The Sleeper and the Spindle

In The Sleeper and the Spindle, Gaiman’s intentional upending of traditional gender-based stereotypes shifts traditional elements of the Sleeping Beauty and Snow White fairytales, centering the concerns and desires of the women in the story. He begins the tale with a classic, archetypal story known to most readers: that of the sleeping beauty in a castle behind a wall of thorns, and her ultimate rescue by the kiss of a courageous prince. When the dwarves first learn about the sleeping sickness, the townspeople reinforce the familiarity of the tale by alluding to “the usual method […] or so the tales have it” (16). The fairy tale setting of time and place also helps to ground the reader in familiar territory.

By beginning the story with the queen’s dubious feelings about her upcoming wedding, Gaiman signals an exploration of traditional social expectations for women through a subversion of them. As she thinks on her impending wedding the queen feels that “it seem[s] both unlikely and extremely final” (14). The queen is mature and realistic enough to understand her place in the established social order, and knows that even though she is in a position of authority, she’s still bound by these unspoken laws.