By Erica Alston
The Brothers Grimm version of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” is a tale of villainy regarding the main characters: the king, the princesses, and the old soldier. Depending on the perspective from which one reads the story, each of the characters engages in some sort of villainy. The king locks up his daughters every night, trying to take away their freedom and the dancing that they love. There is no indication that the princesses are in danger, so the king is controlling for little reason. The princesses drug the men that take on the challenge of discovering their midnight whereabouts, leading to their deaths as they fail the challenge. Finally, the old soldier only wants to be king. He takes away the source or the princesses’ happiness for the purpose of becoming heir to the throne. The story does not have a clear indication of who is the villain because each character commits villainous acts.
The paintings are visual representations of each characters’ villainy: the princesses and the drugged wine, the king and his locks, and the old soldier and his new crown.
Medium: Digital
Read the story here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/j.ctt1c0gms9.4.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A08b2d464c875e7fb62c0436e1ac332ca
