A Feminist’s View of “Rapunzel”
The Grimm Brothers’ “Rapunzel” encourages women to subscribe to domestic roles. Through the tales of various female characters, “Rapunzel” teaches women to embrace their domesticity even at the risk and disadvantage of such a single-faceted lifestyle. The first female character is Rapunzel’s biological mother, who embodies the domestic women by relying on her husband and never leaving her house. Her husband encounters the enchantress in her own garden, who, though supernatural, cannot expand beyond the domestic realm. Moreover, Rapunzel, the heroine herself, willingly relegates her life to a life of stability, dependence, and ultimately, domesticity.
The story of the man and woman who long for a child teaches
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The enchantress, Rapunzel’s archetypally evil caregiver, uses her magically endowed capabilities to integrate herself into the domestic sphere. The enchantress’ first action is asking the aforementioned husband to donate his first-born child in return for access to her garden’s rampion. With a child, the enchantress finally domesticates herself, accepts the role society has placed upon her as a woman. The enchantress’ second action is her constructing a home for Rapunzel, a domestic place in which the beautiful young girl is constrained. Not only is the enchantress’ life a life of domestication, but she also insures that her inherited daughter’s life will be a domestic one by constructing her a dwelling. The magical enchantress’ power is used only for domestic purposes. Furthermore, when the enchantress learns that her daughter is deceiving her, the enchantress’ action is not to kill, beat, or curse Rapunzel; she banishes her from her domestic abode: “She was so pitiless that she took poor Rapunzel into a desert where she had to live in great grief and misery” (The Brothers Grimm). Again, the enchantress uses her power to manipulate the domestic setting, and the “all-powerful” enchantress seems to only have power over the domestic. Her power is used to achieve domesticity, insure domesticity, and to deprive domesticity, but it is used in no way …show more content…
Though Rapunzel’s lengthy confinement in one room, her home, is convincing evidence of the female’s domestic belonging, it does not adequately demonstrate the connectedness of the woman to the domestic. The ambitious young Prince faces an insurmountable task when he plans to elope with Rapunzel; he must, temporarily, displace the woman from her domestic home. After the Prince decisively wins Rapunzel’s affection, Rapunzel delineates her escape plan: “ 'I will willingly go away with you, but I do not know how to get down. Bring with you a skein of silk every time that you come, and I will weave a ladder with it, and when that is ready I will descend, and you will take me on your horse’” (The Brothers Grimm). First, Rapunzel states she will “go away with [the Prince]” and he will “take [her] on [his] horse,” two statements which reveal both Rapunzel’s dependence upon the Prince and her lack of independence. Though Rapunzel agrees to leave her domestic realm, she does so only to elope in the safe, steady hands of the Prince, venturing from one sphere of domesticity, with her mother, to another sphere of domesticity with a man. Rapunzel also promises to “weave a ladder with [silk].” Weaving, a deep-rooted, traditional female activity arises in Rapunzel because it is both feminine and perfectly accessible within a domestic setting. The woman’s skills, in any patriarchal work, are not
In James Poniewozik's "The Princess Paradox" (323-325) the author explains how the idea of a feminist, independent woman becoming a fairy tale princess is a paradox and that society is engaging in a paradox through the belief of it. He utilizes the recent bout of Cinderella retellings to show the paradox of how girls cannot be both completely independent and a fairytale princess, and yet society perpetuates the paradox through believing that this is not only possible, but realistically attainable as well. Poniewozik exposes the contradictions that surround these new Cinderellas to defy these "realistic" stories that society has come to embrace. By showing how truly constrictive and illogical these fantasies are, Poniewozik also shows how hypocritical society has become for idolizing them and why this new princess is a true paradox.
Jessica was suspicious of the queen, and rightfully so. When the queen entered the black room, the ghastly sight caused Jessica to faint in disgust. Suspicious, black, ghastly. These are just a few of the words an author can use to imply evil in a character. The connotation of dark as evil is prevalent in many stories throughout the history of western civilization. Fairy tales “emanate from specific struggles to humanize [forces initially perceived to be evil], which have terrorized our minds and communities in concrete ways” (Zipes), and their usually-heroic endings make us forget on a conscious level the lessons they’ve taught us. However, their impact remains on our subconscious views of the world. Because of this, fairly tales often address issues far more serious than one would think to teach to a young reader. The Brothers’ Grimm tale “Ashputtle”, the basis of our modern-day Cinderella archetype, takes advantage of this to address the issue of the continued oppression of women.
When analyzing a classic fairytale such as, Snow White, by the Brothers Grimm through a feminist lens, it is clear that it is a phallocentric fairytale that includes stereotypes, gender roles, the male gaze, and paternalism.
Not only is she the main character in the movie, but she also faces the most trials and tribulations of any other character. When the movie begins, Rapunzel is kidnapped and taken away from her birth parents by a woman who only wants her because her hair has magical properties. She was then locked away in a tower away from everything and everyone except for her pet chameleon and her captor. Rapunzel does not know she is being held captive at first. Mother Gothel, the woman who kidnapped her, has convinced Rapunzel that the world is a cruel place and that if she left the tower, people would hurt her to get to her magical
The story of Rumpelstiltskin has been told and retold for more than 4,000 years. Like many fairy tales, Rumpelstiltskin is a story that is without a character that can be defined as pure or innocent. Most versions of the story include two obvious and one ambiguously wicked character. The vaguely evil character comes in the form of the father who lies and parades his daughter like the incompetent object. As a result, he gets her into trouble with the King, a greedy man who cares about nothing but the gold he can get out of the miller’s daughter. Ultimately the only female character in this fairy tale is forced into an inescapable predicament by the two men in her life that she should have been able to trust above anyone else, her father and her future husband. This demoralizing role that females play in most fairy tales were given to them by
In her transformation of the well-known fable "Little Red Riding Hood," Angela Carter plays upon the reader's familiarity. By echoing elements of the allegory intended to scare and thus caution young girls, she evokes preconceptions and stereotypes about gender roles. In the traditional tale, Red sticks to "the path," but needs to be rescued from the threatening wolf by a hunter or "woodsman." Carter retells the story with a modern perspective on women. By using fantasy metaphorically and hyperbolically, she can poignantly convey her unorthodox and underlying messages.
In the 21st centuries take on the fairytale Rapunzel, the movie “Tangled” depicts the troubled life of an adolescent that is raised by a woman whom is not her mother. Rapunzel is abducted from her crib as an infant by an evil witch, Gothel, for the sole purpose of using her magical hair to enhance her beauty to make her young again. As an eager Rapunzel ages, she soon wants to be set free into a world that she has yet to see.
The familiar story of Rapunzel, as told by the brothers Jacob Ludwig Carl and Wilhelm Carl Grimm, takes on new meaning with a psychoanalytic interpretation. It is a complex tale about desire, achievement, and loss. The trio of husband, wife, and witch function as the ego, id, and superego respectively to govern behavior regarding a beautiful object of desire, especially when a prince discovers this object.
In a society unbridled with double standards and set views about women, one may wonder the origins of such beliefs. It might come as a surprise that these ideals and standards are embedded and have been for centuries in the beloved fairy tales we enjoyed reading as kids. In her analytical essay, “To Spin a Yarn: The Female Voice in Folklore and Fairy Tales”, Karen Rowe argues that fairy tales present “cultural norms which exalt passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice as a female’s cardinal virtues.” Rowe presents an excellent point, which can be supported by versions of the cult classics, “Cinderella” and “Snow White”. Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper” and the Brothers Grimm’s “ Snow White” exemplify the beliefs that females are supposed to be docile, dependent on the male persona and willing to sacrifice themselves. In many cases, when strong female characters are presented they are always contradicting in these characteristics, thus labeled as villainous. Such is the case of the Cinderella’s stepsisters in Perrault’s “Cinderella” and the stepmother in the Brothers Grimm’s “Snow White.” These female characters face judgment and disapproval when they commit the same acts as male characters. With such messages rooted in our beloved fairy tales it is no wonder that society is rampant with these ideals about women and disapprove of women when they try to break free of this mold.
The Grimms then introduce the male figure to the story as the natural attraction between boys and girls unmasks. Rapunzel’s prince represents the apex of the pyramid of the society. He is well educated, affluent in fortune, and high up in social status. Unfortunately such male of eminent background can misbehave. Attracted by Rapunzel’s melodious voice, the prince seeks a way to reach Rapunzel and validate her beauty. As the prince “stand[s] there behind a tree[,] he [sees] a sorceress approach the tower and [hears] her call up to the window: ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair.’” The prince sees Rapunzel unties her hair, and he soon learns the trick of approaching her. The prince picks the time when darkness approaches to allure Rapunzel.
As the world has transformed and progressed throughout history, so have its stories and legends, namely the infamous tale of Cinderella. With countless versions and adaptations, numerous authors from around the world have written this beauty’s tale with their own twists and additions to it. And while many may have a unique or interesting way of telling her story, Anne Sexton and The Brother’s Grimm’s Cinderellas show the effects cultures from different time periods can have on a timeless tale, effects such as changing the story’s moral. While Sexton chooses to keep some elements of her version, such as the story, the same as the Brothers Grimm version, she changes the format and context, and adds her own commentary to transform the story’s
Today, adults reading Charles Perrault’s Cinderella realize similarities and differences between Cinderella and a modern western woman. Adults recognize that Cinderella in Perrault’s fairy tale has undesirable qualities for a modern western woman, today. Cinderella is affectionate, goodwill, forgiving, and loyal. On the other hand, Cinderella is not independent, outspoken, confident, and strong. Cinderella has low self esteem and is incapable of solving problems. Inferiority, dependence and passiveness are characteristics that represent Cinderella do not characterize a modern western woman.
Folktales are a way to represent situations analyzing different prospects about gender, through the stories that contribute with the reality of the culture in which they develop while these provide ideas about the behavior and roles of a specific sex building a culture of womanhood, manhood and childhood. This is what the stories of Little Red Riding Hood of Charles Perrault (1697) and Little Red-Cap of the Grimm Brothers (1812) show. This essay will describe some ideas about gender in different ways. First, the use of symbolic characters allows getting general ideas about the environment in the society rather than individuals. Second, it is possible to identify ideas about gender from the plot from the applied vocabulary providing a better understanding of the actions. Finally, the narrative perspective of the tales analyzes deeply the status of the characters referring to the thoughts among the society.
Ross, D. (2004). Proquest. “Escape from wonderland: Disney and the female imagination”. Marvels & Tales, 18(1), 53-66,141.
In the classical tale of Little Red Riding Hood, Little Red Riding Hood leaves her mother to visit her grandmother, and both the women possess the feminine roles in the society. The story commences in the kitchen with the mother baking. In many cultures, the communities assume that the women should cook, clean, and tend to impositions inside the household. As the grandmother appears in the plotline, the author illustrates her to be ailing and feeble. By describing this elderly female in the manner of weakness, the author subconsciously implies the faintness and vulnerability of women brought on by the ideas and practices of an earlier time period. The grandmother becomes vulnerable and naïve as she expresses her susceptibility to the wolf when she tells him she is “too weak to get out of bed” (Hyman 12). By admitting to her helplessness, she acknowledges the weakness of her gender to the more superior male wolf.