I have to admit I loved Maleficent the first time I saw
Disney’s Sleeping Beauty in 1959. She had power and a dark beauty that was
fascinating. I loved her even more when
I took my daughter to see a Disney retrospective at Lincoln Center in New York
City in the early 70s—before VHSs. My
3-year-old daughter decided she loved Maleficent, was going to dye her blond
curls black and then went about terrorizing the other kids at the playground by
jumping up and shouting, “I am Maleficent!”
That’s why I went to see Maleficent
and I came away more enchanted with her than ever. Linda Woolverton’s script shows a deep
knowledge of the various sources of the mythic sleeping beauty motif. Her script
is an imaginative, archetypal tale that speaks to our times, finally telling
the truth about our patriarchal society’s wounding and rejection of
Feminine Spirit, the original wound that caused the tale to be told.
Fairy tales show us the most basic, archetypal story patterns
that have shaped our human development through the ages. Archetypal patterns are the shared instincts
that make us all human. And the best way to understand them is through
stories.
Just as it is always a storyteller’s prerogative to shape the
story to her tribe’s needs. Linda
Woolverton has done just that with Maleficent. She tells a story of what was, what is and
what might be if we learn to love the things we have been taught to fear. She tells the truth about how our patriarchal
society has sought to strip women of our freedom and power, just as Stefan
strips Maleficent of her wings.
Patriarchal religions have suppressed our relationship to the
Earth and any knowledge of our true interconnection with it, because the
ancients worshipped the Earth as a Goddess. Sleeping Beauty, Briar Rose, The Sleeping
Beauty of the Woods are all tales about feminine values, Earth values, that
are rejected and ‘put to sleep’ by a patriarchal society that doesn’t value the
Feminine Spirit of Life or our right-brain consciousness that sees the magic
and beauty of the Earth through the eyes of the imagination. And even worse, patriarchy creates the female witch, turning and twisting our
feeling, intuitive life into something harmful and evil—something we are taught
to fear.
In the Grimm Brothers’ version of the story, Little Briar Rose, we find a King and
Queen who long for a child. This kingdom
needs new life. A baby daughter is
finally born to them and they name her Briar Rose. At her christening, the King
invites Wise Women to come and bless his child, acknowledging that there is
still wisdom in the land, wanting his child to be blessed with appropriate
feminine virtues. However, the king has only 12 golden plate settings, and
there are 13 Wise Women. So he doesn’t
invite the 13th Wise Woman.
The fact that the King leaves out this 13th Wise
Woman tells us that this tale is about the rejection of some aspect of Feminine
Wisdom—the part that doesn’t fit into patriarchal expectations. Patriarchy only wants the wisdom of the wise
women when it serves its purpose. The fact that the Wise Woman or Fairy is
insulted belittles the truth: in rejecting this aspect of the feminine psyche,
patriarchy cuts off a woman’s wildness and freedom. Of course there’ll be payback.
The number 13 symbolizes the ancient Moon Goddess (whose
power lay in the 13 Moon cycles of the year), the feminine wisdom of change and
transformation as well as sexuality and psychic power. Since patriarchy is a solar paradigm, 12 is
the number of masculine completion, but 13 becomes a number of evil. Really?
And so we get all the stories about the evil fairy, evil stepmother,
evil Maleficent!
As a mythologist and symbologist, I love the symbolism of the
13th Wise Woman becoming Maleficent, the spirit and protector of her
land. As a young fairy, Maleficent is
beautiful, kind, funny, courteous, strong, curious and powerful. She also has an open heart, developing a
friendship with Stefan because of his own original kindness to her.
Maleficent is a unique fairy, with strong horns on her head
and giant eagle wings that help her soar to the heavens. Horns symbolize supernatural powers, the
power of the soul arising from the head.
Horns are attributed to all Mother Goddesses and are often symbolized by
the lunar crescent, the power of eternal change. Maleficent’s horns are magnificent, attesting
to her generative power and strong life force.
This connects her to the Moon Goddess as well as the Earth Mother. No other fairy has them. Her wings are another indication of her
spiritual origins, for eagle wings are attributes of Wisdom and Spirit. It’s so interesting that patriarchy turned
those lunar horns into something to be feared—unless they appeared on Michelangelo’s
Moses.
This Maleficent is a nature spirit who guards and protects
her land from the greed and violence of the patriarchal king. Unfortunately, Stefan desires that
patriarchal power, just as the king desires to destroy and conquer Maleficent’s
land. Despite their loving connection,
Stefan is willing to do anything to achieve power, most hurtfully when he goes
against his love and his heart. No wonder he goes crazy!
Stefan is the most stereotypical character in the story,
seemingly a mouthpiece for the violence and madness of the patriarchal
paradigm. It’s hard to have any sympathy for a mindset that only wants
power. Both Stefan and his predecessor
have no connection to the feminine—we barely see Briar Rose’s mother, Stefan
willingly gives his daughter over to the 3 fairies instead of defending Aurora
himself, he disregards the Queen when she is dying in his madness and his fear,
and when Aurora comes back to him, he locks her in a room instead of welcoming
her. Where is the concern for others? Where is the love? Stefan is the very image
of the negative father, which is what patriarchy has become.
Stefan represents a mindset where there are no redeeming
feminine feeling values, creating an imbalance that needs to be rectified. Everything is tuned to violence, and
perceptions are based on fear and projection because Stefan has stolen
Maleficent’s wings and imprisoned them.
He has repressed his own feeling life and his soul’s power, and now it
is turned against him and his kingdom.
His power cannot last in such a state.
After Stefan’s betrayal, devastated by the loss of her wings,
Maleficent makes Diaval, the Raven, her companion and her wings. Diaval is a marvelously sympathetic character
to both Maleficent and Aurora, ready with advice and concern. In fact, Diaval is the redeeming masculine
figure in the story. He represents a new
masculine energy that is aligned with Feminine Spirit.
Who would have thought that old grouchy cartoon raven would
be so wonderful! Ravens are magical
birds with the ability to shape-shift—they are birds who are connected to birth
and death, magic and mysticism. Two
ravens were Odin’s messengers—Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory). Ravens are Moon birds and companions of great
magicians, giving them the intuitive information they need to make decisions
and create spells. Diaval does this for
Maleficent, shape-shifting to accommodate her needs. Awakening her memories, questioning her
purposes.
The scene where Maleficent arrives at Aurora’s christening
has been modeled on the cartoon version, and it is well done indeed. But when Maleficent curses the baby, she is
the one, instead of the last fairy, who changes the curse from eternal sleep,
giving Aurora the chance to awaken with true
love’s kiss. She does this to spite
Stefan, since after her betrayal, Maleficent no longer believes in true
love. And of course, Love is the main issue in the
story. Without the nurturing power of
Love, nothing grows.
I enjoy the fact that Maleficent and Diaval find the 3
fairies and baby right away instead of on Aurora’s 16th birthday.
These fairies want to help Stefan—an apt symbol of how patriarchy uses feminine
gifts for its own purposes. The 3
fairies are dim-witted, argumentative and self-absorbed, and seemingly have
very little to do with raising Aurora—another result of suppressing the
feminine. Patriarchal women often forget
how to nurture life! That is left to
Maleficent and Diaval, an interesting and quite accurate archetypal
transformation. This is the beginning of
the healing between Aurora, who symbolizes the new feminine feeling life, and
Maleficent, who personifies Nature.
Angelina Jolie is a perfect Maleficent, facing Aurora with a
cool distain that masks her wounded love nature. She falls in love with Aurora. And Aurora falls in love with her. Maleficent is afraid to love again but
Aurora’s trusting nature sees Maleficent’s beauty and kindness beneath her
gruff exterior. And we see the truth of
Maleficent’s love when she tries to revoke her own curse. But to her sorrow, it holds.
As the curse takes effect, we see some role reversals from
the original story—giving us a clue of what is to come. It is Maleficent who must make her way
through the iron thorns that Stefan has erected around his castle to save Aurora,
braving pain and iron burns to get inside to the sleeping beauty. She is the one who brings Prince Phillip to
Aurora’s bedside to break the curse. But
how can such young ‘love’ be true love?
It is not tested yet. It is all
projection and expectation. And so
Phillip fails. Aurora sleeps on.
True love’s kiss can only come from a complete knowing and
acceptance of a person’s soul. So it is
very satisfying that it is Maleficent’s kiss that awakens Aurora, just as it is
archetypally perfect that it is Aurora who frees Maleficent’s wings and brings
about Maleficent’s healing. The Divine
Feminine can only heal us and be healed through our human feminine nature and
consciousness.
Aurora is the vehicle of Maleficent’s transformation and
healing. When the spirit child and the
human child form a bond of love, magic happens. Aurora—the new dawn—brings about a healing in
the kingdom as well, uniting both her father’s world and the world of
Faerie.
This wonderful story is about reclaiming the 13th
disregarded Wise Woman—the Wise Woman of the Moon. I hope women everywhere reclaim our own 13th
fairy, renewing our connection with
the Divine Feminine. It will bring
healing to all our lives if we do!
Maleficent gets 3 thumbs up.