Classic fairy tales have been teaching life lessons since the 16th century. They help children develop critical thinking skills and digest broad concepts such as hope, courage, honesty, and bravery.
Sleep, or lack thereof, is a common storyline in several stories. When things begin to go sideways for these beloved main characters, they suffer from sleep issues such as insomnia, hypersomnia, or the quest for a comfortable mattress.
Sleep is essential to your physical and mental well-being. It’s also a safe, sacred space to explore your visions and dream that anything is possible.
We identified six fairytales that revolve around poor sleep hygiene and asked sleep experts what advice they’d give the characters today to address their symptoms and help them make better life choices.
Sleeping Beauty
You may wish for blissful, uninterrupted sleep and to feel alive and energized during your waking hours. Cursed by the wicked witch, Maleficent, Princess Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) falls into a deep sleep on her 16th birthday and can only be awoken by a kiss from her true love.
Let’s tweak the story to give the heroine agency over her destiny and sleep schedule. Copious amounts of sleep may be a sign of hypersomnia (also known as “Sleeping Beauty Syndrome”), a condition characterized by the inability to stay awake regardless of how much shuteye you’re getting.
“Aurora should try to maintain a consistent bedtime and wake-up time, even on weekends,” says Julia Forbes, certified sleep science coach. Exposure to natural light during the day and minimizing light exposure close to bedtime are also important for regulating sleep-wake cycles.”
Goldilocks
Finding the right sleep support isn’t just about a good mattress, pillow, or bedding; it also involves trying different options to find what feels right for your body. What feels comfortable for your partner may be your worst nightmare.
Goldilocks is on a quest to have her basic needs met and understand what’s “just right” for her. After wandering in the woods, she stumbles upon a cottage and tests out three temperatures of porridge, three chairs with varying heights, and three types of beds with different comfort systems. She curls up and falls asleep in her favorite bed before the homeowners, the three bears, return home.
While we don’t recommend breaking into a human or non-human home to try different bed styles, we know how important it is to find “the one” and respect her commitment to finding it.
Catherine Darley, naturopathic sleep expert and founder of Skilled Sleeper, agrees. “Goldilocks is right to get the bed that is just right for her,” she says. “We each have different preferences for the bed’s firmness and will sleep best in the right bed.”
The Princess and the Pea
We’ve all slept restless nights in other people’s beds, but it’s unlikely the lack of comfort was intentional. In The Princess and the Pea, a mother’s quest for a suitable wife for her son is literally taken to new heights. She believes only a real princess could feel a pea under a stack of mattresses.
From a sleeping perspective, you don’t have to be royalty to be bothered by small sleep annoyances. Light sleepers need to consider more variables than someone who can doze off in a movie theater.
“Our bedroom environment can make a big difference in our sleep quality, more so than we sometimes realize,” says Darley.
If you relate to the princess, Darley suggests performing a bedroom review: Is it dark? Is it cool? Is it quiet enough? Is the mattress comfortable? Is it clean? Is it uncluttered? Is the door closed during sleep?
Answering these questions can make falling asleep faster, sleep longer, and improve overall sleep quality.
Snow White
In this fairytale, a poisonous apple offered by the wicked queen sends Snow White into an endless slumber—a curse that, surprise, can only be broken by a prince’s kiss.
In real life, there are many ways that a partner can support our sleep health and vice versa. Respecting each other’s sleep schedules, investing in separate blankets, and meeting each other halfway when it comes to room temperature, mattress comfort, and separate alarm clocks can go a long way in creating a balanced environment for two people sharing the same bed.
In the past few years, many celebrities have talked candidly about sleep divorces, which has helped to normalize couples having separate bedrooms. This idea is gaining popularity, and research confirms that a lack of sleep can cause marital conflict.
But if you’re feeling happy in bed with your partner, a kiss is quite possibly the most welcome alarm clock you won’t hit snooze on.
Cinderella
While lack of rest isn’t specifically noted as one of Cinderella’s issues, she was clearly sleep-deprived and may have experienced nightmares living in a stressful and unhealthy home environment.
After all her chores, perhaps her fairy godmother could have planned that evening ball a little earlier. In Grimm’s version, Cinderella sleeps in a “cold, bare room” without a bed.
“Cinderella has a busy schedule, making it difficult to establish a bedtime routine,” says Forbes. “Also, staying out until midnight can lead to sleep deprivation.”
Cinderella didn’t have much leeway to improve her living conditions, but we hope her happy ending includes blackout curtains to help create a healthy, new sleep schedule and a supportive bedtime routine, complete with journaling, meditation, and luxurious bedding.
Rip Van Winkle
When Rip Van Winkle accepts liquor from a group of dwarves, he catches more than a few winks of sleep. He wakes up an old man, having missed 20 years of his life.
It can be difficult to recapture lost time, but getting a proper amount of sleep every night can improve your health and help you stay alert and focused during your waking hours.
“Moving forward, Rip should avoid oversleeping, focus on a balanced diet, regular exercise, and engaging in stimulating activities that can help regulate sleep patterns and prevent sleeping too much,” says Forbes.
FAQs
What is the role of sleep in fairytales?
In fairytales, sleep is a common storyline. It often represents a challenge a character must overcome, playing a crucial role in their journey. For example, in Sleeping Beauty, Aurora is put into a deep sleep on her 16th birthday and can only wake up when kissed by her true love.
What fairytale characters sleep a lot?
Fairytale characters who sleep a lot include Sleeping Beauty, who falls into a deep sleep after being cursed by the witch Maleficent, and Rip Van Winkle, who falls asleep for 20 years after drinking liquor offered to him by a group of dwarves.
Next, see what classic movies get right and wrong about sleep.
