The notion of damsel comes from dameisele , an Old French word that can be translated as "miss." The concept has several meanings according to the context .
In some cases , a young woman is called a damsel, especially if she has intentions of becoming a refined lady and wants to be treated as such. For example: "The boy invited the damsel to the theater" , "In novels, heroes are always willing to risk their lives to save a damsel in distress" , "The distressed damsel moved the policeman" .
A woman dedicated to the practice of prostitution can also be named as a damsel: "The beautiful damsel soon caught the attention of the old man" , "Investigators believe that the missing businessman spent the night with a damsel" , "This alley is usually full of damsels offering their services .
The universal theme that appears in literature , plastic arts, cinema and video games is known as a damsel in distress , in which a beautiful young woman is in danger because of a villain and requires a hero to come to her rescue. . Women, in this context, are usually presented as weak, naive and dependent on men: that is why the topic is considered sexist.
Ancient Greece is considered to be the origin of the term or theme of the "damsel in distress." Where this concept can be found most is within the set of European fairy tales, many of which have later become classics of children's literature and even highly acclaimed films from the Disney factory.
We are referring to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Sleeping Beauty", "Cinderella", "Rapunzel"...
Since then in various artistic and cultural fields we have known many other cases of damsels in distress. Thus, for example, in the world of comics, reporter Lois Lane was always saved by Superman from the compromising situations she got into. And we also came across Jane, who had her particular "hero" in Tarzan who saved her from the dangers of the jungle.
Likewise, we cannot ignore that the word damsel has been used to shape the titles of different books throughout history. This would be the case, for example, of the work "The Damsel of the Castle", which is an original legend written by Víctor Balaguer.
Not to mention that this term is also included in a song performed by the Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo. We are referring to the one titled "Charming Damsel", which was launched on the market in 1983 and was included in the album "The Music of Ernesto Lecuona".
An example of a damsel in distress is Princess Peach , the female character from the video game saga known as Mario Bros. This princess is always captive of a monster and Mario must save her.
Damselfish, finally, is the name of a subfamily of fish in the pomacentrid family . These are brightly colored animals that usually live in salt water.