Snow White: The Enduring Fairytale

Walt Disney hit upon a gold mine when he turned time-honored tales into cinematic magic.  It's hard to think of a classic fairytale and NOT associate one of the "Disney Princesses" with it.  The tale of Snow White is no exception.

In addition to the TV drama Once Upon a Time, debuting last fall, we're seeing not one, but two, Snow White movies this year.  That made me think about WHY the fairytale is so loved through generations.  So I went back and looked at the history of Snow White.  Although the tale was being told in Europe long before the Grimm Brothers came along, their 1812 version is the best known.  One hundred years later, in 1912, Snow White was a Broadway musical.  Walt Disney made it into an animated movie in 1937.

 When you start looking, there are variations of Snow White told in multiple countries and in every form of media.  I learned that an X-rated version of the tale was released in 1976.  In 1987, ABC had a sitcom called The Charmings, based on Snow White and Prince Charming.  And Sigourney Weaver starred in a 1997 horror film based on the tale. 

While all of this is interesting, none of this tells me WHY.  Why is Snow White such a beloved tale?

I've got to think that part of the reason is because at it's core, Snow White is the epitome of good versus evil.  The lines are clearly defined; Snow White is innocent and pure, the Queen is vain and evil.  It's always fun to read a story where you know there is a bad guy but you don't know who it is until the end.  But here, there's no question about who's the dark force hunting Snow White.  And we know - KNOW - that in the end, good will triumph.

The story might also endure because there's an element of truth behind it. Some believe that the original myth was based on the life of Maria Sophia Margaretha Catherina von Erthal (say that 3x fast), a noble German girl whose father remarried.  The step-mother used her new noble status to the betterment of the children from her first marriage (to me, this sounds more like Cinderella, but that's a myth for another day).  Still, don't all children fear losing a parent? Being subjected to a bully - whether it's at school or at home?  Although Snow White takes bullying to the extreme, society likes to see bullies get what they deserve.

I'm sure there are a billion other literary reasons Snow White not only prevails, but dominates, among the fairytales.  But I want to know what you think?  And is the reason for Snow White's popularity something that readers want to see in the books they read today?


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Jessie Harrell is the author of Destined, a retelling of a particularly ancient fairy tale, the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche.  She loves all of the Disney Princesses as much as her daughters and knows that while she'll never be a princess, she's lucky to have found her own Prince Charming.  You can find out more about Destined on Jessie's website.

What Message Are We Sending?

Angela's post last Wednesday inspired me. Made me think about the messages we send out to the world, particularly to young adults.

**Image borrowed from Deviantart**

I think about the messages I got growing up and how they shaped me.  As a girl, the primary one was this:

You're just as good as a boy and you can be anything you want to be.

Right on!  Well, almost.  We're so focused on what we want to be when we grow up, and the greatness we will attain.  We head off to college, earn our degrees, start careers that put us on the path to manager, partner, business owner. And then what?

We've proved we're just as good as the boys, but for many of us, there's a pesky thing called a biological clock. And being a stay at home mom now sort of feels like quitting.  The boys don't quit work just because they became dads.  But how do we balance being that mom who sends in homemade cupcakes and the executive who answers client e-mails at 10 pm?  How do we continue with our creative outlets so we don't lose our souls in the process of becoming just as great as our male co-workers?

I'm not sure there is a right answer. Everyone's paths will be different naturally.  But what I do know is that through time, subtle messages get pounded into our heads until we've set unattainable standards for ourselves.  Yes, girls, you CAN do or be anything. But you can't be it all at the same time.  That's the part of the message that gets left out.  You can make partner in your law firm, but that means you can't work part time and attend all your kid's school plays.  You can be an awesome writer/artist/musician in your spare time, but you won't be the world's best spouse if that's where you're channeling your passion.

As authors, we love writing these "kick butt" heroines who save the world and get the boy.  After all, it makes for a good and entertaining story.  But what happens to their school work while they're off battling demons?  What about their family relationships?  Are they simply not as important?  Not to our story lines perhaps, but I wonder if we aren't perpetuating the myth that our girls can be everything all at once when we downplay the crucial elements of our everyday lives.

Maybe not.  I'm no psychology major and I, as a writer, haven't ever given the subtle messages I'm sending that much thought.  But maybe I should. As a victim of society's subtle pressures myself, maybe I ought to be more cautious about what I put out into the world.  And just like everything else, find a balance between good story telling and good living.

What do you think??