On February 17th I began my online search for a variant of Snow White that had a modern twist, when I came across The Mirror Said Poison: A Psychological Twist on Snow White (kindle edition) by Annabel J. Ames published online February 8, 2017. I decide on this variation for the reason that it reveals the queen’s battle with her obsession regarding her appearance and the pressure she places on herself to live up to her kingdom’s love of Snow White’s beauty. Reminiscent of Gaiman, the queen is the focus of the story although her innocence is masked by her mental condition.
This variation has several comparable components to the original Grimm Brothers variant such as the mirror, the huntsman and his deception, the seven dwarfs and the attempts
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‘Now look at you. The polar opposite. If your daughter is a pure white snow, you’re muddy sludge after the thaw. All squish and decay.’” This reflection and her baring of her body to the huntsman (Rhafe), who loves her, drives her into rationalizing that Snowy must be eliminated, “’But I do think about you,’ he said, ‘even when I’m back in my life. Even if it is just a fairy story, I do care for you. Tell me what I can do, and I’ll do it, you know? Anything. Just tell me.’ […] ‘Get rid of her.’” When the queen discovers that her beloved huntsman has betrayed her, her mental fragility begins to unwind and she sets out to do the task herself causing ruin to anyone who gets in her way. “Dania was not going to be made a fool of again. She swiped her fist out in an arc. The shard of broken glass she held punched into his neck. […] The boiling rage seemed to have gone out of her, at least for a while.” Snow White is hesitant in being left with seven little men who must not be able to defend themselves but the one with the long beard tied up reassures her “And, I’m sorry to say, my …show more content…
The queen discloses that the king has not visited her bed chamber in fifteen years. She believes this is due to the appearance of her body after giving birth. But it is her own thoughts of her appearance that guide her to isolate herself from the king. “As he watched his daughter return to her admirer, the king extended his hand beyond the border of his throne. His outermost knuckle brushed Dania’s. She slid her hands into her lap.” The huntsman cares for the queen deeply, “’It wasn’t just that I missed you,’ he said. ‘You kind of give me something to think about, you know? When I thought you didn’t want me here anymore, it was like there was nothing left […]’” Snowy reveals to the witch (aka the queen) her love and concern for her mother “she began decisively. ‘You remind me of my mother. I don’t know why. It’s something in here—’Snowy pressed her fingertips to the front of her corseted abdomen, a few inches below her heart. ‘I just miss her, I
...seems to have endured the most in his life. Not only did he spend his youth caring for his sick mother and then wife, but he now must live in the painful memory of how his life could have been if the accident never happened. The end of the book leaves the readers saddened and frustrated. Though the novella began with a plotline seemingly leading to an ending as cheery as that of Snow White, in the end, this beautiful maiden turned sour. In this storybook tragedy, “the lovers do not live happily ever after. The witch wins” (Ammons 1).
The snow woman, a short story written by Norah Burke, brings the reader into the lives
Much of the biblical references in Snow-White occur symbolically through color, numbers, and objects. Color offers the most obvious examples. Towards the start of the tale, the queen, having pricked her finger while admiring the snow through her window, articulates a wish: “‘Oh that I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood of the embroidery frame’” (215). Shortly thereafter, the wish is fulfilled, similar to how God’s articulated wishes are fulfilled during the Creation Story, and Snow-White is born with a light complexion, flushed lips, and dark hair.
Mrs. Danvers bond with the late Mrs. De Winter is not just a typical servant/mistress relationship, nor even friendship; it is stronger and more passionate than mere companionship. In Chapter Fourteen when Mrs. Danvers finds the narrator looking in Rebecca’s room, she demonstrates adoration for everything that was Rebecca’s: “That was her bed.
This characterization of the woman shows how she overpowers her husband, as opposed to the first wife (Snow White’s mother) who is characterized as being obedient and “sitting and sewing by a window with a black ebony frame” (Grimm 249). This characterization contrasts starkly with the dominant woman who plays the archetype of the evil stepmother. The original mother’s wishes came true as she wished for “a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood of the window frame” (Grimm 249). In this imagery, we are given a color palette that represents a beautiful woman (pale white skin, red rosy cheeks and black ebony hair). Anne Sexton never offers a description of Snow White’s real mother, perhaps showing the reader how it is less important whether the mother is evil or good, but rather how the stepmother and daughter relationship became muddled by the fear the stepmother had to have beauty surpass her own.
Winter tries to do whatever she can to take care of her sister, help her mother, get her father free and everything back to the way that it use to be. Everything seems to go wrong after that happens and Winter is only worried about herself from then on. The characters in this novel all represent individuals in every urban slum in America from the lords to the workers, from the young children growing up fast in the culture of violence and moral decay
This creates sinister predators within her short stories through the use of empowering and dangerous women. in ‘The Snow Child’, the use of subversion turns the traditional fable of Snow White’s existence from maternal desire into a child who is the product of paternal desire and sexual fantasy. The original tale of Snow White explores a queen who is driven by her desire for beauty and youth, this is similar within ‘The Snow Child’ as the Countess becomes jealous of the child as the Count begins to favour her. The countess and the child are portrayed as binary opposites throughout the story; as one is clothed, the other is naked. This could reflect the importance of appearance within society, and explain the Countess’ antagonistic response to the child and acts of neglect due to her jealousy of the child’s beauty. Carter’s description of the Countess’ clothing leaves the reader with an idea of her dangerous nature; she wears “pelts of black foxes”, an association suggesting a predatory and cunning nature. She also wears “scarlet heels, and spurs” and it may be that the colour of the heels comes from the actions of the spurs, which adds to this idea of violence. We see this nature when she is threatened by the child regarding the Count’s affections, “wife” becoming “the Countess” in a shift emphasised by finally having her own thoughts and feelings in the
The first way Snow White differs from the stereotypical 1960s housewife is by her appearance. The appearance of a 1960s housewife was very important. She was expected to dress in a particular fashion that “consisted of, touched up make up and a ribbon in their hair to look fresh” (The Good Wife’s Guide,1). Barthelme demonstrates this throughout the ...
Roses are red, violets are blue, Snow White has changed, everything’s new. This is a different beginning than the original story of Little Snow White by the Grimm Brothers and retold by the director Rupert Sanders, in the movie Snow White and the Huntsman. The original story portrays Snow White as a beautiful, but naive, young woman, leading up to her eating a poisoned apple from the evil queen. The evil queen has been jealous of Snow White after she has grown up and become more beautiful. Although in both the story and the movie, Snow White eats a poisoned apple, Snow White in Snow White and the Huntsman is portrayed as more brave and courageous, even after she wakes up from the poisoned apple. In the end, both the story and the movie show that Snow White’s triumphs out rules all, no matter what is thrown at her, but the difference is in how. While there are many common motifs across the story and the movie; Gender roles have changed over time, as shown in the
In the past the Disney’s version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” has been recognized as being the original story of Snow White even though it was produced in 1937, a hundred and twenty-five years after the original. The Newest version of Snow White called “Mirror, Mirror” came along in 2012, exactly two hundred years after the Brothers Grimm’s version was published. This version brought comedy and color into the story. As a result, they changed a little more of the story to make it more appealing to an audience of today’s generations.
Have you ever seen snow before? That white fluffy stuff that covers the ground completely. Well if you have, I am sure you have overcome an obstacle in your life and have reached something “irreplaceable and beautiful” (102). Just like Sister Zoe had said when she saw that snow falling from the sky. This story was very enlightening because the way the author brought in herself and portrayed herself through the character Yolanda was very intriguing. She brought the subject to life in many ways. However, the author of “Snow” uses two specific elements, its symbolism and its character to prove how overtime one individual will be able to overcome obstacles. Not only does theses elements point this out but the narrator also makes an impact of the reader as well.
Through use of literary devices such as repetition and symbolism, the Grimm Brothers are able to effectively reveal the moral of Little Snow-White to a young audience.
The Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault are both very well-known authors of fairytales. Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm are usually the most recognized in our society, but Perrault has his own version of many of the same tales. These authors have very different methods and styles of writing, as well as differences in morals of their stories. Here I will assess some of the differences between certain tales, as well as provide some background behind the authors.
The stepmother poisons an apple, Snow White eats it and then dies. After this, Gaiman’s version strays significantly from the fairy tale happy ending. As did the Queen’s and Snow White’s character change, so did the Prince’s. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the prince kisses the princess and breaks the curse. In the Grimm brothers version, which is more like Gaiman’s, the piece of poisoned apple is dislodged from her throat and she comes back to life. In “Snow, Glass, Apples”, the prince’s true motives are uncovered. “He bade me remove my shift, and made me stand in front of the opened window, far from the fire, until my skin was chilled stone-cold. Then he asked me to lie upon my back, with my hands folded across my breasts, my eyes wide open – but staring only at the beams above. He told me not to move, and to breathe as little as possible. He implored me to say nothing”(Gaiman 342). The prince’s requests are strange and uncommon but the Queen complys. The prince is trying to make the Queen seem dead. This reveals the prince to be a necrophiliac, which is why he shows great interest when he first discovers Snow White’s body. He is willing to give the dwarfs anything in turn for Snow White’s corpse. They give it to him and while he is having his way with it, the piece of apple that is lodged in her throat becomes loosened and she comes back to life. Snow White stayed cold and always looked as if death was upon her, so the prince’s desire for her was not diminished when she awakened. The prince is not the valiant savior he is thought to be, but a lust driven necrophiliac in search of
Frost uses symbolism throughout all his works. In A Patch of Old Snow the narrator notices the patch of snow and assumes that it is something else instead straightaway. The snow was a symbol of the winter season while it was new and white but after a few weeks on the ground it is dirty and not cared about anymore like an old newspaper, which Frost compares it to. The narrator feels at fault about the misidentification and believes that he should have been able to acknowledge the snow right away and he should have recognized the beauty of winter as well. Then the narrator says the dirt on the snow looks like the print of a newspapers so it was not his fault for making the mistake and he should not have to take responsibility for the mistake. The narrator says the beauty of winter is only present in the perfect white and n...