Biblical Imagery in the Story of Rapunzel
Ostensibly, the story of “Rapunzel” is the tale of a young girl, locked up in a tower by a wicked witch, the real concern of the story, however, being lust and the dangers it represents to girls as they enter the rites of passage of puberty. Symbolism pervades the story of “Rapunzel”, as in all fairy tales, giving rise to diverse interpretations. While a great deal of the symbolism is commonly found in fairy tales, the Grimm’s infuse the tale of “Rapunzel” with much from the biblical stories with which their audience would most likely be familiar. In the final version of “Rapunzel,” the Grimms add a moral message, based primarily on stories taken from the Bible, in order to demonstrate the importance of female purity.
The Grimms alone can not be given credit for all biblical references contained in the tale of “Rapunzel.” Numerous cultures have tales that resemble this particular Grimm brothers’ story, containing many of the same elements, such as the garden, the stolen vegetables, the hair, and the tower (Luthi 109-119). The Grimms’ version of “Rapunzel was based largely on the French fairy tale, Persinette, composed by a lady in waiting at the court of Louis XIV” (Luthi 118). Only in the Grimms’ versions, however, does Rapunzel give birth to twins, is the prince blinded, and Rapunzel’s tears restore his vision (Luthi 118).
For their second edition of fairy tales, the Grimms and their publisher deemed their original version of “Rapunzel” to be inappropriate for children for “what proper mother or nanny could tell the fairy tale about Rapunzel to an innocent daughter without blushing?” (Tatar 18). The Grimms, in fact, changed details of “Rapunzel,” ridding the story of even t...
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... use the story of “Rapunzel” to transmit the message to young women that in order to avoid the kind of misfortunes Rapunzel had to undergo, they must learn from her mistakes and not duplicate them in their own lives, lives best lived according to biblical principles.
Works Cited
Biedermann, Hans. Dictionary of Symbolism. New York: Meridian, 1994.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. “Rapunzel.” Folk and Fairy Tales. Ed. Martin Hallett and Barbara Karasek. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2002. 67-70.
Luthi, Max. Once Upon A Time. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1976.
Tatar, Maria. The Hard Facts of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1987.
Zipes, Jack. Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion. New York: Wildman Press, 1983.
When Dreams Came True. New York: Routledge, 1999.
The Holy Bible. King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1984.
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