The film Maleficent opens with a seemingly pure love story between young Stefan and Maleficent, the fairy protector of the enchanted Moors forest. It is Romeo and Juliet-esque, as they come from two opposing sides with a long-standing hatred for each other - the real world of men and the mystical fairy realm - preventing them from being together. When the King is fatally wounded by Maleficent in battle for the Moors, he states that whoever avenges him will ascend to the throne. Stefan, now an adult, returns to Maleficent - now determined to kill her to gain power in the kingdom. He uses Maleficent's trust for him, spiking her drink and when he can't muster the ability to kill her, he takes her wings as "evidence" that he did. 

Viewing this scene as an adult, and reading other's reactions to it, I now understand what Stefan's betrayal is supposed to represent. In an interview by BBC Radio Hour in 2014, Angelina Jolie confirms that Stefan drugging Maleficent and taking her wings is an intentional allegory by Woolverton for sexual assault. The significance of Maleficent's wings as the core to her being and way of life up until that point, and Angelina Jolie's screams of devastation and fall into depression after realizing what she had lost, solidifies this interpretation. Sam Adams from Indie Wire argues that the film, to its detriment, does not dwell in this dark moment and chooses to ignore it going forward. Maleficent is portrayed as a "misguided victim who spends years trying to make up for a single, irrevocable mistake [cursing Aurora to a deathlike sleep for her father's actions]". I do think the film's message about consent and abusive relationships is important for children to hear, while agreeing with Adam's point that it may not have been executed perfectly. However, it does give Maleficent emotional reasoning behind her hatred for King Stefan and motivation to curse Aurora, besides being petty at the King for not being invited to her christening.