Essay on Envy and Beauty in Snow White

The old version of Snow White contains dark and violent stories and harsh elements that were not proper for kids. However, the Snow White that is familiar today is very friendly and well adapted for children. The original story of Snow White is written by the Grimm Brothers in the 19th century at German. In several of the Grimms’ stories, it contains various odd scenes and violent parts. According to the Disney version of Snow White the queen tells the huntsmen to bring the heart of Snow in order to check whether she is dead or not. However, in the Grimm version of Snow White, the queen, which is the witch, sells a corset to Snow and makes her try on the corset and squeeze her by tightening it. Also, in the original version, it is not the prince’s

Everyone loves a good fairytale, and nothing is quite as magical and heartwarming as a Disney fairytale. The themes of love, comedy, and morality deem them as more than just little kids' stories, but suitable and entertaining tales for the entire family. This is known by a majority of the stories' readers. However, what one may not be so familiar with is the origin of these tales. Where did the stories of Cinderella, Ariel, and Rapunzel come from? The Disney writers certainly did not create them themselves. The differences in the originals will shock anyone familiar with Disney. And what about Snow White? There are differences between the original Brothers Grimm version of the ebony-haired, white-skinned princess and the Disney movie, believe it or not. Some major differences between both versions are the multiple ways the evil queen tries murdering her stepdaughter, the cause of Snow White's revival, as well as how the evil queen died. Why the story was altered is obvious:

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.

The dwarves are amazed by the girl’s beauty and allow her to stay with them forever as long as she handles all the household chores. Snow White happily obliges and begins to take care of the dwarves. Unfortunately, the evil step-mother gets word of Snow White’s death being a fraud and makes three attempts to trick and fool the princess. On the third attempt, the old hag is successful and upon biting in to a deliciously plump red apple sends Snow White tumbling to the ground. The seven dwarves decide Snow White is to captivating to be buried underground so they decided to encase her in glass and take turns guarding her remains. One day a handsome prince happens to come across the beautiful dead princess and begs the dwarves to let him purchase her. Reluctantly, the dwarves give the prince Snow White and a bump on the transport home causes the poisonous apple to fall out of her mouth and the princess magically comes back to life. The prince marries Snow White, and the evil step mother is forced to dance in hot-iron boots until she dies.

The White Queen prances around in her graceful white gown, portraying her as sensitive, pure and an innocent soul. However, her lip colour, eyebrows and nail polish is in contrast to her skin tone; but then again, isn’t everything a little twisted in the nonsensical and intriguing world of Wonderland! The White Queen’s kind-hearted and good-natured charm is evident as the Red Queen jealously remarks, “You think you can blink with those pretty little eyes and I’ll melt just like mummy and daddy

The fairy tale Snow White is a story about two women. One, the evil stepmother, schemes

Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs is about a princess who finds love in a prince while at the same being preyed upon by her evil

In the brothers Grimm version, the queen still demands the death of Snow White and the Huntsman still lets her go. Only this time he kills a boar and brings the queen back its lungs and liver and she eats them, thinking that they are from Snow White’s body. Snow White still meets the dwarves in the woods, but their introduction to her was more akin to that of goldilocks and the three bears. Then, when she is poisoned by the apple, the kiss of the prince is not what awakens her. Instead the prince begs the dwarves to have her dead body and the trip to the castle dislodges the apple bite caught in her throat. Finally, at the marriage of the happy couple, the queen arrives and is forced to dance in red hot iron shoes until she dies. Definitely not what one would remember from the Disney adaptation.

This era brought the timeless film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, which features a mild-mannered and sweet character having a distinctive childlike innocence. Snow White is the archetypal damsel in distress,and according to Laura Mulvey is the archetypal female as well, saying that women in film are typically the “bearers of meaning not the makers of meaning”(1975).She set the tone for every princess after her. One could argue that she lacks the qualities of a role model, as the plot of her movie is solely her being a happy housewife and then marrying a rich man who can take care of her. However, kindness and compassion are traits that any young women would benefit from having instilled in them,and are traits that this princess

“Through the cheerful music, funny characters, and happy ending, the character of Snow White starts the Disney trend of a domestic woman who becomes a damsel-in-distress relying on a prince to come and save her” (Barber, 2015). The original 1812 tale of Little Snow White by the Brothers Grimm portrays Snow White as a small, naive, self centered little girl who can’t seem to listen to anything she is told, and who has to rely a prince she doesn’t even know to wake her up from the dead. Two hundred years later, in the 2012 movie version Snow White and the Huntsman, the director Rupert Sanders revisits the original tale of Snow White, but decides to change it up a bit. In this version of the tale, Snow White is a strong, independent young woman who seems to be able to do anything she decides to do. In Sander’s version, Snow White not only conquers the cruel queen, but she conquers the labels society often places on women. Unlike the Grimms Brothers, Sanders develops his Snow White's character in a way that fits with women’s empowerment that the current generation now fights for everyday.

Snow White was kind to the Wicked Queen. She did not wish any evil on her even after she sent her in the woods to die. Snow White only wished for the love of her step mother.

Clarification of her beauty is there to aid the reader in understanding that she is good and valuable. Furthermore, her hair not only symbolizes beauty but fertility and sexuality; proving that she is an object. Once she loses her hair, it is evident that she also loses what makes her of value to men, which in this case is the innocence of her untouched beauty or her virginity (pg. 35). In addition, the story “Little Snow-White,” presents an initial description about Snow-white centered around her beauty: “as white as snow, and as red as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony” (pg. 124). Because of this description, the reader defines Snow-white’s importance with the base of her pure white skin, passionate red lips, and seductive black hair. These three characteristics show the value of Snow-White to the prince, who begs the dwarfs for her coffin. While persuading the dwarfs to give over Snow-white, he attempts to trade objects to compensate the dwarfs (pg. 130). To young women, values defined in fairy tales depict a horrid, demeaning view of

The Queen had wanted him to kill her in the woods and to bring her heart to her so she can eat it. The story says “Take the child out into the woods, so that I may set eyes on her no more. You must put her to death, and bring me her heart for a token.”(Grimm, 329) “And it was salted and cooked, and the wicked woman ate it up, thinking that there was an end of Snow-white.”(Grimm 330). He was kind to Snow White, told her to run away and he had killed a wild boar and brought it’s heart to the Queen. With her trust in him, she was saved from death yet again. Wouldn’t it seem odd that the queen had told her to go to the woods to pick flowers with a huntsmen? Wouldn’t you think twice about going or is she just so naive that she didn’t even think about? Twice she has been saved from death by her putting her trust in the two men that she

Over the years, Snow White’s story has been told in numerous different versions then its original version in 1812 by the Grimm Brothers. The main basis of the story has remained the same. Only a few minor tweaks to the story have changed. The three versions of the story that are going to be analyzed are the original story “Little Snow White” by the Brothers Grimm, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Disney, and “Mirror, Mirror” by Disney also. They each were created in very different times and the original story has changed over the years to appeal to the audience of that time. No matter how many versions there are Snow White is considered, one of the most cherished fairy tales of all time. They each use different methods to get their

With the power the step-mother has obtained, she utilizes it in order to oppress Cinderella as she is forced to become a maid within her own place of dwelling. For this reason, it causes Cinderella to become apart of an inferior level. Cinderella continues to stay passive and an inactive contributor within her life. Not resorting to the chance of rebelling or escaping the unfortunate situation. But even so, some may insist upon her attempting to break free as a form of escaping, yet she does not use it for instead she choses to wait in order to be saved. In view of that, Cinderella is presented as a goodhearted, but submissive character in need of rescuing. Above all, both the step-mother and Cinderella are seen as stereotypical characters. In fact the step-mother is showcased to hold great power, thus being a vision of dark evil ways. Much less, Cinderella and her character is not endowed with any power whatsoever, thus being looked upon as a good hearts and beautiful person inside and out. Accordingly this represents the message of female characters and power relationships between them. Being that those with power are seen as evil, while on the other hand those who have no power are meant to be good. Therefore a happy ending is give to those powerless, instead of female individuals with