Character Analysis : Snow White And How They Affect The Audience

Few people can grow up within today's society without knowing the tale of Snow White. From the Grimm Brothers to Disney, it has been told and retold to children throughout the ages. However, what is often overlooked are the true meanings within the story. Fairytales typically have underlying messages that can be found written between the lines, generally in terms of the key themes. Snow White discusses the themes of envy and beauty, and shows how humans' obsessions can lead to their own downfall as well as the harm of others. When focusing on the relationship between Snow White and her step-mother the Queen, it is evident that the combination of these two themes results in a power struggle in which beauty

Throughout the story, the characterization is heavily influenced by gender roles and sexist stereotypes. The role of the stepmother and stepsisters is to solely use their power as a source of evil in order to bring down Cinderella, while Cinderella is depicted to be beautiful yet weak and

Not only do Disney princesses result in bad self esteem, they also encourage passiveness and reliance on others. The feminine and vulnerable side of these princesses, reflect the reliance on their hero and true love. The Disney princess stereotype insinuates that girls should be sweet and submissive, and should fully rely on a male-counterpart. Conversely, new characters, such as Elsa (Frozen), Rapunzel (Tangled), and Merida (Brave), do not express this passive characteristic. At the same time, these princesses continue to need assistance to reach the desired solution. For instance, Princess Rapunzel still needed hero Flynn Rider, in order to navigate her to her parents throughout the movie. None of these princesses independently found a solution to the main conflict in any of these Disney films.

Snow White is a fairy-tale known by many generations; it is a beloved Disney movie, and a princess favoured by many kids. But did you know the fairy-tale was made to teach young children, especially little girls, their duties in life? It also values beauty over knowledge, portrays women to be naive and incompetent, and assumes that women cannot understand anything other than common household chores. Throughout this criticism, I will be using the feminist lens to analyze the fairy-tale, Snow White, through the perspective of a feminist.

By analyzing the construction of gender roles and transformation within the poetic retelling of Snow White by Anne Sexton, we are able to think about these topics in a more honest way that reveals their troublesome nature. First, by connecting presents themes and elements in this modern day version that don’t appear in more classical versions, we are immediately given a more vivid depiction of how characters function. Descriptions of cheeks as fragile as cigarette paper, dwarfs being described as little hot dogs and czars, and the queen eating the boar's heart like a piece of cube steak, are just a few examples of the vivid descriptions that lace this poem. These descriptions pull meaning from more modern day topics, they objectify characters,

Disney princesses are fun for all ages, but their target audience is young children and “as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear”. Therefore, what they see and hear in Disney movies leaves an impression on them. The first princess, Snow White, was created in a time where each gender and race had a specific role in society. Recently, many believe that Disney has come a long way in regards to gender and race since Snow White, as several multi-cultural protagonists have been introduced subsequently, and gender roles do not appear to be as stereotypical as they once were. However, many of the apparent innocent messages about race and gender in these movies, can be exposed as otherwise. Despite

On the other hand, young girls are shown the tendency for females to compete with one another rather than empower each other. Lady Tremaine teaches her daughters to eliminate girls that are better than them. For example, Lady Tremaine locks Cinderella in her room to prevent the Duke from fitting the shoe on her. The film is showing girls to fight tooth and claw with one another in order to get ahead. As a result, women are viewed as only being capable to move up in society by manipulating and betraying others. Women are not capable enough to win positions on their own. Furthermore, Lady Tremaine’s character serves to show how women are incapable of being the matriarch. For example, Lady Tremaine was incapable of handling the family 's wealth, which led to Cinderella becoming the servant for the home. For this reason, girls are taught that they need a male figure to handle the finances of the home, while they tend to the chores. The evil stepmother gender role has caused children since the film was made, to hold a deep-seated hate towards stepmothers.

In the first Disney animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, many of the same stereotypes that are presented in the film Cinderella where first presented in this film as well. In the film, Snow White is taking refuge in the forest where she lives with seven dwarfs to hide from her stepmother who also happens to be the evil Queen. The queen is jealous of Snow White because Snow Whites fairness surpasses the Queens. Snow White ended up eating a poisoned apple which makes her fall in a curse and is later on saved by a

In “Little Snow White” by Germany, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm, there is a Queen who becomes jealous of her seven-year-old daughter. She envied her daughter’s beauty and sends a huntsman to kill Snow White. Snow White is then all alone and unable to care for herself and becomes dependent of the Seven Dwarfs. Although she is the main character, she is also the weakest character in the story. In Fables, we encounter a very different Snow White. Here Snow White oversees the town, Fabletown. Unlike the original fairytale story, there are no Dwarfs looking after her. She doesn’t need a Prince to come to her rescue because she is the hero in her own right. Her fierceness makes her a strong female who embodies power. Unlike the Little Snow White, in Fables Snow White is the head in charge, she’s independent, and bold.

“Little Snow-White”, written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm is about an old Queen, whose jealousy of beauty surpasses many morals when she discovers she is not the fairest of them all, which evidently leads the story into portraying many stereotypes and prejudices of feminism.

Fairy tales are stories that range from originating folklore to more modern stories. The same story of the fairy tales can be found in the different version in various languages throughout the world. Those stories inspire people, especially the children, even though the stories made up false, but it builds up based on real life story. Going back to history, when women had no real power, the Brothers Grimm version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” tells a story about women who have no control over lives, or how a child can be neglected by the adults or what can be done for the legacy/status. This fairy tale story, “Snow White with the Seven Dwarfs,” talks about an evil Queen who is expecting to “fairest them of all,” who is Snow White; she is an innocent beautiful girl, who loves to sing and interact with people.

Despite gender, living conditions or cultural backgrounds most people grow up reading or hearing stories of heroism and damsel in distress scenarios. Anne Sexton turns stereotypes on their head in her satirical poems of classic fairy tales, including Snow White and The Seven Dwarves and Cinderella. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves tells the tale of a young princess with hair as black as coal and skin as pale as snow, whose life is thrown into turmoil at the hands of her overbearing stepmother. Cinderella tells the story of a young girl who she spends her life is yearning for the prince’s ball, and similar to Snow White, Cinderella’s stepmother is influencing her life, however she is a positive character throughout the story. This sheds light on the stepmother in Snow White’s piece as despite the fact that Snow White’s stepmother clearly does inherently evil things, a re-reading demands a re-examination of why. It is throughout these tales’ where stepmothers are only trying to protect their children from the world around them, however in Snow White an outside motive, the beauty provided by the mirror and the pride manifested by poison, creates a barrier between the queen and her stepdaughter, thus giving her the title “Evil”.

Over time, many versions of common fairy tales have been released. Each one comes with unique differences, that separate them from the others. Snow White is an example. Commonly, what comes to the minds of many individuals when they hear the title “Snow White”, is Disney. They have the basic beautiful princess in a sticky situation, accompanied by their trustful sidekicks, in this case seven dwarfs. However, Walt Disney was not the creator of this story, or the evil queen constantly muttering ,¨Mirror, mirror, on the wall…”. It seems as though many in this world have fallen in love with this portrayal of the tale. Believe it or not, these ideas are based directly off a German version published by the Grimm Brothers. Both are very alike, and unlike too. Similarly, new versions, released in movies, have also changed the depiction of the common “Snow White”. These differences may be related to how society is beginning to view people, women, and heroes, or someone who is brave and courageous. This has helped shape these newer versions of the all-time classic.

In the 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the tale revolutionized and began a Golden Age of animation. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the very first full length animated motion picture as well as the first film to release a motion-picture soundtrack recording in 1944 by the Disney studio. (Backlots) Also, “it was the first to employ the use of Technicolor, and features the first large-scale use of the multiplane camera which became a signature at Disney for decades”. (Backlots)

Walt Disney had to make changes in the details and the plot of the original Snow White tale published by the German Grimm Brothers in Grimms’ Fairy Tales to fit American society’s interests. These interests during 1930s America that influenced Disney’s decision to change the tale included: the changing role of women in society, the people’s concept of romance, and popular political systems.