True Love
Maleficent expands on and adds nuance to the idea of "true love" established in Disney's 1959 version of Sleeping Beauty. In the animated film, Prince Phillip awakens Aurora with a kiss of romantic true love. Maleficent subverts this trope by exploring how genuine connection and forgiveness create unlikely bonds of true love.
At the beginning of the film, Maleficent and Stefan share a seemingly deep and meaningful friendship and romance, which Stefan seals by giving Maleficent "true love's kiss" on her sixteenth birthday. However, Stefan's desire for power corrupts his love for Maleficent, and he betrays her but cutting off her wings. Maleficent becomes cynical about love and transforms the Moors into a dark kingdom. She punishes Stefan for his disingenuous love by placing a curse on his daughter, Aurora, that can only be broken by "true love's kiss." Both Stefan and Maleficent are disillusioned by their romance, and neither believes true love is real, making the curse, in their minds, permanent.
Though Aurora is the daughter of her enemy, Maleficent grows to love her maternally. Maleficent and Aurora are not bound by blood or obligation, making their love pure. Maleficent chooses to try everything to break the curse, though she expects she will not survive the ordeal. However, Maleficent's kiss on Aurora's forehead undoes the curse. Aurora forgives Maleficent, illustrating that she feels true love for Maleficent in return.
Cyclical Violence
Throughout the film, characters seek violent vengeance for the pain and trauma they endure. Afraid of Maleficent's power, King Henry attempts to kill her, first in battle. When Maleficent mortally wounds King Henry, he is consumed by a need for revenge and offers to name anyone who can kill Maleficent his successor. Thus, through his fear and anger, King Henry begins a cycle of violence.
Stefan, bitter about his impoverished life, is desperate to ascend to power. He betrays Maleficent by violently cutting off her wings so he can be king. When Maleficent realizes Stefan's corrupt motivation for mutilating her, she places a near-unbreakable curse on Stefan's newborn daughter, Aurora, to punish him. Even after Maleficent resolves the curse, Stefan is still obsessed with enacting "justice" by killing her, which ultimately results in his death.
However, the film offers a satisfying escape from the cycle of violence in the form of Maleficent's love for Aurora. Though Maleficent is the one who cursed Aurora, she grows to love the princess and desires to protect her, even at the cost of her own life. Maleficent accepts responsibility for her own actions and breaks the curse by kissing Aurora's forehead. In Maleficent, acts of genuine love disrupt cyclical violence.
Nature and Civilization
Maleficent is set between two antagonistic realms: the human realm, ruled by power-hungry kings, and the Moors, a magical land where fairies live by trusting one another. The human kingdom, representing civilization, is depicted in neutral colors and bleak indoor sets with dim lighting. By contrast, the Moors, representing nature, teems with colorful flora and fauna.
At the film's beginning, Maleficent lives in harmony with nature, enjoying friendly relationships with magical creatures and using her powers to heal. She later gains the title "Protector of the Moors."
By contrast, the human kingdom seeks to dominate nature by expanding into the Moors and destroying Maleficent. King Henry's army is violent and cruel, carelessly destroying and exploiting nature. Stefan exemplifies this exploitation by cutting off Maleficent's wings for personal gain.
After Stefan's betrayal, Maleficent begins to believe human civilization cannot coexist with nature. However, as Maleficent watches Aurora's reverence for nature, she begins to see that balance between civilization is possible. This balance is achieved when Aurora is crowned queen of both the human realm and the Moors.
The Complexity of Good and Evil
In the opening narration, the film explains that the human kingdom and the Moors are so at odds "only a great hero or a terrible villain might bring them together." Thus, the film acknowledges and subverts the false dichotomy between "good" and "evil" present fairy tales.
Maleficent and Stefan both commit and are victims of acts of cruel violence. Stefan cuts off Maleficent's wings for personal gain, as he experienced poverty as a child and desires a life of luxury. Though Stefan's betrayal is an act of evil, the film acknowledges the traumatic circumstances that led him to his decision.
Similarly, Maleficent places an "evil" curse on Aurora to punish Stefan for his cruelty. Though Maleficent's curse is villainous, the film explains her motivations without condoning her actions.
Even in her darkness, Maleficent has the capacity for great love. While she proclaims to hate the child she cursed, Maleficent cares for Aurora and ultimately develops a bond of true love with her. Maleficent also willingly risks her life to save Aurora, demonstrating that heroic and villainous qualities can exist in the same character.
Bodily Autonomy
Disney's 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty, on which Maleficent is loosely based, received criticism for normalizing violations of bodily autonomy; namely, when Prince Phillip kisses Princess Aurora while she sleeps. Maleficent addresses this film by exploring the emotional impacts of violated bodily autonomy.
Throughout the film, characters infringe on the bodily autonomy of others for various reasons. The most obvious example of this theme is when Stefan drugs Maleficent and mutilates her body by cutting off her wings. This obscene act of betrayal is the impetus for Maleficent's curse, where she infringes on Aurora's bodily autonomy by making Aurora sleep eternally until she receives "true love's kiss."
The film directly addresses the criticisms of the nonconsensual kiss between Phillip and Aurora. When the three fairies pressure Phillip to kiss Aurora, he verbally expresses his hesitation to kiss her. He does kiss Aurora, a choice that represents the perverse cultural pressure placed on young men to violate sexual boundaries.
In lesser examples, Maleficent controls the bodies of others in more subtle ways. For example, she saves Diaval's life by turning him into a human, though Diaval prefers his raven form. Maleficent changes Diaval into various animals to suit her needs without Diaval's consent. She also places Aurora and Prince Phillip into enchanted unconsciousness to easily transport them into the Moors and to the castle.
However, after Maleficent's wings reattach, symbolizing her emotional healing from Stefan's betrayal, she begins to respect the bodily autonomy of others. This change is most clearly evidenced in the film's final shot, when Daival, in his preferred raven form, flies through the sky with Maleficent as equals.
Corruption and Power
The film Maleficent explores how individuals with power and leadership roles use their authority for good or evil. Maleficent is the most powerful creature in the Moors, an endowment that earns her the title "Protector of the Moors." However, King Henry abuses his power and leads an army to kill Maleficent simply because he fears her magical abilities.
After Stefan's betrayal, Maleficent begins to use her natural abilities to antagonize rather than protect. For example, Maleficent unofficially declares herself queen of the Moors, though the magical realm never followed official governance, simply because she wants to wield power to challenge Stefan. As queen, she uses her powers not to protect the Moors, but to divide the Moors and the Human Kingdom even further. Maleficent's most egregious abuse of power is when she uses her incomparable magic to curse Aurora, an innocent infant.
Similarly, Stefan abuses his position of authority to get revenge on Maleficent, using his authority to force others to aid in his personal vendetta. Though he does not believe it can be broken, Stefan uses all the kingdom's resources to try and kill Maleficent. He destroys thousands of spinning wheels belonging to his subjects and commissions ironworkers to forge traps for Maleficent.
Forgiveness and Redemption
Maleficent explores how even the most villainous characters are capable of change and redemption through love and acceptance.
After Stefan's cruel betrayal, Maleficent seeks revenge by cursing Aurora, an act Maleficent later declares is "unforgivable." Learning the truth about the curse, Aurora declares that Maleficent is "the evil that is in the world."
However, as Maleficent grows to care for Aurora, she takes steps toward repairing the damage she has done and seeking forgiveness. For example, Maleficent uses her immense power to try and break the curse. Though she believes the curse cannot be broken by "true love's kiss," Maleficent risks her life for the slim chance Phillip can break the curse. These heroic actions contrast sharply with her supposedly villainous character.
Maleficent's self-sacrificial love for Aurora eventually redeems her, as her pure, unconditional love awakens Aurora. Maleficent's redemption is represented symbolically when her wings reattach.
The theme of forgiveness and redemption is also explored through the character of King Stefan. Like Maleficent, Stefan exhibits villainous qualities and is motivated by a need for revenge. In contrast to Maleficent, however, King Stefan's rage and bitterness consume him, eventually resulting in his death. After her wings are reattached, and Aurora's curse is broken, Maleficent presents Stefan with an opportunity for redemption by ending their years-long feud. However, Stefan is unwilling to forgive Maleficent and attacks her one final time, plummeting to his death. Stefan's downfall is a cautionary tale about the dangers of revenge and the importance of forgiveness.
