Snow White

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Snow White, (in German, Schneewittchen, Snowdrop in their first edition^[1]) is the title character in a fairy tale known from many places in Europe, the best known version being the one collected by the Brothers Grimm. The German version features elements such as the mirror and the seven dwarfs.

In the Aarne-Thompson folklore classification, they are grouped together as type 709, Snow White. Others of this type include Bella Venezia, Myrsina, Nourie Hadig, The Young Slave and Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree.^[2]

Contents 1 Story 2 Commentary 3 Other versions 3.1 Literature 3.2 Film and television 3.3 Music 4 Snow-White And Rose-Red 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

[edit] Story

Once upon a time, a queen was staring outside her window at the beautiful snow. It was because of her distracted state that she pricked her finger on her needle and a drop of blood promptly fell on some snow that had fallen on her windowsill. As she looked at the blood on the snow she said to herself, "Oh, how I wish that I had a daughter that had skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony." Soon after that, the queen gave birth to a baby girl who had skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony. They named her Princess Snow White. The queen soon died, perhaps in childbirth.

Soon after, the king took a new wife who was beautiful, but very vain, and who possessed supernatural powers. She also possessed a magical mirror, to whom she would often ask, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is fairest of them all?" and to which the mirror would always reply, "'tis you". But after Snow White became seven (which is the official age wherein a girl becomes a maiden) when she asked her mirror, it responded, "Queen, you are full fair, 'tis true, But Snow White is fairer than you."

The Queen was jealous, and ordered a huntsman to take Snow White into the woods to be killed. She demanded that the huntsman return with Snow White's heart as proof. The huntsman took Snow White into the forest, but found himself unable to kill the girl. Instead, he let her go, and brought the queen the heart of a young deer.

In the forest, Snow White discovered a tiny cottage belonging to seven dwarfs, where she rested. Meanwhile, the Queen asked her mirror once again, "Who's the fairest of them all?", and was horrified when the mirror told her that Snow White, who was alive and well and living with the dwarfs, was still the fairest of them all.

Three times the Queen disguised herself and visited the dwarfs' cottage trying to kill Snow White. First, disguised as a peddler, the Queen offered colorful stay-laces and laced Snow White up so tight that she fainted, and the Queen took her for dead. Snow White was revived by the dwarfs when they loosened the laces. Next, the Queen dressed as a different old woman and combed Snow White's hair with a poisoned comb. Snow White again collapsed, and again the dwarfs saved her. Lastly the Queen made a poisoned apple, and in the disguise of a countrywoman offered it to Snow White. She was hesitant, so the Queen cut the apple in half, ate the white part — which had no poison — and gave the poisoned red part to Snow White. She ate the apple eagerly and immediately fell into a deep stupor. When the dwarfs found her, they could not revive her, so they placed her in a glass coffin, thinking that she had died.

Time passed, and a prince travelling through the land saw Snow White in her coffin. The prince was enchanted by her beauty and instantly fell in love with her. He begged the dwarfs to let him have the coffin. The prince's servants carried the coffin away. While doing so, they stumbled on some bushes and the movement caused the piece of poisoned apple to dislodge from Snow White's throat, awakening her. The prince then declared his love and soon a wedding was planned.

The vain Queen, still believing that Snow White was dead, again asked her mirror who was fairest in the land and yet again the mirror disappointed her by responding that, "You, my queen, are fair; it is true. But the young queen is a thousand times fairer than you."

Not knowing that this new queen was indeed her stepdaughter, she arrived at the wedding, and her heart filled with the deepest of dread when she realized the truth.

As punishment for her wicked ways, a pair of heated iron shoes were brought forth with tongs and placed before the Queen. She was then forced to step into these and dance until she fell down dead.

In non-German versions the dwarfs are generally robbers, while the talking mirror is a dialog with the sun or moon. In a version from Albania, collected by Johann Georg von Hahn and published in Griechische und albanesische Märchen. Gesammelt, übersetzt und erläutert (1864), the main character lives with 40 dragons. The sleep is caused by a ring. The Beginning of the story also has a twist in that a teacher urges the heroine to kill her own mother so that the teacher can take her place. The origin of the tale is debated; it is likely no older than the Middle Ages.

[edit] Commentary

In their first edition, the Brothers Grimm published the version they had first collected, in which the villain of the piece is Snow White's jealous mother. In a version sent to another folklorist prior the first edition, additionally, she does not order a servant to bring her to the woods, but brings her there herself to gather flowers and abandons her herself; in the first edition, this task was transferred to a servant.^[3] It is believed that the change to a stepmother in later editions was to tone down the story for children.^[4]

Snow White, although marrying at the end of the tale, is seven when her stepmother tries to kill her. This may be explained by her growing up while in the coffin or during her stay with the dwarves; but more often, Snow White is depicted in illustrations as considerably older.^[5]

One interpretation of the tale is the polarization of women into the evil and active versus the innocent and domestic.^[6]

The story of Snow White may have intertwined with those of some historical figures. Scholars have uncovered parallels between the legendary Snow White and Margarete von Weldeck( 1533-1554). Like Snow White, Margarete was a strikingly attractive young woman. Like Snow White she had a problematic relationship with her stepmother. She grew up in the mining town of Waldeck where small children known as dwarves worked in the mines.

At 16, Margarete moved to Brussels. There, she attracted the romantic interest of several nobles, including Phillip II of Spain. Phillip II hoped to marry her but she became ill as a result of poisoning. Ruthless politics were as much a part of medieval court life as dancing, banquets and polished manners. Marriage to a powerful personage was often viewed as a way for a clan to gain allies to the detriment of rivals. Margarete died at the age of 21. The handwriting of her will, written shortly before her death, shows evidence of tremor. The perpetrator was never exposed but it could not have been her stepmother, who was already dead at the time. The poignant tale of a beautiful young woman whose life was cut short may have captured the popular imagination and provided inspiration for the folktale. ^[7] Sadly, the "real Snow White" succumbed to arsenic before she had the opportunity to marry the prince.

[edit] Other versions

[edit] Literature

The story in Russian writer Alexander Pushkin's 1833 poem The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights is similar to that of Snow White, with knights replacing dwarfs.^{[citation needed]}

One of the many retellings of the Snow White tale appears in A Book of Dwarfs, by Ruth Manning-Sanders.^{[citation needed]}

Tanith Lee's novel White as Snow is a dark, very adult retelling of the tale (woven into a reworking of the Demeter/Persephone myth), as is her short story "Red as Blood" (published in her story collection of the same title), and Neil Gaiman's short story "Snow, Glass, Apples" (published in Smoke and Mirrors). Other writers who have made use of the theme include Donald Barthelme (in his novel Snow White), Gregory Maguire (in his novel Mirror Mirror), Jane Yolen (in her story "Snow in Summer," published in Black Swan, White Raven), Anne Sexton (in her poem "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," published in Transformations), Gail Carson Levine (in Fairest), and A. S. Byatt (in her essay "Ice, Snow, Glass," published in Mirror, Mirror on the Wall).^{[citation needed]}

Angela Carter has also written a postmodern version of the tale entitled 'The Snow Child' in her collection 'The Bloody Chamber'. Her story recreates a version of the tale collected but unpublished by the Grimm Brothers in which Snow White is a child of the father's desire rather than the mother's.

In 1982 Roald Dahl's book Revolting Rhymes rewrote the story in a more modern way.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Film and television

First, a 1902 Snow White film was released. A 1916 silent film with the title Snow White was made by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation and produced by Adolph Zukor and Daniel Frohman. Directed by J. Searle Dawley, it was adapted to the screen by Jessie Graham White from his play Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The film starred Marguerite Clark as Snow White, Creighton Hale as Prince Florimond and Dorothy Cumming as Queen Brangomar/Mary Jane.

A 1933 Betty Boop cartoon, Snow White, was adapted from this story, as was the famous 1937 Disney animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In the Disney version, Snow White wakes from her enchanted sleep as soon as the Prince kisses her, similar to Sleeping Beauty. Furthermore, the prince and Snow White have met prior to her enchanted sleep, so that he has fallen in love with the awake rather than the sleeping princess, an unusual variation in the Snow White tales.^[8] This version is perhaps the most well known version of the story, and is a classic of the cinema. This version of Snow White also has a role in the videogame Kingdom Hearts where she is one of the Princesses of Hearts kidnapped by Maleficent. The Disney version is distinctly parodied in the 1943 Merrie Melodies short cartoon Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs. The story is also adapted in the Japanese OVA, Super Mario's Snow White which stars Mario, Princess Peach and the Toads, with King Koopa playing the role as the evil Queen.

Using ideas from Stanislav Grof, Joseph Campbell, and Carl G. Jung, Roberts ^[9] claims that the Disney version of Snow White appeals to unconscious parts of the human mind including Grof's descriptions of birth experiences,Campbell's Hero's Journey, and Jung's archetypes.

This version of Snow White was featured as a guest in House of Mouse. This version of Snow White also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character.

In 1961, the story was parodied in the film Snow White and the Three Stooges, starring Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Joe "Curly-Joe" DeRita. This film is widely regarded by fans of the Three Stooges as their worst feature film. In the film, the dwarfs had gone on vacation and lent Moe, Larry and Curly Joe the use of their cottage. The three are traveling entertainers, along with a young man who was born a prince, but lost his memory in an assassination attempt that was thwarted by the Stooges. The prince suffers amnesia and the Stooges "adopt" him and raise him to manhood; but he is only shown as a boy in a flashback segment. The prince ends up marrying Snow White, played by real life Olympic figure skating champion, Carol Heiss. The film is also a musical and features many ice skating scenes. There are a few other things that differ from the original story, such as Count Oga (villainous henchman of the Wicked Queen), a magic sword that transports the Stooges to various places and a carriage chase scene.

The comedy-horror-erotic adaptation of Grimm's Fairy Tales, Grimms Märchen von Lüsternen Pärchen (1969), presented Snow White among other characters of Grimm Tales. A pornographic version of Snow White was released in 1976 in the X-rated animated film Once Upon a Girl. 1979 pornochanchada adaptation Histórias Que Nossas Babás Não Contavam (Stories Our Nannies Don't Tell) featured an Afro-Brazilian actress, Adele Fátima, as Snow White. However, Snow White was not named "White" (branca) but clara (a Brazilian racial term similar to fair skin). 1982 film Biancaneve & Co. is an adaptation of the fumetto Biancaneve by Leone Frollo. The film features the starlet Michela Miti as "Snow White". Snow White story has also been made into a number of adult films. The most famous among these films is Biancaneve e i sette nani (1995) by Luca Damiano, starring Ludmilla Antonova.

The Goodies did their own version of the fairytale called "Snow White 2".

The 1987 fantasy film Snow White (starring Diana Rigg as the Wicked Queen and Sarah Patterson as Snow White) was released direct to video using the Cannon Movie Tale logo. Other fantasy films were released in the series. It is currently available on Region 1 dvd from MGM.

The 1997 fantasy/horror film Snow White: A Tale Of Terror (starring Sigourney Weaver as the Stepmother and Monica Keena as Snow White) purports to be a more authentic adaptation of the original Grimm fairytale. It did not have seven dwarfs, but instead had seven miners. In 2001 another live action version was made for TV, called Snow White. This version changed the storyline to include several more magical elements such as demons.

Daddy's Little Bit of Dresden China, a 1988 short film by British animator Karen Watson, uses the Snow White story as part of a story of child sexual abuse.

10th Kingdom, a short TV-series movie, was loosely based on Snow White, as well as many other fairy tales.

HBO's Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child cast Snow White as White Snow, daughter of a native American chieftain.

In 1988, ABC released a sitcom based on the home life of Snow White and Prince Charming called "The Charmings."

Snow White is one of Princess Fiona's friends in the Shrek movies. She shares an affinity with small woodland creatures with her Disney counterpart. She also has a tendency to break out into song every time she speaks which causes animals to come right towards her. After escaping from jail she breaks into a song (that is similar to a song from the Disney movie) to call upon her animal friends. Once they have gathered she goes into a war cry (that is similar to the opening of a Led Zeppelin song) to get the animals to attack the living trees that are guarding the castle for Prince Charming and allow her and the other princess, Fiona and Fiona's mother to get into the castle and stop Prince Charming.

There have also been a few anime adaptations of the story. Nippon Animation told the story of Snow White in three episodes of its 1987 TV series Grimm Meisaku Gekijo (released in English as Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics). In 1994, the Tatsunoko animation studio adapted the story into a 52-episode TV series, Shirayuki-hime no Densetsu ("The Legend of Princess Snow White"), aired in Japan on NHK. Tatsunoko's production incorporated several "prelude" episodes emphasizing the romance between Snow White and her prince before launching into the story proper.

In 1988, the Filmation company produced the first ever sequel to the Snow White tale, originally titled Snow White and the Realm of Doom, but Disney feared that it would be mistaken as a direct sequel to their own. Disney filed a lawsuit against Filmation, which lead them to change the title to Happily Ever After. Other drastic changes were made to the film as well. After several years it was later released on video in 1993. The story involves Snow White and her prince on their way to meet the seven dwarves, but the wicked queen's BROTHER, Lord Malice, wants revenge for his sisters death. Lord Malice transformed into a dragon and kidnapped Snow White and transformed her prince into a hideous man. Snow White escaped and thinking she'd see the seven dwarves again, instead she meets their cousins, the seven dwarfells. Together they all journey to the Realm of Doom where they will defeat Lord Malice and save the prince.

An episode of the supernatural series Charmed entitled Happily Ever After featured an evil witch escaping from captivity and using fairytales to toy with the sisters. Among other things, she plants a poisoned apple which one of the sisters eats and dies. Her sisters cast a spell that ends up bringing the descendants of the seven dwarves to the house. The magic wears off when the evil witch is defeated.

Another unofficial sequel of sorts was released in theatres in Belgium and France in January 2007. Blanche Neige: la suite (Snow White: The Sequel) is an animated film for mature audiences. It was directed by Picha, who is known for his animated films of a sexually explicit nature, including Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle and The Big Bang.

The film Sydney White is a modern retelling of the classic fairy tale. It stars Amanda Bynes as Sydney (Snow White), Sara Paxton as Rachel Witchburn (the Wicked Queen), and Matt Long as Tyler Prince (Prince Charming).

"Snow White" is also the basis of the 1980s sitcom The Charmings. In it, Snow White's stepmother, Queen Lillian puts a sleeping spell on Snow White, Prince Charming, their two sons, herself, and one of the seven dwarves. They wake up a millienium later in Los Angeles and are forced to adjust to a non-fanciful life.

[edit] Music

Snow White is referenced in the song "Waiting for Magic" from the Swedish pop group Ace of Base in their debut album, "Happy Nation". They referenced Snow White by singing, "Kiss me baby, I am Snow White sleeping in my coffin waiting for you."

A sadistic version of the Disney Snow White appears in German metal band Rammstein's video for the song Sonne. She is portrayed as a dominatrix and drug addict (who shoots up gold dust as a drug). In the video, the band members are the dwarves, and they are working for her by mining the gold. At the end of the video, Snow White dies from a gold overdose. She is encased in a glass coffin and carried up the hill by the band, only to be revived by an apple that falls from a tree.

Snow White is referred to as a person or queen, with stalking and/or obsession overtones, in the song "Snow White Queen" on Evanescence's album The Open Door.

Snow White is also mentioned in the song "This Kiss" sung by Faith Hill.

[edit] Snow-White And Rose-Red

There is another Brothers Grimm tale called Snow-White and Rose-Red which also includes a character called Snow-White. However, this Snow-White is a completely separate character from the one found in this tale. The original German names are also different: Schneewittchen (the Princess) and Schneeweißchen (together with Rosenrot). There is actually no difference in the meaning (both mean "snow white"), but the first name is more influenced by the dialects of Low Saxon while the second one is the standard German version, demonstrating a class difference between the two Snow-Whites.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Rose Red
• Operation Snow White
• Snow, Glass, Apples a short story written by Neil Gaiman
• Snow-White and Rose-Red
• Snow-White-Fire-Red is an Italian fairy tale.
• Snow-white (Fanuilos in Sindarin) is also an epithet of Elbereth in Tolkien's legendarium
• Snow White Christmas
• Udea and her Seven Brothers
• The Hairy Man
• Water and Salt
• The Water of Life
• Mirror, Mirror (novel)

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Grimm, Jacob and William, edited and translated by Stanley Appelbaum, Selected Folktales/Ausgewählte Märchen: A Dual-Language Book Dover Publications Inc. Mineola, New York. ISBN 0-486-42474-X

Theodor Ruf: Die Schöne aus dem Glassarg. Schneewittchens märchenhaftes und wirkliches Leben. Würzburg: Königshausen und Neumann, 1994 (absolutely reliable academic work)

[edit] External links

• SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages: The Annotated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
• Snow-White and other tales of Aarne Thompson type 709
• Kay E. Vandergrift's A Scholarly Snow White
• Biancaneve e i sette nani, the famous Snow White (originally, "Schneewittchen") by Brothers Grimm (in Italian)

v • d • e Snow White
Versions	Brothers Grimm • Snow-White-Fire-Red • Snow-White and Rose-Red • Fables
Film	Snow White (1902) • Snow White (1916) • Snow White (1933) • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) • Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (1943) • Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961) • Grimms Märchen von Lüsternen Pärchen (1969) • Snow White Christmas (1980) • Snow White (1987) • Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) • Snow White (2001) • Biancaneve e i sette nani (1995) • 7 Zwerge – Männer allein im Wald (2004 )• 7 Zwerge – Der Wald ist nicht genug (2006) • Sydney White (2007)

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