In my opinion, Riddell dexterously carves out a ‘plagued’ world of sleep. The graphic detailing juggles with stasis and dynamism of the narrative which is noteworthy. The text gets a gorgeous look in the intermingling shades of black, white and golden. RELATED: The White Queen - A Medieval Fairy Tale Romance The Sleeper and the Spindle: A Graphic Taleīesides this, the artwork of Chris Riddell in The Sleeper and the Spindle unfurls an amazing sequence of graphic depictions which lace the pages of the book. The episode of the Queen’s expedition from the embracing thorns of the castle in the Forest of Acaire to the ‘rose’ and thereon the interior of the castle specifically is reminiscent of one of the most known Medieval Romances- The Romance of the Rose. In her journey, Snow White is like a chivalric knight who on the eve of her wedding travels from one fantastical world to the other driven by the quest to ‘rescue’ those who are helpless.
In tune with multiple discourses evoked by the text, Snow White’s journey from the exterior world towards and into the castle reminds me of the quest of knights that flourished in the medieval Romance tradition. RELATED: Spindle’s End – Robin McKinley’s Retelling of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ Medieval Romance: Is it? However, there is much beyond the ‘feminist’ tagline. This would raise pro-feminist voices and interpretations in the ‘modern’ context. Snow White’s struggle as a ‘Queen’ to rescue the hapless inmates of the castle and thereby save her kingdom from the sleeping plague makes her the perfect replacement of ‘Prince Charming’ in the fairy tale. The fusion of two tales establishes a kind of hierarchy in the treatment of characters. Certainly, Gaiman gives Snow White the upper hand. The stories interwoven in the narrative canvas through their resurrection and reveal a spectrum of other fantastical innovations. Overall, the way Gaiman portrays Snow White and Sleeping Beauty against a re-fashioned backdrop are fascinating. It is a work that entices both the children and the adults. This is how Neil Gaiman perceives The Sleeper and the Spindle as his retelling of the classic fairy tales of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. A queen might just prove herself a hero, if a princess needs rescuing…” The Sleeper and the Spindle Review This fairy tale is spun with a thread of dark magic, which twists and turns and glints and shines. But no one is waiting for a noble prince to appear on his trusty steed here. There are some good, brave, hardy dwarfs a castle, shrouded in thorns and a princess, cursed by a witch, so rumor has it, to sleep forever. There’s a young queen, about to be married. ‘It was the closest kingdom to the queen’s, as the crow flies, but not even the crows flew it.
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