Schafeeva - Your Beast

Caitlin Rose

Hot Take

But has anyone ever stopped to think about the Damsel in Distress? Has anyone ever considered the feelings of the princess locked away in a tower? We all like to make fun of the Damsel in Distress trope but has anyone in the last 100 years stopped to think about how she feels? How worthless she thinks she is because she can't get herself out of that dreaded tower. She can't save herself, she's powerless, and as much as we like to mock her for that. We overlook how this powerlessness becomes such an overwhelming sensation inside of her. So many "if onlys…" swirling around in her head. If only she was as strong as the dragon that captured her. If only she was as cunning as the prince that promised to save her. If only she had a fraction of the combat abilities of the knights. If only, if only.

Not to mention how lonely she must feel and how nerve-wracking it is waking up every day wondering if everyone you ever knew-ever loved- has forgotten you. she's been told to wait for a prince or a knight or some dashing stranger. A harbinger of true love…but what if they never come? What if they have more important things to do than rescue her? The long hours spent in a quiet room with a monotonous view. Withering around in self-loathing on the brink of another panic attack. It's enough to drive anyone crazy.

There's also the part of NOT being able to save herself. She's not cunning enough, not brave enough, not strong enough. And maybe she is, maybe she's all those things but her self-doubt and pity have trapped her in a constant web of "can't".

She can't save herself

She isn't worth being rescued

She's nothing

Destined to rot away in the tower.

And then when/if she is rescued it's borderline impossible to readjust to society. All those years of being utterly alone make it painfully difficult to be around people. She can't read social cues or even understand what half the people are talking about. She misses the tower, the isolation, and the quiet. Yet never wants to return to it. You can forget about her making friends, everyone seems to avoid her, deeming her less because she was captured in the first place. Whispering behind her back about how 'they' would have saved themselves. Or how their heroes would have come to save them so much faster than hers did. Even the king and queen are rigid around her. Not knowing how to act or what to say, but growing increasingly more vexed at her ineptitude to "be normal" again. Our poor princess is convinced she'll always be alone, fated to a life of misery.

Oh, and let's not forget the nightmares. The terrors of the tower crept out of her subconscious each night. Tormenting her when she dares to close her eyes. The endless hallways and countless rooms filled with nothing. The feeling of the cold bricks under her bare feet as she wandered the corridors in a haze of boredom and anxiety. The dragon's there too, sharp teeth on display ready to bite and burn her at the slightest defiance. She can feel his embers tickling her arm. The markings of his claws on her cheek throbbing. She can't rember how many scars he left. How many open wounds that healed wrong.

She woke up screaming that night, just like the three nights before that. Waking up the whole castle. It's fellow residents irritated at her nightly "antics". She stopped sleeping after that. The days aren't much better

the constant feeling that what originally dragged her into that tower is coming after her again, is always at the forefront of her mind. She's skittish, reserved. The queen still doesn't understand why her daughter refuses to be touched. Rejecting every hug she tries to give her. The king can't comprehend why the princess barely talks, stuttering out what few words she utters.

The whole kingdom is gossiping. Repulsed by what their so-called princess has become. The dragon has been vanquished, the tower toppled. Move on. Little do they know both terrors still live on within her. Not to mention their constant negative views of her only feed her self-hatred all the more.

"Why can't the princess just be normal…"

Poor princess, forever trapped, wither by the dragon, the tower, the kingdom…or herself.

No, seriously I think the damsel in distress is one of the most heartbreaking self-reflecting tropes ever made.

Galaxy Mermaid by afterblossom

"Elk Centaur" by Francois Lelong

Stevens Point Sculpture Park, Wisconsin, USA

“Yours is the light by which my spirit’s born - you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars.” ~ e. e. cummings

The Fairy of the Moon ~ 1891 ~ Hermann Kaulbach (German artist, 1846–1909)