The Wicked Witch of the West
There once was a prince who desperately needed a wife in order to take the throne. His requirements were that she was a princess, beautiful, and loving, Months went by with no luck of finding a woman who met those qualities, and the prince began to lose hope. Then one day, there was a knock at the gate. It caught everyone off guard because it was storming violently. The even bigger surprise was that the person who knocked on the gate was a woman. This woman had long blonde hair and was the most beautiful woman the prince had ever seen.
Mesmerized by her incredibly good looks and charm, the prince let her into the house for some tea. The two talked for hours and then the prince asked one last question. This woman had it all, but the prince feared that she may not be a princess. To his joy, the woman was a princess. The prince was determined to make her his wife and proposed on the spot. There was something off about the princess, but the prince was too focused on her good looks. The two married the very next day and the prince seemed to be the happiest man in the world.
The princess was no ordinary woman. She was the Wicked Witch of the West and had tricked her way into marriage with a prince twice before. Shortly after her weddings, she would poison the prince and become the new leader. She was a power thirsty and would not stop at anything to achieve it. Her secret to getting the men to fall in love with her was her love spell, which could make anyone fall in love with someone.
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| (Charlize Theron in Snow White and the Huntsman) |
Luckily for the prince, his loyal servant did his research into who the woman truly was. He discovered that she was really the Wicked Witch of the West and had been known to marry and kill the prince to achieve power. So before the witch could do anything, they sentenced her to death and killed her.
Author's Note
The original version of the story had a prince looking for a "real" princess to marry, but he could not find any. This was until a princess knocked at their gate during a storm. The way they tested to see if the princess was "real" or not was by forcing them to sleep on a bunch of mattresses with a pea at the bottom. If the woman could feel the pea and not sleep well, then they were deemed a "real" princess, This woman felt the pea and slept poorly, therefore she was "real" and the prince married her. I wanted to make this story a little darker and so I made the woman a witch who kills her husband and rules over kingdoms.
Bibliography
Original: The Princess and the Pea
Author: Hans Christian Andersen translated by H.P. Paull
Year of Translation: 1872
Web Source: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook
At first when I was reading your story, I wasn't quite sure where you had gotten the original story from. But, as soon as I read your author's note, I instantly made the connect. What an awesome retelling of a classic story! I think, as you mentioned in the author's note, you accomplished exactly what you wished to accomplish: a little bit darker story about the prince finding the princess. Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteWow, such a great story! You did a great job developing this story and your hard work really showed through your writing! I really liked how you created some originality from the original story. Your visual was on point, too! Thanks for the good read and job well done!
ReplyDeleteGood job with this story! I couldn't tell what the original was, but I think that's a good thing. You changed things just enough to keep the air of intrigue! It also flowed really well, and the spacing of your paragraphs was just right. I also like the picture you chose. It's just menacing enough to go with your story perfectly. Nicely done!
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