Rapunzel By Jacob And Wilhelm Grimm

As children, we are fascinated with the ideas of princes and princesses, faraway lands and kingdoms, magic beans and mythical creatures, and the happily ever after fairy tales portray. Society is growing up with the idea that these stories illustrate values a well-balanced person understands. These fairy tales teach the values of good overruling evil, kindness, and care. Fairy tales have drastically changed from the original versions. Authors have turned the original tragedies which were originally created for adults into beautiful children's stories. In the fairytale “Rapunzel” by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, they create a story with a history,archetypal elements, and a psychological value.

Rapunzel, written by The Grimm Brothers, is a peculiar tale about a traded princess locked in a tower by her wicked guardian, the enchantress. One day a prince wanders across a tower and finds Rapunzel ,but is later punished for his inquisitive decision by the enchantress, she takes away his sight. They later meet again and Rapunzel's tear magically heals the princes sight ,and they go back to the kingdom where all is well. As the story meets time more

authors remake Rapunzel into a magical fairytale children are delighted with , but as for the Grimm Brothers their intentions are to create realistic stories that intrigue the adult mind, “Although there is plenty of it in the tales, modern readers will find the Grimms often unexpectedly discreet in the use of magic” (Breiner). To make up for their lack of magical objects they interpret odd yet interesting ideas. Even though the Grimms’ stories were popular around the world, they originally sparked in the Western World. The idea of centering the theme around the medieval culture of princesses and hero princes brought an interest to this culture of the west. “The prince led her to his kingdom, where they lived happily ever after” by the word kingdom is shows the medieval theme that the authors wish to interpret. The overall history behind the story is an interesting concept that the authors went out on a limb and risked this, but ended up being successful.

In the original tale of Rapunzel archetypal elements are hidden throughout. Each archetype represents a different idea that authors slyly interpret into stories. The Grimm Brothers use the tower, Rapunzel’s tear, and Rapunzel's hair to construe a deeper meaning in their story. As the story is told Rapunzel gets locked away in a tower while she grows up. The tower is a physical part of the story which represents an isolation of oneself, but metaphorically is resembled as being a strong place for evil, “Locked her in a tower that stood in a forest and that had neither a door nor a stairway, but only a tiny little window at the very top” (Ashliman). At the end of the story Rapunzel and the prince meet again by the sound of her voice. The prince is still wounded, but a single tear from Rapunzel’s eyes instantly heals the prince. The tear is known as the talisman in this story because it is a magical object that heals the prince, “Two of those tears dropped into the Prince’s eyes, and suddenly he could see as before, with clear eyes”, and sends Rapunzel to the kingdom where she marries into royalty( Zipes 38). As many know Rapunzel is most famous for her extremely long hair. In the original story her hair is an archetype. Rapunzel's locks of hair can be seen as locks of imprisonment in the tower. “She untied her braids, wound them around a window hook, let her hair fall twenty yards to the ground, and the enchantress climbed up it” the only way to get to Rapunzel was by climbing up her hair which shows how imprisoned she is (Ashliman). Through these three literary illustrations in the story the theme is seen differently by how each object relates. All though each archetype is physical in the story, the Grimm’s established each one of them by their deeper meanings.

As many people interpret the theme of Rapunzel as a slightly twisted love story, between the lines a deeper meaning is hidden in which only some minds can wander to grasp, “The enduring power of such stories is based on universal themes such as love lost and regained, and the power of good to overcome evil” (New World Encyclopedia).

In our world today we see more evil than ever before, and the only time change occurs in when good is brought to the situation. The impact this would bring to children's life as they enter into adulthood would be a magnificent thing because as the moral of the story represents good can change the world for the better if we let it. The Grimm brothers demonstrate this idea perfectly, “they lived happily ever after” after all the chaos in the story goodness overcomes all evil (New World

Encyclopedia).

The Grimm Brothers’ story “Rapunzel” illustrates the importance of how in troubled times staying hopeful will lead to happier endings in poor situation. Throughout life it is not always easy to stay positive when things do not go as planned, but in Rapunzel, The Grimm’s tell a story about what positivity can do. I struggle with this because I am one to always assume the worst in certain positions, but researching deep into the meaning behind this story shows me how pessimistic I am. Rapunzel has impacted me in a positive way by coming to the realization that anything can happen if you keep your hopes up.