Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. This week’s Femme Fatale Friday is about Odette, the Swan Princess! I decided to choose another fairytale character for this Femme Fatale Friday because I wanted to keep the fairytale theme going for one more day. I absolutely adore Odette from Swan Lake and The Swan Princess, as I was born in the early 90s and grew up loving the 1994 animated musical film! This was my favorite animated film that Disney did not make as a child, and the film and its first two sequels are still fun to watch today. Swan Lake is also my second favorite ballet, after Sleeping Beauty, as I have always adored Tchaikovsky.
Now that I have had my little nostalgic preamble let’s look at Odette as a character. She is a young Princess who is betrothed to Prince Sigfried in the ballet. Sigfried was renamed Derek for The Swan Princess film. Odette, as a character in the animated films, is most inspired by classic Disney heroines, like Aurora (apt given they were both tales famously adapted as Tchaikovsky ballets). This sets her apart a bit from the Disney Renaissance Princesses that were most famous in that era. However, she was not a completely passive character (and neither was Aurora, to be honest). Odette does have to be saved in her story, but that is part of the plot, as she is literally cursed (again, very similar to Aurora).
When we first see Odette in the film, it is during an iconic song that shows us Odette and Derek through their entire childhoods. It is the ideal way to show us how these two characters go from hating being betrothed to each other as children, with Derek seeing Odette as a tomboy he did not want to play with when they were young children, to antagonism in young teenage years, to attraction in later teen years, to eventual mutual romantic interest in young adulthood. That is how the audience is introduced to the romantic throughline of the film, as this is one of the fairytale adaptations that is deeply romantic, with the love story being central. As a bonus, this romantic fairytale is also a transformative fairytale, which is likely why I adore it so much!
In the film, Odette is upset when Derek is incapable of explaining why he loves her beyond her physical beauty. That is why she runs off into the woods, leaving Derek behind after ending their engagement. That is what allows her to be captured by the sorcerer Rothbart, who transforms her into a Swan, which is why Odette is the Swan Princess! In the film, we see that Derek spends a great deal of time training to prove himself worthy of Odette. He is also growing in emotional maturity, capable of explaining all the reasons that he loves her. Of course, he has no way of finding her for a good length of time, which is left ambiguous, it could be months or years.
Finally, they are reunited one night when Derek finds the Lake where Odette is being held. She transformed from Swan to human each night, allowing them to communicate. Odette explains her curse, and Derek is desperate to rescue her. Derek meets Rothbart, and the challenge is that Derek must publicly prove his love for Odette, or she would die. Of course, it is not as easy as it would seem, as Rothbart tricks Derek by transforming his assistant into a double of Odette. It is of note that in the ballet, Odile is Rothbart’s daughter, and she is identical to Odette, which is what provides the trickery.
Derek proclaims his love to the wrong woman, and Odette begins to die. However, there is a final battle between Derek and Rothbart, and when Rothbart is defeated, Odette is saved! This leads to a happy ending that the ballet does not normally have, as traditionally, Odette simply dies in the ballet. In the film, Derek and Odette are married, and the two sequel films (from the 90s, as there are several others that I have never seen) show the evolution of their relationship after marriage!
Odette, as a character, tries to help Derek save her during the film. She is also famously antagonistic towards Rothbart, as he attempts to woo and marry her, staying very loyal to her love for Derek throughout. Her personality is very sassy and spunky, with a regal and soft sweetness on top. The best way I have heard her personality is described as ‘silk hiding steel.’ ‘Silk hiding steel’ is a concept where a soft exterior hides the core of steel that will not be broken. I am delighted to have finally written about Odette more in-depth, as I have always related to her and this ‘silk hiding steel’ energy!
I hope you have enjoyed this exploration of Odette and her character. What is your favorite thing about Odette? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is Odette’s transformation and a kiss with Derek. I found the picture on https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishabassi/the-swan-princess-favourite-childhood-movie.
LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: https://patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
Further Watching
- The Swan Princess (1994)
- Swan Lake Ballet
- Black Swan (2010)
- https://youtu.be/E1uNt9daaus?si=rQ4h7Z6WuHwBaI-s (This is an excellent video about the animated film, which is also where I first heard the ‘silk hiding steel’ term!)