｢가시 장미｣(“Briar Rose”) 동화를 바라보는 두 가지 관점

Two Perspectives on Reinterpreting the Fairy Tale of “Briar Rose”: “Creative Waiting” by Rollo May and “Insomnia” by Anne Sexton

This study aims to examine two perspectives on rewriting fairy tales by comparing Dr. Rollo May’s “Briar Rose Revisited” in The Cry for Myth with Anne Sexton’s “Briar Rose” in Transformation. May analyzes myths and fairy tales in The Cry for Myth as a clinical psychologist. His “Briar Rose Revisited” particularly evaluates the value of revisited fairy tales in terms of the perspective of growth and healing. Meanwhile, Sexton rewrites the final half of the poem “Briar Rose” with “insomnia” totally. Sexton’s “Briar Rose” features her modern sense of human suffering and existence. May reinterprets Briar Rose’s sleep of one hundred years in terms of “creative waiting.” In the meantime, Sexton reproduces the final part as an unprecedented “insomnia” and gives Briar Rose a harsh, creative voice. Two writers approach the typical story on their own terms, while both of them seem to think highly of the “rewriting fairy tale” as a vehicle in order to examine modern men’s spiritual crisis in common. The painful existence in danger can be recreated as a concrete myth to make our awareness of life alive. Comprehensively, this paper aims to discuss two perspectives on reinterpreting the controversial final part of Sexton’s “Briar Rose” in an effective way.