Deconstructing the 'Witch': A Reinterpretation of Grimm's Rapunzel

Retelling the Mold

Through fresh writing, the character of Witch is allowed to have the most contradictions, therefore blurring the rigid binary of good vs bad, an idea ingrained in popular culture for eons, in effect making her the play’s most human character. This is key to de mystifying the Grimm Brother’s fairy tale “Rapunzel”, as she is no longer placed in a 2 dimensional mold of evil figure. While her defining moments in the text are marked by unexplained rage, jealousy and retribution lensed with zero objective perspective within into the Woods she is given opportunity to be viewed in a more well rounded light as she is central in everyone else’s story allowing the audiences to experience more of her. Through this there is chance to

The Witch cares for Rapunzel in a way that parallels the tension of many caretakers across the board. As individual entities, children at every stage in life exercise some degree of personal autonomy, enacted either through their behaviors, thoughts or attitudes with defiance being a common theme. During the song Children Will Listen this reality is referenced in the lines “Careful the spell you cast not just on children. Sometimes a spell may last past what you can see and turn against you. Careful the tale you tell that is the spell, Children will

They are portrayed as having a lack ability to feel positive human emotions such affection. In the song Witches Lament the softer side of her is shown when she sings “Now you know what 's out there in the world. No one can prepare you for the world, Even I. How could I, who loved you as you were? How could I have shielded you from her or them...” As the Witch admits love for Rapunzel, she also enacts penance for Rapunzel’s actions, which is opposite to the classical characterization of a being with nefarious temperament. Oftentimes witches are spoken of as wielding black magic and finding joy in tricking innocent people, which stems from traditional and Christian perspectives of pagan religions. The Salem Witch Trials were a moment in history when this clash of ideology resulted in ideas that contribute to this. Witches still carry negative connotations of evil, which is why we so heavily associate them with Halloween. The white Judeo Christian view of supernatural powers also ties into this as it manifested ideals allowing for the demonization of exactly this. Because of our limited framework, we don’t expect the Witch to have such multifaceted characteristics making her not either bad or good, more so having qualities that are a mix of both. She is allowed a certain freedom not found in prior literary iterations where an evil archetype persists mainly due to