Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Ever After: An Analysis

Spoiler alert: In this post I dissect one of my favorite movies. If you are one of those unfortunate souls who has not seen it, consider yourself warned that I'm going to give away a lot of the good stuff.

I wrote awhile back about one of my favorite novel adaptations of Cinderella, Just Ella. Well, as much as I love Margaret Haddix's retelling, my absolute favorite Cinderella retelling is the movie version Ever After. Aside from the fact that I was once told that I look like Drew Barrymore, I like Ever After because the protagonist is in possession of a spine. As you might have inferred from my previous posts, I tend to favor female characters with spines. Eowyn, Lucy Pevensie, and Mulan are some of my favorites. Docile protagonists bore me. And irritate me. Take Rapunzel, for example. She had that long hair for how long? And it never occurred to her that she might cut it off and climb out of the tower? Or Cinderella in the conventional retelling, whose primary virtue was being a doormat. Seriously, the girl was a wimp. In all fairness, Prince Charming was a bit of a spazz himself when he didn't notice that Cinderella's stepsisters had cut off chunks of their feet in order to fit into the glass slipper and a couple of doves had to inform him of the fact. Even so, one would think that if Cinderella had had half a brain she would have been able to figure out her own escape from her stepfamily, instead of having to wait for her fairy godmother to make everything better.

But back to Ever After. It's set in the real world, for one thing-- there's not an ounce of supernatural interference. It's set in France in the late 15th or early 16th century. For another, the protagonist doesn't have a stupid name like "Cinderella"-- it's Danielle. And for one more thing, there are numerous historical references in the movie. Thomas More's Utopia and Leonardo da Vinci (along with his Mona Lisa and several other of his delightful inventions) make an appearance-- in fact, at one point Danielle quotes Utopia in a rousing manner. But we will get to that. Let's get into the good stuff. :)

Danielle de Barbarac
As mentioned above, our protagonist has several advantageous possessions, including a spine and a brain. We first meet Danielle when she is ten years old. She very much a tomboy, regularly "whipping" the stable boy-- and getting covered in mud in the process. Her father, Auguste de Barbarac, travels frequently, but when he is home he reads to her from grown-up books. At the beginning of the movie, he presents Danielle with a copy of Thomas More's Utopia. Unfortunately, Danielle's father dies shortly after marrying the Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent. In this scene we begin to see the contrast between Danielle and her stepmother. Upon seeing her new husband dead, the Baroness wails, "You cannot leave me here!" However, the Baroness soon adjusts to her new environment. Her coping mechanism is control-- she domineers over everyone and everything. Her main goal in life is power, as we will see later on.

Since this is a Cinderella story, the Baroness reduces Danielle to the level of a bondservant. But Danielle retains her spunky character. At various points in the movie, she berates the Prince of France while throwing apples at him, poses as a noblewoman to save one of the De Barbarac bondmen, passionately quotes Utopia to Prince Henry, climbs a cliff in her underwear, and threatens to skewer the evil Pierre Le Pieu. In short, Danielle is a perfectly capable heroine who does not need saving of any kind.

Prince Henry of France
Prince Henry is a typical impetuous teenager. We first meet him when he runs away from home using-- cliche of cliches-- knotted bedsheets. Henry has no particular goals in life; his primary objective is to avoid the responsibilities of becoming king. He is aimless, insipid, and arrogant. He first meets Danielle in the courtyard of the royal palace. Danielle is in a heated argument with the driver of a prison cart containing the bondman Danielle has come to rescue. When Henry asks Danielle what her rationale is for saving an accused thief from punishments, she quotes Utopia at him: "If you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners corrupted from infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them-- then what is to be said, sire, except that ye first make thieves and then punish them?" Henry is blown away by Danielle and insists on knowing her identity. Since Danielle is not, in fact, a noblewoman, she tells Henry that she is the Countess Nicole de Lancre, expecting never to see him again. Henry is captivated, however, and takes up a full-time job as Danielle's stalker. Together they have a series of delightful adventures-- including a library, a broken carriage, and a caravan of gypsies-- and, since this is Hollywood, they fall in love. But more than falling in love, Henry is inspired by Danielle. He acquires a purpose in life. At one point Danielle says to him, "You have everything, and still the world holds no joy." Henry realizes that he has the power to improve the lives of his subjects, and resolves to do so. If anyone is saved in Ever After, it is Prince Henry. Danielle saves him from a life of apathy and helps him to find purpose.

The Rescue
Unfortunately, Prince Henry eventually discovers that he has fallen in love with a commoner and rejects Danielle-- after she has been through hell to see him, no less. With his newfound self-assurance, he informs her: "I am the Prince of France, and you are a servant." Henry proceeds with his previously arranged marriage to a Spanish princess, and the Baroness de Ghent sells Danielle to the lecherous Pierre Le Pieu. Fortunately, Henry chickens out of the marriage when the Spanish princess bursts into tearful hysterics at the altar. At this point we expect Henry to run to Danielle's rescue, and rush he does. Danielle doesn't need it, however. Before Henry makes it to Monsieur Le Pieu's manor, Danielle has freed herself at sabre-point and is strolling on her way.

At this point the two reconcile and live (presumably) happily ever after. But there is a lot to think about in this movie. Who did the real rescuing here? As I mentioned above, I am of the opinion that Danielle saves Prince Henry from a life of apathetic stuck-up-ness. That's why I'm so fond of this movie. It's funny, it's romantic, and the heroine is a real heroine, not a prize for the prince who can slay the dragon.

7 comments:

  1. AUBRIE! I love your writings! It makes me smile! So awesome!!

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  2. Oh Karen, you are too kind! I'm glad you liked it. :)

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  3. Totally loved your critique...and agree. Danielle is a real heroine, because she takes action for herself rather than simply waiting for Prince Charming or mystical circumstances to rescue her. But...I think you were a little harsh on Henry at two points. When he rejects Danielle, I think there was more to it than just because she was a commoner. She had lied to him and had not had (or taken) the opportunity to undeceive him of her lie. His first reaction on finding this out...and the circumstances...she was exposed rather than telling him herself, led him to believe as he said that she was "just like them"...a scheming princess wanna be just like her step sister and stop mother. I think it takes Da Vinci's words to him and the experience with the Spanish princess to begin to figure things out. I also don't think he "chickened out" of the marriage with the Spanish princess. I think he saw through the ridiculousness of the situation and truly felt some compassion (as well seeing the humor in the situation) for the poor bride-to-be who loved another but because of social convention was about to be sacrificed for an alliance. Besides being the final turning point for the prince, he does in a sense save the princess from an unhappy life. So, maybe the Prince saves a princess in this movie after all...just not his own princess.

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  4. Well said Aubrie ...this has been on my favorites list for years!!! I appreciate your insight and agree.
    love aunt jelene

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  5. You're awesome, Aubrie. I think you're dead on. The movie works because Danielle rescues herself. That she brings others along in the saving is just gravy.

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  6. Love this movie. I was watching it yesterday and noticed several parallels between this movie and the Chronicles of Narnia. Am I crazy?

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  7. How can you review a movie if you have not watched or at least listened to the words that the characters spoke. You stated that Danielle was 10 years old.
    When her Father presented her with the book, he stated that it may to advanced for an eight year old and at the Library with Prince Henry she herself said that she lost her Father when she was EIGHT. Yes it is great when a woman is portrayed to have a brain....Even better when she uses it. Like giving accurate facts.

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