The Magic Mirror : Snow White

The prince and the huntsman are both illustrated as the heroic figure to save the day in their own respective stories. These two protagonists are given this masculinity view and a dominant personality and they both happen to be the male figures in the fairy tales. We could compare how these two are different as the huntsman is portrayed with this combatant and brave act which is shown through the event of cutting open the wolf and rescuing the grandma and Little Red Riding Hood. Similarly, the prince in Rapunzel is portrayed as the alpha male saviour as he just happens to bring back the princess to the castle to marry her. The difference between the two characters is that one was brave and strong while the other simply just saves the damsel

     Sure, some of us have this great confidence within ourselves about looking great, but that does not hold true for everyone. I understand the pain or disgust, or even disappointment one feels when they look in the mirror and say, “I wish I could change this or that about myself”. Although this piece is written about the author’s life, it holds meaning and connects with for many people; one only has to dig deep enough to find one. For me, it was to realize what is important in life can change, adapt and that we must explore our inner selves and find our own path in life.

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

In the story Snow White , the huntsman is ordered to kill Snow White, but instead he tries to help her escape from the queen’s envy, the reason for this being “Because she was so beautiful, the huntsman took pity on her…”(Grimm 1). Zeena, the evil witch in Ethan Frome, tries to get rid of Mattie because she is jealous of her. Ethan tries to help Mattie, like the huntsman, by attempting to convince Zeena to let her stay. However, Zeena refuses, using her health as an excuse. The Elizabeth Ammons essay about Ethan Frome’s fairy tale similarities states how Ethan takes pride in subduing Mattie when she is frightened, almost like how the huntsman subdued Snow White’s fear by letting her live. Ethan begins to show his prince-like properties when he falls in love with Mattie Silver, similar to the prince in the beginning of the movie Snow White. He often expresses his hopes to run away with Mattie, but sadly never receives the happy ending that he had hoped for. Ethan makes an attempt at a solution when he and Mattie make the decision to go sledding into an elm tree together. Unlike the prince in the story, Ethan never gets to be with Mattie, and only makes things worse when the injuries sustained from the crash changed Mattie’s personality

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,

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

In class, we read the book The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This book was about the crazy childhood Jeanette experienced. Jeanette had to become independent at a very young age, since her parents didn’t seem to take responsibility for their children. She learned how to do many things on her own, like boil hotdogs at the age of three. Jeanette’s family was also always on the move; they drove miles and miles until her parents found a small town where they wanted to settle down for a little while. She became familiar with her dad’s term the “skedaddle,” which means they would just pick up and leave in a hurry. Because of all these sudden changes in Jeanette’s life, she had to start a new life for herself everywhere she went, such as starting a new school, making new friends, and adapting to the way of living in that

Although being of royal descent, Princess Elizabeth led one of the most despondent lives in the kingdom. At the young age of five, she witnessed the assassination of her father through the cracks of the closet, where she hid. Her mother, who hid with her desperately covered the mouth of young Elizabeth, for fear that she would scream. Elizabeth however, did not scream. She was at such a loss for words and emotions that she did not know how to react. It was from this day that she realized the cold, brutal harshness of the world, and promised herself that she would always stand up for her subjects to life’s evils. It was in fact

The queen had a magical mirror that always told her she was the fairest of the land until her stepdaughter turned seven. This made the queen envy Snow White, as she was just above her in the noble classes, and therefore refused to be below her in any shape or form. Furthermore, colonialist work is noticed when Snow White lived with the seven dwarfs and was continually visited by her evil stepmother. The dwarfs lived alone in the words clearly separated form society, and as an act of western domination, the queen often trespassed on their land in attempt to kill Snow White. In addition, problematic post-colonial identity is presented in the queens disguise as it pulled on Snow Whites heart strings forcing her to open the door, putting herself in harms way. This shows social classes and ones appearance is strongly regarded when one decides if someone nearby is of aid or misfortune.

The poem “The Mirror” is told from an interesting perspective. In this poem the story is being told from the point of view of the mirror itself. The author uses personification to bring the mirror to life. It tells us what it sees and how it perceives things. The first stanza of the poem is intriguing and optimistic as the mirror describes itself. The mirror is “silver and exact” (L 1) alluding that it is perfect, and makes no mistakes. It will show exactly what it sees with no bias towards who or what it is reflecting. It is truthful not cruel. It also refers Itself as “the eye of a little God” (L5) meaning that the mirror reflects truth, sees all things and sees who we truly are. This stanza represents youth and naivety. The poem then takes a depressing turn. Throughout the

“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.

In fairytales, royal women are typically regarded as delicate, sophisticated creatures, controlled by the kingdoms to which they belong. However, it is the strength within these women that is far more admirable than their outer appearance could ever be. This is why looking at royalty as perfection—a gift of beauty, wealth, and dignity—creates a widely known myth that hides the unattractive truth behind the royal life. Although you should always seek to look beyond the surface, “The Princess in the Suit of Leather” shows that upon deeper inspection you ultimately get hit with the harsh reality of conservative gender roles.

Snow, Glass, Apples is written as a short story meant to mirror the Brother Grimm’s story Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. This short story, however, is told in first person from the perspective of the Queen. This alteration the classic Snow White story offers a look at the tale in a way the reader is not used to. No longer is the Queen just this one dimensional evil character most people have grown comfortable with. Instead, Gaiman challenges what is considered typical for the antagonist and offers the complexity the evil Queen’s character often lacks.

The older mentality for the female was that their purity on the inside reflected their countenance on the outside. Thus, Snow White, being the fairest, was also the purest of them all. The plot relies heavily on the queen trying to remove Snow White. Yet, even though this is important to the queen, to the readers there is still the question of why. Why was it so important for the queen to be the fairest of them all when she had the highest status for a woman? The Grimm Brothers claim it was her envious heart at work, that her vanity filled every want and whim she had. They Portray her as Aphrodite, beautiful and fair for sure, but ready to destroy any girl who might take her place.

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”.