Snow White

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This article is about the Snow White character. For other uses, see Snow White (disambiguation).
Snow White in her coffin, Theodor Hosemann, 1852.
Snow White in her coffin, Theodor Hosemann, 1852.

Snow White (in Low German Sneewittchen; in High German Schneeweißchen) is the title character of a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm. The German version features elements such as the magic mirror and the seven dwarfs.

In the Aarne-Thompson folklore classification, tales of this kind are grouped together as type 709, Snow White. Others of this kind include Bella Venezia, Myrsina, Nourie Hadig, The Young Slave, and Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree.[1]

In the many non-German versions, the dwarfs are generally robbers, while the magic mirror is a dialog with the sun or moon.[citation needed] In a version from Albania, collected by Johann Georg von Hahn and published in Griechische und albanesische Märchen. Gesammelt, übersetzt und erläutert (1864), the main character lives with 40 dragons.[citation needed] Her sleep is caused by a ring. The beginning of the story has a twist, in that a teacher urges the heroine to kill her evil stepmother so that the teacher can take her place. The origin of this tale is debated; it is likely no older than the Middle Ages.

Contents

[edit] Story outline

The English translation of the definitive edition of the Grimm's Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Berlin 1857), tale number 53, is the basis for the English translation by D. L. Ashliman.[2]

Once upon a time, as a queen sits sewing at her window, she pricks her finger on her needle and a drop of blood falls on the snow that had fallen on her ebony window frame. As she looks at the blood on the snow, she says to herself, "Oh, how I wish that I had a daughter that had skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony". Soon after that, the queen gives birth to a baby girl who has skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony. They name her Princess Snow White. As soon as the child is born, the queen dies.

Soon after, the new king takes a new wife, who is beautiful but very vain. She possesses a magical mirror that answers any question, to whom she often asks: "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in the land is fairest of all?" to which the mirror always replies "You, my queen, are fairest of all." But when Snow White reaches the age of seven, she becomes as beautiful as the day, and when the queen asks her mirror, it responds: "Queen, you are full fair, 'tis true, but Snow White is fairer than you."

The Queen becomes jealous, and orders a huntsman to take Snow White into the woods to be killed. She demands that the huntsman return with Snow White's heart as proof of her killing. The huntsman takes Snow White into the forest, but after raising his knife to stab her, he finds himself unable to kill her. Instead, he lets her go, telling her to flee and hide, and brings the queen the heart of a young boar, which is then prepared by the cook and eaten by the queen.

In the forest, Snow White discovers a tiny cottage belonging to seven dwarfs, where she rests. There, the dwarfs take pity on her, saying "If you will keep house for us, and cook, make beds, wash, sew, and knit, and keep everything clean and orderly, then you can stay with us, and you shall have everything that you want." They warn her to take care and let no one in when they are away delving in the mountains. Meanwhile, the Queen asks her mirror once again "Who's the fairest of them all?", and is horrified to learn that Snow White is not only alive and well and living with the dwarfs, but is still the fairest of them all.

Three times the Queen disguises herself and visits the dwarfs' cottage while they are away during the day, trying to kill Snow White. First, disguised as a peddler, the Queen offers colorful stay-laces and laces Snow White up so tight that she fainted, causing the Queen to leave her for dead. Snow White is revived by the dwarfs, however, when they loosen the laces. Next, the Queen dresses as a different old woman and brushes Snow White's hair with a poisoned comb. Snow White again collapses, but again is saved by the dwarfs. Finally, the Queen makes a poisoned apple, and in the disguise of a farmer's wife, offers it to Snow White. When she is hesitant to aceept it, the Queen cuts the apple in half, eats the white part and gives the poisoned red part to Snow White. She eats the apple eagerly and immediately falls into a deep stupor. When the dwarfs find her, they cannot revive her, and they place her in a glass coffin, assuming that she is dead.

Time passes, and a prince traveling through the land sees Snow White in her coffin. The prince is enchanted by her beauty and instantly falls in love with her. He begs the dwarfs to let him have the coffin. The prince's servants carry the coffin away. While doing so, they stumble on some bushes and the movement caused the piece of poisoned apple to dislodge from Snow White's throat, awakening her. The prince then declares his love for her and soon a wedding was planned.

The vain Queen, still believing that Snow White is dead, once again asks her mirror who is the fairest in the land, and yet again the mirror disappoints her by responding that "You, my queen, are fair; it is true. But the young queen is a thousand times fairer than you."

Not knowing that this new queen was indeed her stepdaughter, she arrives at the wedding, and her heart fills with the deepest of dread when she realizes the truth.

As punishment for her wicked ways, a pair of heated iron shoes are brought forth with tongs and placed before the Queen. She is then forced to step into these and dance until she falls down dead.

[edit] Commentary

In their first edition, the Brothers Grimm published the version they had first collected, in which the villain of the piece is Snow White's jealous mother. In a version sent to another folklorist prior the first edition, additionally, she does not order a servant to bring her to the woods, but brings her there herself to gather flowers and abandons her herself; in the first edition, this task was transferred to a servant.[3] It is believed that the change to a stepmother in later editions was to tone down the story for children.[4]

Snow White, although marrying at the end of the tale, is seven when her stepmother first tries to kill her. This may be explained by her growing up while in the coffin or during her stay with the dwarfs; but more often, Snow White is depicted in illustrations as considerably older.[5]

Snow White's triple seeming-death and resurrection, beyond an amusement or wish-fulfilling temporary escape, fulfills the initiatory process of life, as Mircea Eliade described it: "What is called 'initiation' coexists with the human condition, reaffirms the ultimate religious significance of life and the real possibility of a 'happy ending'".[6]

Maria Tatar interprets the tale[7] as a polarization of women into the evil and active versus the innocent, passive and domestic.

The story of Snow White may have been intertwined with those of some historical figures. Scholars have uncovered parallels between the legendary Snow White and Margarete von Waldeck (1533-1554). Like Snow White, Margarete was a strikingly attractive young woman. Like Snow White she had a problematic relationship with her stepmother. She grew up in the mining town of Waldeck where small children known as dwarfs worked in the mines. At 16, Margarete moved to Brussels. There, she attracted the romantic interest of several nobles, including Phillip II of Spain. Phillip II hoped to marry her because she was beautiful, but she became ill as a result of poisoning. Ruthless politics were a part of medieval court, where marriage to a powerful personage was often viewed as a way for a clan to gain allies to the detriment of rivals. Margarete died at the age of 21. The handwriting of her will, written shortly before her death, shows evidence of tremor. The perpetrator was never exposed but it could not have been her stepmother, who was already dead at the time. The poignant tale of a beautiful young woman whose life was cut short may have captured the popular imagination and provided inspiration for the folktale.[8]

[edit] Other versions

[edit] Modern narratives

The story in Russian writer Alexander Pushkin's 1833 poem The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights is similar to that of Snow White, with knights replacing dwarfs.[9] One of the many retellings of the Snow White tale appears in A Book of Dwarfs, by Ruth Manning-Sanders.[citation needed]

Tanith Lee's novel White as Snow is a dark, adult retelling of the tale (woven into a reworking of the Demeter/Persephone myth), as is her short story "Red as Blood" (published in her story collection of the same title), and Neil Gaiman's short story "Snow, Glass, Apples" (published in Smoke and Mirrors). Other writers who have made use of the theme include Donald Barthelme (in his novel Snow White), Gregory Maguire (in his novel Mirror Mirror), Jane Yolen (in her story "Snow in Summer," published in Black Swan, White Raven), Anne Sexton (in her poem "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," published in Transformations), Gail Carson Levine (in Fairest), and A. S. Byatt (in her essay "Ice, Snow, Glass," published in Mirror, Mirror on the Wall).[citation needed]

Angela Carter has also written a postmodern version of the tale entitled 'The Snow Child' in her collection 'The Bloody Chamber'. Her story recreates a version of the tale collected but unpublished by the Grimm Brothers in which Snow White is a child of the father's desire rather than the mother's.

In 1982 Roald Dahl's book Revolting Rhymes rewrote the story in a more modern way. In this version, Snow White was a savvy young woman who stole the magic mirror to help the dwarfs gamble on winning horses.[citation needed]

Snow White (Fables) is also a significant character in Bill Willingham's Fables comic book series. This version uses aspects of the Seven Dwarfs' Snow White, but has a sister named Rose Red.

In Ludwig Revolution, Blanche (Snow White) is a whore. Her mother wanted her dead because she accused her of stealing her beauty when she was in her womb and seducing her father, the king. Blanche lives with the seven dwarfs after she seduces the hunter but her mother eventually finds her. Though she eats the apple, she trades it with the one her mother poisoned so that she doesn't die. Ludwig falls in love with her at first sight and takes her home to be his wife but Ludwig's assistant Wilhelm accidentally dislodges the apple from her throat, waking her. After she seduces his father, the King, Ludwig uncovers her evil deeds. She later dies of health problems at the end of the chapter.

[edit] Film and television

First, a 1902 Snow White film was released. A 1916 silent film titled Snow White was made by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation and produced by Adolph Zukor and Daniel Frohman. Directed by J. Searle Dawley, it was adapted to the screen by Jessie Graham White from his play Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The film starred Marguerite Clark as Snow White, Creighton Hale as Prince Florimond and Dorothy Cumming as Queen Brangomar/Mary Jane.

A 1933 Betty Boop cartoon, Snow White, was adapted from this story, as was the famous 1937 Disney animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In the Disney version, Snow White wakes from her enchanted sleep as soon as the Prince kisses her, similar to Sleeping Beauty. Furthermore, the prince and Snow White have met prior to her enchanted sleep, so that he has fallen in love with the awake rather than the sleeping princess, an unusual variation in the Snow White tales.[10] This version is perhaps the most well-known version of the story, and is a classic of the cinema. A sequel was made by Filmation Studios in 1988 and released theatrically in 1993, was called "Happily Ever After". However this sequel, which obviously had completely different animation, also introduced several new characters, including the Seven Dwarves cousins the Dwarf-Elves, which each had a special power. The plot also introduced the queen's brother, Lord Malis, who wanted revenge on Snow White for killing his sister. Snow White also has a role in the videogame Kingdom Hearts where she is one of the Princesses of Hearts kidnapped by Maleficent. The Disney version is distinctly parodied in the 1943 Merrie Melodies short cartoon Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs. The story is also adapted in the Japanese OVA, Super Mario's Snow White which stars Mario, Princess Peach and the Toads, with King Koopa playing the role as the evil Queen.

Using ideas from Stanislav Grof, Joseph Campbell, and Carl G. Jung, Roberts [11] claims that the Disney version of Snow White appeals to unconscious parts of the human mind including Grof's descriptions of birth experiences, Campbell's Hero's Journey, and Jung's archetypes.

This version of Snow White was featured as a guest in House of Mouse. This version of Snow White also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character, and is part of the Disney Princesses franchise.

In 1961, the story was parodied in the film Snow White and the Three Stooges, starring Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Joe "Curly-Joe" DeRita. In the film, the dwarfs had gone on vacation and lent Moe, Larry and Curly Joe the use of their cottage. The three are traveling entertainers, along with a young man who was born a prince, but lost his memory in an assassination attempt that was thwarted by the Stooges. The prince suffers amnesia and the Stooges "adopt" him and raise him to manhood; but he is only shown as a boy in a flashback segment. The prince ends up marrying Snow White, played by real life Olympic figure skating champion, Carol Heiss. The film is also a musical and features many ice skating scenes. There are a few other things that differ from the original story, such as Count Oga (villainous henchman of the Wicked Queen), a magic sword that transports the Stooges to various places and a carriage chase scene.

The comedy-horror-erotic adaptation of Grimm's Fairy Tales, Grimms Märchen von Lüsternen Pärchen (1969), presented Snow White among other characters of Grimm Tales. A pornographic version of Snow White was released in 1976 in the X-rated animated film Once Upon a Girl. 1979 Pornochanchada adaptation Histórias Que Nossas Babás Não Contavam ("Stories Our Nannies Don't Tell") featured an Afro-Brazilian actress, Adele Fátima, as Snow White. However, Snow White was not named "White" (branca) but clara (a Brazilian racial term similar to fair skin). 1982 film Biancaneve & Co. is an adaptation of the fumetto Biancaneve by Leone Frollo. The film features the starlet Michela Miti as "Snow White". The Snow White story has also been made into a number of adult films. The most famous among these films is Biancaneve e i sette nani (1995) by Luca Damiano, starring Ludmilla Antonova.

The Goodies produced their own version of the fairytale, called Snow White 2.

The 1987 fantasy film Snow White (starring Diana Rigg as the Wicked Queen and Sarah Patterson as Snow White) was released direct to video using the Cannon Movie Tale logo. Other fantasy films were released in the series. It is currently available on Region 1 DVD from MGM.

In one of the episodes of Sailor Moon R, the school the girls go to is performing a stage version of Snow White.

The 1997 fantasy/horror film Snow White: A Tale Of Terror (starring Sigourney Weaver as the Stepmother and Monica Keena as Snow White) purports to be a more authentic adaptation of the original Grimm fairytale. It did not have seven dwarfs, but instead had seven miners. In 2001 another live action version was made for TV, called Snow White. This version changed the storyline to include several more magical elements such as demons.

Daddy's Little Bit of Dresden China, a 1988 short film by British animator Karen Watson, uses the Snow White story as part of a story of child sexual abuse.

10th Kingdom, a short TV-series movie, was loosely based on Snow White, as well as many other fairy tales.

HBO's Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child cast Snow White as White Snow, daughter of a native American chieftain.

In 1988, ABC released a sitcom based on the home life of Snow White and Prince Charming called The Charmings.

Snow White is one of Princess Fiona's friends in the Shrek movies. She shares an affinity with small woodland creatures with her Disney counterpart. She also has a tendency to break out into song every time she speaks which causes animals to come right up towards her. After escaping from jail she breaks into a song (that is similar to a song from the Disney movie) to call upon her animal friends. Once they have gathered she goes into a war cry (that is similar to the opening of Led Zepplin's Immigrant Song) to get the animals to attack the living trees that are guarding the castle for Prince Charming and allow her and the other princess, Fiona and Fiona's mother to get into the castle and stop Prince Charming.

There have also been a few anime adaptations of the story. Nippon Animation told the story of Snow White in three episodes of its 1987 TV series Grimm Meisaku Gekijo (released in English as Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics). In 1994, the Tatsunoko animation studio adapted the story into a 52-episode TV series, Shirayuki-hime no Densetsu ("The Legend of Princess Snow White"), aired in Japan on NHK. Tatsunoko's production incorporated several "prelude" episodes emphasizing the romance between Snow White and her prince before launching into the story proper.

In 1988, the Filmation company produced the first sequel to the Snow White tale, originally titled Snow White and the Realm of Doom, but Disney feared that it would be mistaken as a direct sequel to its own. Disney filed a lawsuit against Filmation, which lead the latter to change the film's title to Happily Ever After. Other drastic changes were made to the film as well, which was released on video in 1993. The story involves Snow White and her prince on their way to meet the seven dwarfs, but the wicked queen's brother, Lord Malice, wants revenge for his sister's death. Lord Malice transforms into a dragon, kidnaps Snow White and transforms her prince into a hideous man. Snow White escapes, thinking she'll see the seven dwarfs again, instead she meets their cousins, the seven dwarfells. Together they all journey to the Realm of Doom where they will defeat Lord Malice and save the prince.

An episode of the supernatural series Charmed entitled "Happily Ever After" features an evil witch escaping from captivity and using fairytales to toy with the sisters. Among other things, she plants a poisoned apple which one of the sisters eats and dies. Her sisters cast a spell that ends up bringing the descendants of the seven dwarfs to the house. The magic wears off when the evil witch is defeated.

Another unofficial sequel of sorts was released in theaters in Belgium and France in January 2007: Blanche Neige: la suite (Snow White: The Sequel), an animated film for mature audiences. It was directed by Picha, who is known for his animated films of a sexually explicit nature, including Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle and The Big Bang.

The film Sydney White is a modern retelling of the classic fairy tale. It stars Amanda Bynes as Sydney (Snow White), Sara Paxton as Rachel Witchburn (the Wicked Queen), and Matt Long as Tyler Prince (Prince Charming).

Snow White is also the basis of the 1980s sitcom The Charmings. In it, Snow White's stepmother, Queen Lillian puts a sleeping spell on Snow White, Prince Charming, their two sons, herself, and one of the seven dwarfs. They wake up a millennium later in Los Angeles and are forced to adjust to a non-fanciful life.

2007 also saw Snow White as part of the Disney movie Enchanted.

[edit] Music

Snow White is referenced in the song "Waiting for Magic" from the Swedish pop group Ace of Base in their debut album, "Happy Nation". They referenced Snow White by singing, "Kiss me baby, I am Snow White sleeping in my coffin waiting for you."

A sadistic version of the Disney Snow White appears in German metal band Rammstein's video for the song Sonne. She is portrayed as a dominatrix and drug addict (who shoots up gold dust as a drug). In the video, the band members are the dwarfs, and they are working for her by mining the gold. At the end of the video, Snow White appears to be dead from a gold overdose. She is encased in a glass coffin and carried up the hill by the band, only to be revived by an apple that falls from a tree.

Snow White is referred to as a person or queen, with stalking and/or obsession overtones, in the song "Snow White Queen" on Evanescence's album The Open Door.

Snow White is also mentioned in the song "This Kiss" sung by Faith Hill.

A version of the Snow White tale is featured in the Rammstein Music Video Sonne (YouTube) [1]

[edit] Snow White and Rose Red

There is another Brothers Grimm tale called Snow White and Rose Red which also includes a character called Snow White. However, this Snow White is a completely separate character from the one found in this tale. The original German names are also different: Schneewittchen (the Princess) and Schneeweißchen (together with Rosenrot). There is actually no difference in the meaning (both mean "snow white"), but the first name is more influenced by the dialects of Low Saxon while the second one is the standard German version, demonstrating a class difference between the two Snow Whites.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

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[edit] References

  1. ^ Heidi Anne Heiner, "Tales Similar to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"
  2. ^ On-line English text.
  3. ^ Kay Stone, "Three Transformations of Snow White" p 57-8 James M. McGlathery, ed. The Brothers Grimm and Folktale, ISBN 0-252-01549-5
  4. ^ Maria Tatar, The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales, p 36, ISBN 0-691-06722-8
  5. ^ Maria Tatar, p 83, The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, ISBN 0-393-05163-3
  6. ^ Eliade, Myth and Reality (New York) 1968:202, is expanded in N. J. Girardot, "Initiation and Meaning in the Tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" The Journal of American Folklore 90 No. 357 (July-September 1977:274-300).
  7. ^ Maria Tatar, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, p 242 W. W. Norton & company, London, New York, 2004 ISBN 0-393-05848-4
  8. ^ "Märchen und Sagen". Journal-DW.
  9. ^ Pushkin, Alexander: "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights", Raduga Publishers, 1974
  10. ^ Terri Windling,"Snow, Glass, Apples: the story of Snow White"
  11. ^ Roberts, Thomas B. (2006)Psychedelic Horizons: Snow White, Immune System, Multistate Mind, Enlarging Education Exeter, UK: Imprint Academic

[edit] Further reading

  • Grimm, Jacob and William, edited and translated by Stanley Appelbaum, Selected Folktales/Ausgewählte Märchen: A Dual-Language Book Dover Publications Inc. Mineola, New York. ISBN 0-486-42474-X

Theodor Ruf: Die Schöne aus dem Glassarg. Schneewittchens märchenhaftes und wirkliches Leben. Würzburg: Königshausen und Neumann, 1994 (absolutely reliable academic work)

[edit] External links

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Snow White
Versions
Film
Snow White (1902) • Snow White (1916) • Snow White (1933) • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) • Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (1943) • Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961) • Grimms Märchen von Lüsternen Pärchen (1969) • Snow White Christmas (1980) • Snow White (1987) • Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) • Snow White (2001) • Biancaneve e i sette nani (1995) • 7 Zwerge – Männer allein im Wald (2004 ) • 7 Zwerge – Der Wald ist nicht genug (2006) • Sydney White (2007)
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