The Message of "The Princesses Forum" by Linda Kavanagh
by
berfu (student)
Berfug Apaydin
February 29th, 2012
Ms. Solak
English and Literature
Get Out The Borders
Once upon a time… Isn’t this opening sounds so familiar for you? This is how those stories that are called fairytales begins with. Humans believe that fairytales are written hundreds years ago but there isn’t a certain time or place locates in those types of stories. Fairytales are mainly covers unrealistic and miraculous affairs to make the reader throw into it. As dictionary also states, fairytales are “a story in which improbable events lead to a happy ending.”[1] The author of the Princesses’ Forum Linda Kavanagh, is simply protesting the idea of women dependency on men to survive in her short story by including a famous fairytale characters. To reveal the message of how stereotypical image of women and men change through the time and place, Linda Kavanagh indicates character development and uses satirical tone, modern language and content.
First of all, The Princesses’ Forum differs from the classic fairytales in so many ways such as providing how time changing has effects on the character development. The story is written with a satirical and a little bit humorous tone to protest the idea of gender differences and marriage forced upon women in the fairytales. Author simply using famous fairytale characters and their backgrounds to attract the reader’s attention to the purpose of the text. If the text had been written in a different time, the perspectives of characters would have been changed just like in the Princesses’ Forum. “I’m not particularly keen to have some idiot come along and try to annexe my territory to his, under the guise of having fallen madly in love with me.” (page 36) said Sleeping Beauty. This is one of the examples that confirms the reader about how women became awareness of their rights and shrewd. Cinderella is also another example of to show how world conditions make the character and their perspectives changed. In the classic fairytale Cinderella falls in love with a prince who get her shoe back to her house. In the short story she says “ Imagine selecting your life partner on the basis of her shoe size? How could self respecting woman cope with a man like that?”(page 34) She points out that how women are different than in the 18th century. Moreover, Princes whom are tired of carrying the responsibility of looking so brave and fearless to their princesses, are also confessed how they really feel. “ I’m tired of always feeling under pressure to be brave and fearless. I get awfully scared sometimes, but I’ve never been able to tell anyone else. I thought I was the only man who ever felt that way.”(page 38) Finally, if time and place changes, story changes and readers can observe this by the character development.
