Similarities Between The Seven Dwarves And Snow White

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s clear insight about humanity diseases, sins and quarrels, and, along with these conflicts, their paradoxes influences one of his finest works, “The Birth-Mark”( ). Interestingly, the Grimm Brothers’ “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” tells a similar story through symbolism and character development. Both authors use symbolism to establish the bridge between life and the state of death and to show sign of dominance. In addition, the parallelism between the two stories demonstrates how alike the characters Aylmer and the evil stepmother are. As a result, it raises a question of whether or not perfectionism is worth pursuing for.
In Hawthorne’s story, the birthmark symbolizes many things depending upon how the characters

and the audience interpret it. “Georgiana’s lovers…say that some fairy at her birth-hour had laid her tiny hand upon the cheek, and left…[the] impress there” (214). From this, one interpretation of the birthmark is that it is the mark of birth or the proof of Georgiana’s existence. The birthmark is Georgiana’s life because Georgiana is alive as long as the mark is still on her face. Therefore, the presence and the absence of it determine her faith. Like the birthmark, the seven dwarves in the Grimm Brothers’ story offer Snow White shelter in condition that she cook and keep their cottage clean. Without the dwarves, Snow White’s chance of survival in the forest is very slim. Whenever the dwarves are away to mine, Snow White encounters death: suffocation by ribbon, poison by comb, and poison by apple. Fortunately for Snow White, the seven dwarves come home in time to save her from the first two incidences. For the last incidence, the dwarves play a small role that contributes to her awakening because instead of burying her, “they had a glass coffin made, and laid her inside” (216). Soon later, the prince sees her and requests to take her back to his kingdom. On the way back, the bumpiness of the road causes “the piece of apple [to dislodges] from Snow White’s throat” (217). Thus, Snow White is alive again.
Another common factor between the birthmark and the seven dwarves is the intrusion of personal space in terms of who is dominant over whom.

The birthmark on Georgiana’s cheek is “deeply interwomen” (214) into her snow white skin. Instead of allowing it to take over her identity, Georgiana copes with the fact that she is born with it and views it as a lucky charm (214). Her opinion of the birthmark changes when her newlywed husband Aylmer is disgusted by the sight of the tiny, crimson red hand nested on her face. Her confidence drops dramatically. Georgiana becomes lifeless whenever she catches him staring at her because she knows that she is not the target, the birthmark is. Soon the topic about the birthmark circles her life. She cannot live a day without the mention of the birthmark on her face. The birthmark, once was a lucky charm, now is taking over Georgiana’s life and peace because she can no longer see her own reflection the same way again. “Not even Aylmer now hated it so much as she” (220). In Snow White’s case, she lives with seven men. This clearly shows that she is outnumbered by the opposite sex. During her time living with the dwarves, her role is to clean and cook for them whereas the dwarves’ role is to go to work and return home after work hours. It is evident that the male role is dominating the female because of his ability to make money. Snow White is the subordinate, despite her role as the main character, because she naively believes her stepmother’s ruse despite of the dwarves’ warnings. Not being able to defend herself indicates that Snow White is the damsel in distress who requires constant protection from the antagonist by a male

figure.
In the story, every character has a role. Thus, by comparing the characters from the two stories, the audience can determine how their personalities contribute in shaping the overall story. In “The Birth-mark”, Aylmer is a scientist who spends most of his time in his laboratory. He performs several experiments from which he notes down the tiniest details, step by step. Granted that “his most splendid successes were almost invariably failures” (220), he still pursue his role as a scientist. Instead of improving his current experiment’s method or changing his hypothesis, he jumps into a different experiment entirely like a kid wanting a new toy. “One day, very soon after their marriage, Aylmer sat gazing at his wife [Georgiana] with a trouble in his countenance that grew stronger until he spoke” (213). Aylmer suggests the removal of the birthmark because it “shocks [him]” (214). The birthmark is “the symbol of his wife’s liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death…the symbol of imperfection” (215). Every time he sees the intense glow of the birthmark “he could not restrain a strong convulsive shudder” (217). His obsession to remove the birthmark finally gives way when he yells, “It is in her heart now; we must have it out!” (215) in his slumber. As the result, his wife gives him permission to perform whatever is necessary to remove her birthmark, unlike his many previous experiments. He creates the perfect draught for his wife to drink. Indeed, it works for its intended purpose. However, the greater lost is that its side effect removes the life of his wife along with the birthmark. In Grimm’s story, the evil stepmother studies witchcraft. “She was a beautiful woman, but she was proud and arrogant, and she couldn’t bear to think that anyone was more beautiful than she was” (206). When her magic mirror says that Snow White is fairer than her, the evil stepmother’s jealousy grows to the point that she wanted Snow White dead. She orders a huntsman to do her dirty work. When he fails, she feels that she must do it herself. Her attempts to kill Snow White with witchcraft also fail. The evil queen is furious that she is not the most beautiful woman, and her envy cannot rest. At the wedding, she is in shock to discover that the new queen is indeed Snow White. The most beautiful woman in the world is the last thing that the evil stepmother sees before she is forced to step into the red-hot iron shoes and falls down dead (218).