Welcome! This is yet another article in defense of the classic Princesses - otherwise known as Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora. I've always wanted to write something like this but never really had the inspiration for it until I read Silverrose1991's fantastic article. I find myself constantly defending the classic three in polls on here, but I've never actually made an article on it... until now. I hope you like my article and apologies if it comes across somewhat preachy or as if I'm attempting to force people to agree with me as this is not my intention.

Note: This is not a bashing of the newer Princesses, since I love Princesses from each era, merely just a defense of the classics.



Firstly, don't get me wrong - I'm not under any illusions that they're perfect characters and should be loved by everyone; I understand that they have flaws (some may be mentioned in this article) and I can understand why they might not be to some people's tastes, especially since they're not as relatable as many of the later Princesses and Heroines. But regardless they still deserve just as much praise, recognition and admiration as the renaissance/modern Princesses. People also have to realize they were made in a time where values and beliefs were different than they are now, not necessarily 'wrong', just different, but that doesn't make them any worse than the characters of today.

The three classic Princesses collectively recieve a large volume of criticism - obviously some of the critiques are warranted as no character/person is perfect (unless their name is Bella Swan) and I'm not saying you have to like them, however in my experience a lot of people just judge them at face-value, with incredibly weak, cliché and mind-numbingly repetitive arguments against them... such as:

- They're uninteresting/dull
- They lack personality
- They're passive
- They wait around for their Prince
- They're not good role models
- They're weak
- They're damsels-in-distress

The one I most disagree with is 'weak'. Seriously? Weak?! I think they show a sort of strength that is underappreciated (particularly Cinderella and Snow White). It might not be physical strength, but they most definitely have emotional strength, which to me is just as admirable, if not more. Besides, even if they are physically weak, what's wrong with that? Not everyone is the same and every (good) person should be celebrated regardless of strength.

Cinderella is incredibly strong; she loses her father (whom seemlingly she was close to) and as a result endures years upon years of psychological abuse, yet withstands it, instead of letting it affect her she remains patient and hopeful that better days are ahead. By not letting her stepfamily break her spirit she was displaying her own kind of strength and courage; a very subtle form of bravery but it's still there. If she had snapped at them, that would have shown that they had 'won', so to speak. She didn't stoop to their level and remained true to herself. Pure speculation here but I also imagine she wanted to respect her father's memory by keeping civil with the woman he loved. The only time she let it get to her was when the stepsister's destroyed her dress - but can you blame her when she was finally taking her opportunity to enjoy something for once only for it to shatter completely infront of her eyes? Not to mention it was her mother's dress; the only thing she had left to remember her by. People often state how she should have ran away... to where? To live in a gutter somewhere? I also don't understand how she's seen as very passive; she retaliates against the stepfamily in her own way. One thing she does recieve is a lot of help - from the mice, from fairygodmother et al - but this is because she's a good soul and deserves it.

Snow White shows a similar kind of emotional strength too, finding out her stepmother wants to kill her, letting it affect her for a few minutes (people forget that she's only 14, heck I'd be a nervous wreck if I was her and I'm almost 20), but instead of dwelling on it and allowing it to take over her every thought, she remains optimistic and thinks of the better things in life. Optimism was her friend and helped her get through the difficult situation. My favourite quote by her (one of them, anyway) has to be “I’m sure I’ll get along somehow, everything is going to be all right” which is a fantastic attitude to have and I admire her for this. I also can't believe some people see her as passive... she's the complete opposite. She's extroverted and very bossy and motherly.

Aurora, while maybe not as strong as the other two, is certainly not as weak as people make out. She lived a sheltered life, separated away from everyone with only her 'aunts' for company. She finds the man of her dreams (it's a fairytale, it's not supposed to be realistic), yet is forbidden to see him again and finds out on the same day that her ENTIRE life has been a lie. Who wouldn't be upset/confused? She then wakes up from a deep sleep, goes to a new life she never knew of and has to run the kingdom.



The other thing that hugely bothers me is when people say they "wait around for their Prince" as if it's the only thing they do, as if it represents them. It's not. Snow White wants true love (what's wrong with that, pray tell?), but it's not the only thing she focuses on; besides I think it's admirable that she thinks of better things (Prince) when instead she could be dwelling on and become depressed about the fact that someone wants to kill her. What do people expect her to do? Go to the Queen's castle and stab her? Wait, don't answer that. While Aurora is a hopeless romantic, again, love isn't all she cares about, she's actually very dutiful and responsible in her actions.
Cinderella, in particular, does NOT wait around for her Prince; she's a dreamer but she doesn't dream exclusively of love. She dreams and hopes for a better life. Once she hears of the ball, she takes her opportunity and SHE goes to HIM, not the other way round. Hey, it paid off. Her life changed because she did something about it!

One specific issue that I have a problem with is the fact that Snow White gets plentiful hate for taking a bite of the apple. Imagine you're Snow White. At the beginning of the movie she wishes into the wishing well for the 'one she loves to find her' and what happens? He appears right next to her. Then why would she not believe that the apple was magical? To me it's completely understandable that she'd think so. Remember she's an optimistic and dreamy character who is 14 years old. Of course it's also somewhat naive of an action but other Princesses have moments of naivety (for example Ariel for thinking the human world is a Utopia with no problems, Tiana can be somewhat naive when it comes to love, etc.) Also people berate Snow for letting a strange woman in the house, but they simultaneously criticize Beast for NOT letting the strange woman in... what's right and what's wrong? The only gripe I have is that the dwarfs clearly warned her against this, but regardless the criticisms would still be the same even if they didn't. The problem is that Snow White is just too nice, she sees the good in everything, but that's barely even a problem. She means well in every situation.

I also hugely disagree that they're damsels-in-distress. I think 'damsel in distress' is a very overused term, in general. Others may disagree but to me, a damsel in distress is a female character who gets herself into situations where she needs to be rescued based on her *own stupidity*, not someone who merely needs to be saved. The closest thing is Aurora but even then, not really. Aurora was cursed as a baby... the last time I checked a pretty much new-born baby is unable to defend itself (and this curse affected her whole life). Snow White's scared at first when she finds out her stepmother wants to have her killed (who wouldn't be?) but after a brief moment of anxiety she regains composure and almost immediately gets up and finds a place to stay. She doesn't just lay moping on the ground in despair without hope... she gets on with her life. I've already mentioned the wishing well/apple thing above. Cinderella is far from a damsel, as mentioned previously she went to him and not vice versa.
Flynn, for example, needs to be saved by Rapunzel at the end of 'Tangled', does this make him a damsel in distress? No. (okay, I know he's not a female but you get my point). Why is it seen as okay for girls to rescue boys, but not the other way around? I think it's somewhat sexist, honestly.



As for them being uninteresting with no personality, I entirely disagree. In fact I find all three extremely charming and endearing to watch. Just because their personalities may be more subdued and less forceful than later characters, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Snow White
No personality? Really? People must be watching a different movie from me because she has bundles.
- Bossy: makes herself at home in the dwarfs house and orders them on how to live.
- Sassy: not given near enough credit for how sassy she can be with the dwarfs.
- Humorous: "OOH, you must be Grumpy!"
- Optimistic: thinks of better things in the face of adversity.
- Naive: she doesn't really see the bad in life.
- Sweet: this one doesn't even need to be explained. I mean she's Snow White.
- Somewhat manipulative (unmaliciously): convinces the dwarfs to do what she wants.

Cinderella
Not a hugely strong personality, but still a personality all the same. A wonderful one at that.
- Patient: more patient than most people, never loses her cool with her stepfamily.
- Dreamy: is often daydreaming.
- Hopeful: hopes for a better life.
- Kind: incredibly kind to everyone, even to those who don't deserve it.
- Sassy: like Snow White, not given enough credit for this trait. Her sassiness is even showcased in her very first scene when she remarks about the clock waking her up.

Aurora
It's especially unfair to say Aurora lacks personality when she has very minimal/limited screentime... her personality is subdued & subtle but it doesn't mean she doesn't have one.
- An overall playful nature: notably with the forest animals and with her 'aunts'.
- Shy: doesn't have the best people skills with Phillip, most probably from being sheltered her whole life.
- Dutiful: gets on with her duty as a Princess.
- Responsible/obedient: does what she's told (some people might see this as a bad thing but I fail to see how).
- Dreamy: extremely so, just listen to the songs she sings.



I think they're far better role-models than given credit for in their own individual ways. I'll refrain from repeating myself as all the reasons will be listed above. I think they all have traits to aspire to and admire. If more people were as patient as Cinderella, as sweet as Snow White or as responsible as Aurora then the world would be a better place.

I'm reaching into 'preachy' territory here but I will just never comprehend the modern viewpoint that a female character has to have traits similar to that of Mulan, Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) and others to be considered a good/interesting/strong character. Don't misunderstand, characters like the two I mentioned are indeed good & strong, but on the other hand why are calm, sweet & docile females (such as the classic three) who would sooner pick berries in the woods with the forest animals, rather than kick some ass, considered lesser characters/women? It's nonsensical to me and in my opinion that sort of viewpoint from (mostly) so-called 'feminists' is entirely non-feminist, in fact it's the exact opposite of feminism - a female character that is required to act 'badass' by definition in order to be respected is incredibly ANTI-feminist.What happened to freedom of choice? Why aren't feminine characters allowed the same amount of respect as their opposites? It's absolutely ludicrous. If a female character wants to skip merrily through a field with her 15 pet mice and a talking raccoon, then there should be no issue.

To conclude: Just because Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora are not as assertive as Jasmine, as headstrong as Ariel or as kickass as Mulan, it does NOT mean they should automatically be branded as bad or weak characters.

Thank you for reading and sorry for the length!