What do we learn by looking at the tale in relationship to its other (historical) versions?
"The fairest one of all."
Why, over a hundred years after the Grimm Brothers published it, do we still have an interest with the plight of Snow White? Jealousy--this destructive feeling, along with vanity, still causes self-destructive behavior. Readers relate to the young,innocent heroine or the older, jealous antagonist.
The introduction to the various versions of Snow White show us the "staying power" of these tense emotions. The protagonist, Snow White, appears innocent (with exception to the doll episode in "The Young Slave"), and unjustly finds herself at the mercy of the antagonistic mother figure in her life. The writers of each version seem to want the heroine to deserve her happy ending. Gilbert and Gubar point out that "There is, after all, no female mode for her in this tale except the 'good' (dead) mother and her living avatar the 'bad' mother" (296). This implies that Snow White will inevitably suffer from the same self-destructive fate of her step mother. I understand why Disney and the Brothers Grimm leave this potential ending. No one wants to see the the downfall of their hero.
The absence of the father figure in most versions was an element I had not noted. Disney films usually make a point to present absent parents. The idea that the voice in the mirror as the father brings an interesting point. The "Evil" Queen's jealousy almost seems understandable because she stays in constant battle to win the full affection of her husband. The continuous fight against the memory of the "good" dead mother and the beautiful daughter drive the "Evil" Queen toward her murderous acts. The queen jealousy is rooted in her fear of losing her youth and beauty.
With so many modern spins on fairy tales, we like to think, "Maybe the villain was just misunderstood." The threat of a younger, prettier version is something to which many women can relate. The stepmother's fear of no longer being "the fairest" connects women in any time period. Her battle and inevitable defeat allow the tale to remain current even today.
Tatar, Maria ed. The Classic Fairy Tales. New York., W.W. Norton., 1999.
KCL
Hi Kasi,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting posts here (though I've followed them mostly on our Moodle forums). I'd love to see you branch out creatively though, adding images and mixing media as we see so often on the web. I know it may not seem to be in vogue in academia, but I'm trying to challenge each of you creatively as well as analytically to interface with your material. The more you think about the ways others work with these texts in written and artistic formats, the better you'll be able to express what you think about them yourself. Keep at it! :)