The Crab Prince

Yo! Take me home and break my spell!

Greetings, dear reader. This week's tale comes to us from Italy. The Crab Prince is one of those stories where the princess breaks the spell on a handsome prince. Spoilers. Click the link to read the fairy tale and then continue reading here to analyze it with me.

I am always a fan of the princess doing the rescuing. She does fall in love with this enchanted prince as soon as she sees him, which is a bit worrisome, but I suppose at least she is able to break the spell he's under. We also see that this girl is used to getting her way. It's actually a plot point that she always gets her way. How else would she have gotten the crab? And then learned to play violin so well? And then been able to play it on the rock by the sea? That's some serious dedication. Either the fairy isn't a great judge of musical ability, or this princess spent months learning to play. I'm just going to assume that the princess was super talented and had nothing better to do than practice all day. I'm also glad that when her prince asked her to keep her mouth shut about their pending engagement, she did. That's not something women in fairy tales get to do often.

Then we have the flower that the fairy was using to keep this prince as a crab, for some reason. I have questions. Since the princess got the flower from the fairy, doesn't the princess have the prince's life now? Did he even have a choice about marrying her? What happens if the princess gives the prince that flower? Also, how did two adults fit inside a crab shell? Sorry, I should have questioned that earlier, I suppose.

Next, we have the fairy. All we know about her is that she loves music, she made this prince into a crab, and she meets with him every day for lunch. Seems to me like she just doesn't know how to make friends. Which is a shame, I bet the princess would have been her friend if the fairy had asked. I'm not sure if the prince would have. We don't get nearly as much of his personality. Also, I have to wonder about the fairy giving up the flower that was the prince's life. Maybe she was getting tired of having lunch with him every day. That's three hours out of her day she's got to spend with someone who has nothing more interesting to talk about than the movements of fish in the pond with him. She might have been ready to give up that flower, especially if she didn't think the girl she gave it to knew what it was.

The moral of this story is to always swim in the ditches next to your house. Alternatively, if you manage to get under a fairy's spell, make sure a really talented girl falls for you.

Have a fairy tale or legend you want me to talk about? Have a different moral? Annoyed I didn't talk aboutu the prince at all? Comment below!