In the fairy tale “Rapunzel”, the dreamer, Rapunzel, successfully passes through all the Freudian psychosexual stages of development. Symbolism helps to illustrate the dreamer’s movement through the five stages. The Witch portrays the super-ego figure in “Rapunzel”. Rapunzel’s mother plays the Id figure. The events of Rapunzel’s life lead the reader to identify the dream as more of a nightmare. Her father agrees to give Rapunzel to a witch, who then locks Rapunzel in a tall tower; only rescued by a passing prince. Yonic and phallic imagery help identify the dreamer’s current stage of psychosexual development. Although delayed by the witch, the dreamer Rapunzel eventually passes through all stages of psychosexual development. The Dreamer …show more content…
His act of agreement transitions the dreamer to the anal stage. The witch takes the baby as part of the agreement, naming her Rapunzel, another word for rampion, symbolizing another oral image. When Rapunzel turns twelve, the witch locks her in a tower to hide her beauty from the world. Although the tower represents phallic image, it also symbolizes how the dreamer becomes anal-retentive. The tower “had neither stairs nor doors, only high up at the very top a small window”; the witch tries to keep Rapunzel from the outside world, in theory, keeping her in (1). During the anal stage, a normal child learns to control ones bodily functions. Thus, Rapunzel becomes dependent on the witch. As the story continues, a prince happens upon the tower and learns that the entrance to Rapunzel’s tower is by her, long blonde hair. So the next day he comes to the tower, and repeats the witch’s words “Let down your golden hair” and the Prince climbs up (2). At first, the prince scares Rapunzel but he then “spoke to her so kindly” and that “his heart had been so touched by her singing” (2). Rapunzel undergoes sexual identification through the prince, another indication of the phallic stage. The prince then offers to help Rapunzel leave the tower and “to marry him” (2). Rapunzel agrees to the prince’s plan, and in effect, she attempts to leave the anal stage. But when her escape is eminent she slips in revealing that she communicates with the prince. After her failed attempt to
Bruno Bettelheim, he analyzed fairy tales in terms of Freudian psychology, which is represented in his works of The Uses of Enchantment. Beaumont’s story of Beauty and the Beast is where the first discovery of Beauty’s problem was identified as the Oedipal complex. The Oedipal complex is a child’s desire to have a sexual relation with the parent of the opposite sex, but it is repressed deep in the mind. Beauty in Beauty and the Beast has a special bond of affection with her father; there is the problem that arises within this complex that what if she were to be stuck at the stage of development and never outgrow it. Within the fairy tale written by Jeanne-Marie Beaumont there is the representation of the period where she begins to transfer the affection to someone else. An analysis of Bettelheim’s theory of the Oedipal complex reveals psychological problems of growing up in the written fairy tale and Disney adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.
Joosen’s thesis revolves around the didactic potential fairy tales hold, arguing the feminist side in criticizing the gender bias and influence that fairy tales have on young children. She goes on to introduce the idea that retelling fairy tales, with a feminist twist, provides a new perspective on the traditional ones, using Sleeping Ugly as an example. Joosen then compares Lieberman’s critiques to the tale – traditional versus transformed. Following, she analyzes the purpose of retellings and problems within the example tale. The writer highlights the idea of “read[ing] against the text” to question the intertextual connections (135). To conclude, Joosen reiterates the argument between the educational and aesthetic aspect of the
In “Rapunzel,” the now blind prince miserably wanders the wilderness for years before happening upon the sound of Rapunzel’s voice. The prince follows the voice and finds Rapunzel, who has given birth to twins. When Rapunzel recognizes him, she embraces the prince. Rapunzel’s tears fall into the prince’s eyes, and he is able to see again. In Tangled, Rapunzel powerlessly watches Flynn die after he cuts her hair. She sobs while holding his dead body. The magic in Rapunzel’s hair remains in her tears, and when her tears hit Flynn’s body they heal him. He is brought back to life, and the two return to Corona, where Rapunzel is reunited with her family and she and Flynn get married and live happily ever after.
Continuing in her position as the moral control, the witch tries to protect her Rapunzel by locking her up. This attempt to preserve the girl's chastity ultimately fails because a prince discovers her when he hears her singing. Song is a symbol of
Dr. Martin Luther King addressed many topics in, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He answered all the issues that were aimed towards him in a very skillful and well thought out manner. These issues came from, “A Call For Unity”, which was a letter that was published by eight local clergymen expressing their feelings about what Dr. King was doing. One concern in particular that King did an outstanding job of confronting was that of the clergymen’s anxiety about him breaking the law. King addresses the question of, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” by clarifying that there are just and unjust laws. He also goes on to explain the difference between the two, the effect of unjust laws on the people that they are aimed towards, as well as examples of such laws. Furthermore, he explains why they should be broken and gives examples of when they’ve been broken in the past with the usage of civil disobedience.
Anne Sexton wrote her Transformations collection after she noticed her daughter’s fascination with Grimm 's’ stories. Sexton asked her daughter to select a few of her favorites and she rewrote them with “adult” themes, including rape, incest, and fluid sexuality. In her retelling of Rapunzel, Sexton rewrites Rapunzel as the young and unwilling object of Mother Goethel’s sexual desires.
After this, the now old-and-ugly witch grows to love Rapunzel, but not enough to focus on nurturing her and her needs- she’s too focused on regaining her beauty and youth. She locks Rapunzel in a tower in an attempt to keep her safe from the dangers of the outside world, and fills Rapunzel 's head with terrifying, fanciful depictions of life outside the tower. Meanwhile, she begins searching for the cure to her curse.
This translated to today’s literature, by establishing that no one wants to read about an unflawed character or one with excess. This leads to discussion about another characteristic, the happily ever after. “Then he took her to his kingdom, where he was received with great joy, and there they lived long and happily.” (Grimm 94) In these fairytales, the down on their luck, the poor are rewarded with unknown riches or marriage into nobility, or escaping their curse. In Rapunzel, the cursed maiden is discovered by her long lost prince and married into royalty. The basic concept is that we want to read about flawed persons who rise to the occasion and best those who don’t believe in them, ending up happy. This echoes in today’s literature still, because we see ourselves in these flawed characters, seeing as if they can persevere, then so can we. What makes all of these happy endings possible (and why we connect to the characters) is the way these characters come upon riches and joy. Another characteristic of the Grimm’s stories are the main characters perseverance, selflessness, patience or beauty to achieve betterment. Rapunzel waited several year, while raising her children before she found her happy ending, but it states that “Rapunzel was the most beautiful child in the world” and that “as he drew near he heard a voice singing so sweetly that he stood still and listened. It was Rapunzel in her loneliness trying to pass away the time with sweet
An animal is any “living organism other than a human being” (OED). When the definition of animals directly divides them from humankind, examples of half-human, half-animal creatures are meaningful yet complicated symbols. A Midsummer Night’s Dream plays with the mystical and supernatural by frequently breaking down the barriers between animals and humans. Fairies are neither human nor animal, and they live in a world, Fairyland, which is separate from and invisible to humans. Considering the definition of animal is anything that is not human, the world of fae is unconsciously rooted in animalistic imagery. This world is also home to other half-human creatures such as satyrs, centaurs, nymphs, mermaids and sprites. A Midsummer Night’s Dream thus highlights and breaks down the barriers between the human and non-human world, and with seemingly little purpose. This essay will analyze the use of animal imagery, particularly through the donkey and serpent, to argue that animal imagery intensifies the emotions of the play, from exaggerating comedic elements to accentuating the dark and nightmarish aspects of Fairyland.
Like the introduction, the main part of the tale is also composed of three distinct parts which form a short story on their own. A clear beginning, a central story, and an ending exists. The opening of the main part is concluded after the prince, although enchanted by Rapunzel’s singing, gives up his plan to pursue her when faced with a barrier: no entryway to the tower in which Rapunzel lives. When the prince enters the forest a second time, he is a changed person – he now has a motivation to act on his desires for Rapunzel. The prince is no longer a man who easily gives up; he is eager to form a plan for entry into the tower, and at the same time, the life of the sheltered Rapunzel. She too undergoes a
Disney movies are often idolized for creating empowering princess’s to give little girls hope and to allow to believe in their dreams, but Disney's movie Tangled they show a different kind of Princess. In Disney’s 2010 movie Tangled a Princess gets separated from her parents (the King and Queen) because an evil woman wanted the child with the magic hair. Rapunzel's magic hair sent her into the adventure of a lifetime, but as suspected when Rapunzel was locked in a tower for eighteen years of her life and it had taken a toll on her mental state. Rapunzel shows signs of being schizophrenic and travels with a man who has to deal with that. The movies take you through Rapunzel's adventure outside of the castle and as she mental struggles with
Fairy tales have been told for years and have been adjusted as authors see fit to portray their particular message or create a more applicable story for a new culture or era. At times, these tales remain true to their purpose even when written in different. By specifically evaluating the purpose, moral, and characters within two versions, Brothers Grimm’s titled “Briar Rose” and Charles Perrault’s “Sleeping Beauty in the Wood,” an understanding of their relevance can be distinguished. These versions of Sleeping beauty act as one of these tales though “many…have done their best to make her story go away” (Tartar). Although written in an earlier era, Brothers Grimm’s “Briar Rose” and Charles Perrault’s “Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” work effectively on a modern teenage and young adult audience evident in the similar purpose through their tale’s distinct morals and character portrayal.
The story of Sleeping Beauty is told in many different forms and is most famous from Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. For example, the fairytale “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” by Charles Perrault is quite different than Disney 's version. This fairytale should be researched because it has an interesting historical background and it is still culturally relevant to this day. The three main points that will be discussed about Sleeping Beauty in this paper is historical background, the different ways this fairytale is represented, and the cultural significance this story has on society. Researching this story has opened my eyes that the Sleeping Beauty movie I
William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, takes the audience on a wild and confusing ride through the human unconscious. From the play within the play, to fairies causing mayhem, what is to be considered reality? The notion of falling asleep and dreaming is introduced over and over in the play, and leaves the audience wondering, is any of this real? Throughout this paper, I will attempt to explain the parallels between Shakespeare’s work, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the work of the Austrian neurologist, Sigmund Freud, whose most popular work is that of dreams and dream interpretations.
The tale “Rapunzel” takes place deep in a forest where a unborn girl is already set as a debt to a witch from her parents. Once the girl is given to the witch and gets older, she is locked in a