual details from such politically charged exclamations as “But I am so tired of negative female images” (Atwood 70). This is one of several interactions in the conversation that that indicate the characters’ views on contemporary social issues and attitudes common in recent generations. She also makes uncommon use of a minimal setup to her narrative which is a stark contrast of the traditional detail that is used in dramatic writing, something that is really only made possible by her faith that her audience has the background knowledge to understand her writing. The vast distinction between each writer’s reliance on convention is indicative of their chronological distance from one another and in what sequence they were released.

Another incongruity in the two works is how immensely different the historical context they occur in is. Perrault, a Frenchman, released his rendition of “Sleeping Beauty” in the 17th century in which Europe was rife with imperialism and absolutist monarchies. In this period the monarchial governments were affected by lingering feudalistic values which dominated traditional European views on social life, race, gender roles, socioeconomic status, and political rights.  These views would remain relatively the same as previously throughout European history and would not be altered significantly for several centuries. For example, Perrault depends on such vilified descriptions of women as “he was afraid of his mother, for she came of a race of ogres, and the king had only married her for her wealth” (Perrault). The queen mother, much like the princess, is represented with traits that would today likely be condemned for their negative generality. One of the character’s in Atwood's dialogue disapproves of such “negative female images” (Atwood 70) although this character also makes vague assertions, referring to middle-aged men as “twisted and repressed.” The reader can infer from the hypocrisy of this statement that the author understands that generalizations are not made exclusively by a particular group of people, but rather are a natural habit of humans. The author’s somewhat progressive worldview indicates a growing recognition of the diverse sets of beliefs and personal philosophies in the modern world.

Finally, the juxtaposition of these two works reveals the larger role literature has in shaping the perspective of its target audience. What is written in any particular time period is often the best gauge of a society’s notion of what is behaviorally and ideologically acceptable. That is not to say that literature is all its forms is propaganda, but rather that it is reflective of how groups of people in society think. While the fairytale’s chief function is to casually entertain, it also serves to reinforce the morals of the culture it originated from. “Sleeping Beauty’s” familiar premise with its focus on the monarchial class does seem to glorify figures of authority, and its elements of fantasy can often carry religious overtones, for example, the fairy that rescues the princess has some messianic qualities . “There Was Once” is much more direct in its attempt to provoke certain thoughts in its audience, but at no point does it profess the correctness of a certain worldview. Atwood’s neutrality is made clear by the structure of the short story; the lack of information supplementing the dialogue allows the reader to draw their own conclusions about the views presented. The author does not want to give too many details about the characters or their environment because the reader might have preconceptions about either of these elements that detract from the message of the narrative.

Since literature uses language to express ideas, it is often the most useful for creating an argument or provoking a sentiment. To understand the history of literature is to understand the patterns and trends that result from the different political, social and demographic phenomena in history and what influence they have on the writing of a specific time period. The works discussed above also demonstrate that contemporary writing is intrinsically linked to the past: since writers are pressured to innovate and create original material, they must be conscious of past works and the ideas they express. Thus, Atwood’s work can be seen as a critical reaction to one of the most beloved genres in literature through its analysis of its fundamentals, comparison to current ideologies and ultimate reconciliation with the ambiguous nature of personal perspective.
