University of Pittsburgh Library System

This project explores common female tropes in traditional fairytales. However, by relating the fairytale stories Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast to the modern dystopian fantasy novels The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and by Kiera Cass, we begin to discover how the definition of the princess has changed to invite female agency. Moreover, in extending further to include the Wonder Woman comic as an additional example of modern fairytale retelling, the role of princess shifts from objectified damsel to active heroine initiating progressive ideas.