Yolen

How effectively does Jane Yolen use the fairytale to communicate her concerns? In your response you must provide detailed evidence from Briar Rose.

Briar Rose, “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”, is a story that conveys the concerns of author Jane Yolen through the means of forming relationships between fairytale and the riveting story she weaves. The use of interweaved fairytale characteristics, particularly those of the popular children’s tale Sleeping Beauty in conjunction with scholarly techniques Yolens concerns of love, identity, accepting the past and the holocaust, are effectively shown.

Love is a strong focus in many, if not all fairytales. In Yolens adaptation to the classic tale, Sleeping Beauty, the idea of love is explored through the means of family. Gemma, a victim of the holocaust, leaves a dying wish with her youngest and most loving and loyal grandchild Becca. Becca has two older sisters, Shana and Sylvia, both of whom are quite stubborn, vain and selfish a similarity shared with the evil stepsisters from Cinderella. This leaves us with the idea that Becca is kind, loving and compassionate similar to how Cinderella is portrayed. Becca's love for Gemma shines through strongly on Gemma’s hospital visit “I promise Gemma” regarding the unimaginable and seemingly impossible request asked by Gemma. As Gemma leaves her dying wish with Becca, it results in unraveling a lifetimes worth of well-kept secrets. Gemma's experiences of escaping the holocaust are unknown to her family; Becca's promise to her is to detangle her twisted and horrific past. Becca's love for her grandmother is akin to the love that Gemma has given continually to her family. In order to escape the tragedies of the holocaust to protect her unborn child, she had to endure terrible adversities. Gemma's unborn child, Becca's mother, acted as Gemma's own Prince Charming, essentially resulting in the love for her child being the key to her survival. Her child gave her...