preview

The Robber Bridegroom Short Story

Decent Essays
Open Document

oth The Robber Bridegroom and The Trespasser are revised from its original versions. The novel of The Robber Bridegroom by Welty is based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. In Campbell’s short story The Trespasser draws from the tale of Goldilocks and The Three Bears which was originated by the Robert Southey. In each work, there are similarities as well as changes that are made for significant reasons all related to folklore in which the context changes to better suit the audience. There are of course simple differences between Grimm and Welty’s portrayals of The Robber Bridegroom. One inconsistency is that Rosamund in Welty’s book is the daughter of a planter and in the other version the daughter of a miller. Although they are similar in plot as she must marry a rich man; whom she doesn’t know much about then follows him into the woods where she is either threatened to be killed or kept as a servant. There are more complex changes within the two Robber Bridegroom stories. In the Grimm version, the bride is seen as a helpless pawn. They story piles together foreshadowing signs of meetings with the bridegroom and the annihilation of the body, and the witnessing of the terrible fate of the “substitute” bride. There is also a difference in each ending in reference to the robber’s fate. In Grimm’s version, the robber is outed by the presence if the finger from Rosamund’s pocket and then executed for his wicked deeds. While in Welty’s version the story ends in marriage, with

Get Access