We've all had one of those nights when falling asleep seems to be more impossible than climbing Mount Everest. Whether the lights are too bright, the mattress is too hard, or the room is too cold, something just doesn't vibe well with the night.
In Mary Rodger's Once Upon a Mattress, Princess Winifred experiences- to the luck of all the royal citizens- one of these restless nights. This musical is an adaptation of the popular story, "The Princess an the Pea." No one in the kingdom is allowed to marry until the prince marries; the only catch is that the Queen deems every suitable princess as unfit for her son. When Winifred comes along, the Queen decides to test the princess's sensitivity. She places a pea under twenty downy mattresses and tells Winifred to go to sleep. If Winifred is able to sleep with a pea under her mattresses, she will fail the sensitivity test and be kicked out of the kingdom.
I think its safe to say the couples in the kingdom do not like that possibility.
But much to the surprise of the whole kingdom, Winifred cannot fall asleep due to a "lump" she felt under the mattresses. The Queen objects still, saying she will continue to forbid her son to get married. In the end, however, the prince sticks up for himself and the Queen becomes powerless against her son's love. Ah, romance.
While the musical comedy sends out multiple messages, one of the less obvious themes regards this power of falling in love. As was typical within royal communities, Prince Dauntless is arranged in marriage with princesses he never met before. This in itself is a message about true love. The prince doesn't actually like any of the former princesses (who all failed their tests anyway) with whom he was set up. If he were to marry any one of these failed princesses, the lack of intimacy in the relationship would cause both partners to be unhappy; Prince Dauntless was aware of this, and decided he wouldn't marry anyone he didn't truly love. He must patiently wait for years to find the right girl, and when he finds her, he refuses to let his mother destroy his chances with her.
Therefore, Once Upon a Mattress sends a powerful message to seek love, not materialistic desires. Money, societal status, and even physical attractiveness should not be the sole characters taken into consideration when choosing a life partner. The prince proves how necessary that is.
Another message hidden under the comical plot is to follow your heart no mater what other people think. For years, the prince succumbs to his mother's tyrannical presence and does nothing to stop her from controlling both his and his royal citizen's love lives. Whatever his mom says, goes. Being his mother, the Queen has so much influence over Prince Dauntless that he is willing to do whatever makes her happy, even if doing so means he is not happy. But once Winifred arrives and the prince finally learns what true love is, he sticks up for himself despite his fear that his mother will punish or disown him. The musical shows that you should always stand up for what you want and what you think is right, no matter what other people may think of you.
A little bit of courage can go a long way.
I had the worst time falling asleep last night, so I definitely feel that introduction. I love Once Upon a Mattress, it's such an interesting play! The message behind the play is really positive and seeking love is definitely more important than materialistic values. Loved this post!
ReplyDeleteI was Sir Harry in OUAM many moons ago (sophomore year), and despite the obviously familiar plot and quirkiness of the show, I thought it was a ton of fun. I hadn't really considered these themes until now, though. I think you're spot on talking about the power of falling in love- it's kind of a weird and improbable thing, but when it happens, people can fight for it against all odds. And I think the second theme ties into this idea, too; Dauntless saw the time when he needed to stand up and change how his life was going for the good of himself and the kingdom. I think we can all relate; we'll all have moments when we reconsider things and change our lives. All in all, this was a really great post, and you did a good job summarizing the show and talking about a few of its major themes.
ReplyDelete