A thought about Sleeping Beauty

[zenmondo]

Something just occurred to me watching the begining of Sleeping Beauty. Because of the curse on the young princess, every spinning wheel in the kingdom is destroyed. Every single one.

What did this do the the Economy? I mean there would be an entire profession of spinners and weavers put out of work -- the tools of thier trade made illegal. Were there protests in the streets from the guilds? Were there arressts of those unpatriotic souls who continued to make thread? And what of everyone's clothes? Over the sixteen years of the spinning wheel ban, there would be no way to repair or make new clothes -- unless imported from the next kingdom over. And why an immediate ban? They knew the DATE of the curse -- the princess' sixteenth birthday. There could have been 15 years of productivity for spinners and weavers with a year to destroy the spinning wheels, but they thought it better to make an entire class destitute than for a princess to prick her finger. Once again the Aristocracy just sticking it to the proletariat that supports them.

Comments

[blue-sky-lark.livejournal.com]

fabulous! i giggled like a little skoolgirl. oh wait...
^.^

[fledchen.livejournal.com]

Drop spindles. They aren't as efficient as a wheel, but they can still spin thread and yarn.

[angharad.livejournal.com]

I was going to say that, and then I realised that this is probably what got destroyed in the original story anyhow, since it's pointier and all.

[elvenforever.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Only YOU think of these things, Tadhg.

*thinks*

Only you and my HUSBAND think of these things!

*giggle*

[catvalente.livejournal.com]

I think I'm going to write something about this, if you don't mind. ;)

[zenmondo.livejournal.com]

I was thinking of doing the same, and just riffed a bit on it here. I would love to see what you come up with.

[goldenmoonrose.livejournal.com]

Good point.

And what's more... Because they destroyed all the spinning wheels, the princess never saw one, never knew the danger, and was curious and longed to touch it. Any girl raised in a world filled with spinning wheels would not have had that desire, because they would mean commonplace work. So the King's proclamation justifiably bit him in the ass.

[zenmondo.livejournal.com]

Ah, that whole trying to avoid a prophecy that actually brings it about.

[nectarfizz.livejournal.com]

My thought is how the heck they expected to stop people from just making a new one..lol