The Sleeper and the Spindle

The unnamed protagonist of the story, generally referred to as the queen, is a reimagining of Snow White. At this point in her tale, however, her name has largely become lost: “The queen had a name, but nowadays people only ever called her Your Majesty” (23). Although the queen has emerged successfully from her own traditional tale and come into a position of authority, she initially feels trapped by the constraints and expectations of the world around her. Her introduction to the reader is through a full-page image preceding her first scene; the image depicts her looking exceedingly unhappy with her wedding dress juxtaposed against her discarded knightly regalia. Riddell’s illustration suggests both the direction from which she has come and the path she has ahead of her. Although the queen recognizes the restrictions and limits of her position, she feels powerless to change it: “In a week from now, she would have no choices. She would reign over her people. She would have children. […] the path to her death, heartbeat by heartbeat, would be inevitable” (14). When she chooses to take action and join the dwarves in a quest to save the neighboring kingdom, she feels a sense of relief: Not only has she postponed her wedding, but she’s taken another, final, chance to embody her true nature.

Within the story, the queen fulfills the roles of both hero and mentor figure. Combined, these archetypes create a character with strong leadership skills, enabling her to lead the dwarves through the sleeping kingdom. She displays both courage and wisdom when confronted by the strange sickness, and shows insight into the mechanics of the magic in place. Unlike the townspeople, whose understanding of magic comes from folklore and rumor, the queen’s knowledge comes from hard-earned experience. When she comes up against the barrier of thorns, as so many have before, she is able to pass through it by approaching it in a different way: through ingenuity, rather than brute force alone—a trait often associated with heroines in quest stories who lack the ability to rely on physical force in the way of traditionally heroic men. Women are often forced to resort to more creative methods of survival.

The queen reaches her ultimate test when she confronts the enchantress, who offers her a new path through life: not as a king’s wife and mother, but as the right hand of another powerful, independent woman. However, the queen is strong and insightful enough to recognize that the enchantress’s offer represents another type of captivity—one that will bring her freedom in exchange for the continued enslavement of others. In rejecting the enchantress’s offer, the queen recovers the personal agency she had previously felt she’d lost, giving her the courage to complete her arc and choose her own way forward on her own terms.