True love's kiss

For other uses, see True Love.

"True love's kiss" in the ballet Sleeping Beauty

In fairy tales, a true love's kiss is a motif and commonly used trope whereby a kiss from a "true love" possesses magical powers and holds significant importance.^[1][2][3][4]

History

The phrase "true love's kiss" in storytelling is recorded as early as the 16th century.^[5] In William Shakespeare's Richard III, the title character uses the phrase "Bear her my true love's kiss" in act 4, scene 4.^[6]

In 1812, Children's and Household Tales, written by the Brothers Grimm, included the concept of a magical true love's kiss from the prince to awaken the princess from her 100-year slumber in their adaptation of "Sleeping Beauty", "Dornröschen" ("Little Briar Rose").^[7] The fairy tale was already present in Mother Goose Tales, written by Charles Perrault in 1697, but in his version the princess woke up on her own when the prince knelt before her.^[8][9]

Another early example of true love's kiss can be found in the Grimms' "The True Bride" (Die wahre Braut), in which the heroine breaks the spell over her prince (an evil princess bewitched him to forget her) with true love's kiss.^[10][11]

In fiction

The concept of 'true love's kiss' appears frequently in contemporary fairytale fantasy, including in various modern retellings of fairytales by Walt Disney Pictures.^{[12][13][14][15]}

• In contemporary adaptations of the tale of "Snow White", including the 1937 Disney animated film, Snow White's curse of eternal sleep is broken by the love's first kiss of the prince she met at the beginning of the film.^[16]
• In contemporary adaptations of the fairy tale of "Sleeping Beauty", including the 1959 Disney animated film, Princess Aurora's curse of deep sleep (and the deep sleep across the entire kingdom) is broken by the true love's kiss of Prince Phillip.^[17] In the 2014 retelling in Maleficent, Aurora is revived by a kiss from Maleficent on the forehead, an indicator of her maternal love for her.^[18]
• In contemporary retellings of the fairy tale of "The Frog Prince", the frog's transformation to a prince is triggered by a princess kissing the frog.^[19]
• In contemporary versions of the tale of "The Little Mermaid", including the 1989 Disney animated film, Ariel must obtain true love's kiss from Prince Eric to remain human and break the spell cast by Ursula the Sea Witch.^[20]
• In contemporary adaptations of the fairy tale of "La Belle et la Bête", including the Disney animated film, the curse of the beast and his household is broken by the true love's kiss of Belle.^[21]
• In the Shrek franchise, true love's kiss plays an integral role in the story plots, and has the power to break curses and spells, restore Shrek and Princess Fiona to ogre and human form, and reverse alternate realities.^[22][23]
• In the 2007 film, Enchanted, true love's kiss possesses the only magic powerful enough to break the poisoned apple's curse.^[24] One of the songs in the film's soundtrack is also titled "True Love's Kiss".^[25]
• In the 2013 book series The School for Good and Evil and subsequent film adaptation, the concept of true love's kiss plays a role in the story as a central riddle, powerful plot device, and as a method to revive the dead.^[26]
• In the 2018 film Charming, Lenore brings Prince Charming back to life with true love's kiss.
• In the Once Upon a Time series, true love's kiss is a frequent motif throughout the storyline. For example, Zelena shares true love's kiss with Hades, and Dorothy Gale share's true love's kiss with Red.^[27][28]

Criticism

During the 21st century, the concept of "true love's kiss" has faced some criticism due to concerns around consent and depictions of kissing asleep persons.^[29][30] Some critics have associated the trope of "true love's kiss" with heteronormativity and traditional gender stereotypes.^{[31][32][33][34][35]}

References

1. Rustad, Robert (2015-02-14). True Love's Kiss: Disney Romance from Snow White to Frozen. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1-5084-1851-1.
2. Davis, Amy M. (2007-02-20). Good Girls & Wicked Witches: Women in Disney's Feature Animation. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-86196-901-2.
3. Zipes, Jack (ed.) (2000). The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales. New York: Oxford UP. ISBN 978-0-19-860115-9.
4. Jubas, Kaela; Taber, Nancy; Brown, Tony (2015-10-30). Popular Culture as Pedagogy: Research in the Field of Adult Education. Springer. ISBN 978-94-6300-274-5.
5. Mitchell, Deborah (1997). "Richard III: Tonypandy in the Twentieth Century". Literature/Film Quarterly. 25 (2): 133–145. ISSN 0090-4260. JSTOR 43796785.
6. Richard III 4.4/453, Folger Shakespeare Library
7. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (1884). "Little Briar Rose". Household Tales. Translated by Margaret Raine Hunt. London: George Bell. Archived from the original on 20 May 2007.
8. Perrault, Charles (1969). Perrault's Fairy Tales. Translated by Johnson, A. E. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. pp. 3–21.
9. "Sur La Lune || Sleeping Beauty Annotated Tale". www.surlalunefairytales.com. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
10. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household Tales, "The True Sweetheart"
11. D. L. Ashliman, "The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales)"
12. Pugh, T.; Aronstein, S. (2012-12-10). The Disney Middle Ages: A Fairy-Tale and Fantasy Past. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-06692-3.
13. Contemporary Fairy-Tale Magic: Subverting Gender and Genre. BRILL. 2020-01-13. ISBN 978-90-04-41899-8.
14. Beck, Crista (2019-11-19). Break The Glass Slipper: Free Yourself from Fairy Tale Fantasies and Find True Love in Real Life. Crista Beck. ISBN 978-0-578-59030-1.
15. Fee, Christopher R.; Webb, Jeffrey B. (2016-08-29). American Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales: An Encyclopedia of American Folklore (3 volumes). ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-61069-568-8.
16. Disney (2018-07-31). Disney Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Cinestory Comic. Joe Books. ISBN 978-1-77275-792-7.
17. Askew, Amanda (2019-06-20). Storytime Classics: Sleeping Beauty. QEB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78603-936-1.
18. Priyanka, M. C. "Malevolence Subverted:(Re) Defining Gender Roles in the Film Maleficent", Singularities: A transdisciplinary Biannual Research Journal 3.2 (2016): 38-42.
19. Kosmala, Karina (2022-07-23). "6 Brothers Grimm Adaptations that Change the Original Story". Collider. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
20. Singer, A. L. (1993). Disney's the Little Mermaid. Disney Press. ISBN 978-1-56282-429-7.
21. Lagonegro, Melissa (2017-01-03). Beauty and the Beast Big Golden Book. National Geographic Books. ISBN 978-0-7364-3575-8.
22. Alexander, Lauren (2010-04-20). Shrek: The Novel. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-101-18694-7.
23. Selbo, Jule (2015-07-24). Screenplay: Building Story Through Character. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-38696-4.
24. Nathan, Sarah (2007-09-25). Enchanted The Movie Storybook. Disney Press. ISBN 978-1-4231-0911-2.
25. Enchanted (Songbook). Hal Leonard. 2009-08-01. ISBN 978-1-4584-5496-6.
26. Chainani, Soman (2013-06-06). The School for Good and Evil (Book 1). HarperCollins UK. ISBN 978-0-00-749294-7.
27. "How True Love and True Love's Kiss Lost All Meaning On Once Upon A Time". TV Fanatic. 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
28. Mollet, Tracey L. (2020-11-21). A Cultural History of the Disney Fairy Tale: Once Upon an American Dream. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-030-50149-5.
29. Paris, Lindsey (2021-05-03). "Snow White "True Love's Kiss" Causes Arguments". Inside the Magic. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
30. Palumbo, Allison P. (2020-07-23). Love and the Fighting Female: A Critical Study of Onscreen Depictions. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-7739-2.
31. Belleau, Helene; Piazzesi, Chiara; Seery, Annabelle (2020). "Conjugal Love from a Sociological Perspective: Theorizing from Observed Practices". Canadian Journal of Sociology. 45 (1): 23–46. doi:10.29173/cjs29434. ISSN 0318-6431. JSTOR 27081252. S2CID 216201286.
32. Puechner, Shannon Dahmes (2016). "'But He Was Your Prince Charming!': Accounting for the End of 'Ever After' with a Divorce Fairytale". Counterpoints. 477: 163–173. ISSN 1058-1634. JSTOR 45157194.
33. Sanagustín Cabrero, Andrea (June 2022). "Will I need a true love's kiss? The use of parody and popular culture as social commentary in new radio theatre" (final degree project). University of Alcalá, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
34. Berlianti, Anisa Dyah. "The stereotypical representation of women in the classic fairy tales Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty". Indonesian Journal of Social Sciences 13.1 (2021): 21-32.
35. Richardson, B. J. (2012). Once upon a fairytale romance (unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.