THE CREATION AND EVOLUTION OF FAIRY TALES:
FROG PRINCE, RAPUNZEL, SLEEPING BEAUTY, AND SNOW WHITE
By Heather Beaman, ShailaBringhurst, Allen Cook, and Ashley Giddings –Department of English
Introduction
As foretold, a beautiful maiden pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and falls into a deep sleep. A passing prince finds her and decides to have a “relationship” with the dreaming woman, and she is impregnated. The babies (twins) are taken care of by fairies but nursed by Briar Rose (who is still asleep). One baby suckles at Briar’s finger and pulls out the spindle splinter. Briar awakes. Drama ensues when the prince’s wife discovers Rose. She tries to feed the babies to the prince. Luckily, the cook has a heart and doesn’t kill the children. In the end the prince dumps his wife and leaves to live with Briar Rose (Grimm “Little Briar-Rose”).
Needless to say, this fairy tale is very different from the version of “Sleeping Beauty” that most people are familiar with. It can be seen from just this one example that fairy tales have been greatly altered with time. Julius Heuscher said,
These tales represent various efforts to explain and deal with the phenomenon of human existence; that they not only express the ways people think, feel, hope, desire, believe, and behave, but also reinforce these ways along idealistic lines; that they satisfy and further man’s basic emotional needs, while simultaneously strengthening faith and morality” (5)
From comparing the Frog Prince, “Rapunzel,”“Sleeping Beauty,” and “Snow White” with past culture, it can be stated that: society has influenced the creation and evolution of fairy tales. This is seen not only in the original versions, but also in the Disney films and modern remakes.
The Frog Prince
Overview
The Frog Prince has undergone a lot of change throughout history. While the story historically possesses oral roots, the Grimm Brother’s written version is as close to the original as one can get. The tale is unique as the princess saves the prince rather than the traditional prince saving the princess. In the story, a selfish princess loses her golden ball in a pond. A frog retrieves it under the condition that the princess becomes his friend which she promises, but refuses to keep. The frog pursues her to the castle where the princess’ father forces her to fulfill the promise she made. The frog eventually wants to sleep in her bed for the night. Angry, the princess throws him against the wall changing the frog into a prince. He then marries the princess. The faithful servant of the prince, Henry, who bounded his heart in iron to prevent it from breaking, comes to collect the prince with joy. As they ride in the carriage, the bands break from Henry’s heart because he is happy his master returned (Grimm “SurLaLune”).
Figure 1: “The Frog Prince”- The princess expresses contempt for the frog despite his assistance in retrieving her most valued possession.
Source: janey-jane on Deviantart.com
The original tale closely follows classic fairy tale tropes. The tale typically follows a royal protagonist who loses their birthright and “through magic and [or] marriage” they regain their rightful place as royalty (Bottigheimer 212). The morals of the tale are questionable because the princess is spoiled and uses violence to solve her problems. She never develops or changes over the course of the story, yet she marries the prince and gets her happily ever after. Interestingly, the morals lie with the servant Henry who remains ever loyal, in contrast to the princess who will not keep her promise. The Frog Prince classically demonstrates the philosophy to not judge something based on its appearance. After becoming human the prince “told her how he had been bewitched by a wicked witch,” (Grimm 11). Had the princess realized this she would not have treated the frog so poorly.
The Silly Frog Prince
Comparatively, modern adaptations omit Henry in favor of making the princess the compassionate and loyal figure of the story. Such is the case of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog and the children’s book Princess Euphorbia by VashtiFarrer. In the latter, Euphorbia inexplicably has green hair, which is unalterable by any means. Her parents post a personal ad to attract a prince who would want her. Prince Nasturtium accepts the princess, but refuses to kiss her. The princess manages to kiss him on her honeymoon which turns him into a frog. The two live happily ever after and have tadpole children.
The children’s book version of the tale is a far cry from its origins. It uses the frog prince angle as a surprise twist. The narrative subverts traditional fairy tale clichés such as “Princesses are meant to have long golden hair and blue eyes. They’re also supposed to marry handsome princes,” by making the princess unattractive and the prince a frog in order to appeal to more modern audiences (Farrer 6). The morals in this retelling are weaker because of the emphasis on humor. The characters are both named after green plants, but other than the color similarities there is no symbolism. Euphorbia does not leave the prince even after he becomes a frog. It echoes loyalty just as the original, but the ending with tadpole children implies bestiality which weakens and makes the moral twisted. In an essay about human and animal companionship Laurie Adams Frost notes in contemporary fiction and fairy tales “One quality that each of the heroines has in common is great loneliness” which is true of Euphorbia who is rejected due to her differences (49). While it does dabble in the strange, this retelling of the Frog Prince is shallow. It relies heavily on its comedic slant.
The Disney Frog Prince
ThePrincess and the Frog from Disney does not follow the original tale, but makes several interesting parallels to the stories roots. The Princess and the Frog is based off of the book The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker, but with gaping differences. Taking place in historical 1920’s New Orleans, Tiana is not a spoiled princess, but a workaholic who puts her goals before everyone else around her including herself because she has taken her late father’s advice “that it’s fine to wish upon a star, but that hard work gets the job done” (Dargis 2). The prince of the story is Naveen who is spoiled and loves to party. The Shadow Man, Dr. Facilier, easily tricks the prince and transforms him into a frog. Believing Tiana is a princess, Naveen convinces her through bribery to kiss him as she finds his frog form disgusting in a similar manner to the original story. Tiana becomes a frog herself because the curse would only allow a true princess to reverse Naveen’s condition. Together the two end up in the swamp looking for a voodoo priestess to help them break the spell. The heroes miss the deadline to have Naveen kiss Charolette, who is the princess of Mardi Gras for only a day, but defeat the Shadow Man. The two marry in the swamp and when they share their kiss it breaks the spell as Tiana technically became a princess by marriage (The Princess and the Frog).
Disney adds more adventure to the story.While the movie keeps the same morals of loyalty and trust as the original tale, but in a different context. In this version, the frog prince is selfish and flighty. He, like the princess, made promises he did not intend to keep. Naveen grows into being a more responsible and faithful friend over the course of the movie which sets him apart from the original. Disney has received much praise and criticism for their retelling due to Tiana being the first African American princess of their franchise. “The Princess and the Frog memorabilia[…] to little African-American girls and their parents— were in high demand and mostly impossible to find just before the November movie release” (Lester 296). They lightly bring up racial and economically social discrimination, but do not actually explore it in detail. What little of the subject they do have they use to promote the moral hard work can make anyone’s dream come true.
The Whole of the Frog Prince
In modern consciousness, the original tale has lost almost every element it once possessed such as the princess’ golden ball, the true temperament of the princess, the violence, and the servant. Most modern telling has replaced it all with just a kiss. “In the modern world, rise fairy tales with male heroes have generally given way to rise fairy tales with a poor heroine” (Bottigheimer 213). The focus in modern fairy tales shifted to the princess character for many reasons. Peggy Orenstein, a journalist for the New York Times, reports Disney’s famous Princess lineup “started the craze […] by packaging nine of its female characters under one royal rubric, have shot up to $3 billion, globally, this year, from $300 million in 2001. There are now more than 25,000 Disney Princess items” (Orenstein 1). Princesses have proven they are highly marketable since then and many of our modern fairy tales will highlight them to attract little girls. While the Frog Prince receives the treatment of becoming more marketable it has certainly benefited from its retellings. The modern influence has given the princess of the story a more flattering, active role to play. Euphorbia, despite her creepy relationship with a frog, is not a shallow, squeamish princess. Tiana is down to earth and a hard worker. All of this change though has not changed the original moral values of the original Frog Prince, but have served to be enhanced a promoted by modern societies.
Rapunzel
Overview
Many have read this story in one of its numerous forms, and most assume this story comes from the brothers Grimm anthology; however, this tale originates from France. The original author was Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force under the title Persinette (Zipes 794). It was adapted and published by the Grimm brothers in 1812 in their book Children's and Household Tales (Grimm).
Figure 2: “Rapunzel”-Rapunzel looks through her tower window.
Source: Rhinestonearmadillo.typepad.com
Grimm’s Tale
The story of Rapunzel begins with a man and a woman who desperately long for a child. Looking out the window the woman desires a flowering plant from the neighbor’s garden known as Rampion or Rapunzel. This is referring to the Spiked Rampion or Phyteumaspicatum(plant life). The woman desired for the Rampion so much she began to waste away for the want of it. Her husband climbed over the garden wall and retrieved her some leaves of Rampion. The resulting salad was so delicious, the woman desired more and more.
Upon the husbands second descent he is caught by the witch, Mother Gothell, and makes the bargain to forfeit any child conceived in exchange for as much Rampion as he pleases. The witch appears at the birth and caries the child off; the child is named Rapunzel by the witch. Twelve years later Rapunzel is confined to a tower without an apparent entrance.
Later on a prince comes toward the tower and hears the singing of Rapunzel and is enchanted by it. After a short time the witch discovers the prince had visited and sends Rapunzel off to live in a desert as punishment. The prince returns and is deceived by the witch; he only manages to escape by flinging himself off the tower into a thorn bush thus scratching his eyes out. He wanders blind until he reaches the desert where Rapunzel and her twins, fathered by the prince, are living. Upon discovering the prince, Rapunzel weeps, her tears restore the sight of the prince and they all live happily ever after (Grimm).
The behavior of the witch, although harsh, is quite common among overprotective parents. When children act out and disobey, their parents can become enraged and enact a severe punishment. (Nakamura 109) In the case of Rapunzel her indiscretion is punished by exile. We find a modern analog in similar situations. Parents have been known to exile their children from their home upon discovery of the same act of rebellion.
Andy Kaiser in his podcast entitled, Original meanings of classic fairy tales,he explains what might have been the purpose behind the telling of this tale.“The morals of the original Rapunzel: A child maturing into adulthood can’t be stopped. It is a parent’s emotional burden to want to delay this process, though they shouldn’t act on it”(45).
Disney’s Tale
Disney brought the story of Rapunzel back into the public view by the movie Tangled. In this retellingRapunzel was stolen as a child for the life giving quality of her magic hair. It is of note to mention the flower bestows this power upon Rapunzel through her mother, as is quite similar to the Rampion plant from the original tale.
The prince in this tale is represented by a thief who has stolen the tiara that was intended for Rapunzel. He comes upon the tower while fleeing from the guard and his two accomplices. Instead of being enchanted by Rapunzel’s singing as in the original he views the tower as a place to hide. She in turn uses the tiara to negotiate the thief into being her escort to a lantern festival she was forbidden to go to.
Rapunzel is innocent and is portrayed as thus through the whole movie. The romance is portrayed as a chaste one, and the prince figure’s conjugal visits do not occur. Instead the story becomes her journey to observe the yearly festival of lights ironically held in her memory by her true parents. In the process of the journey she discovers her past, falls in love with the thief, and explores the realms of rebellion as opposed to obedience.
The story continues with Rapunzel having conflicting and rapidly changing emotions. She is torn between freedom and obeying Mother Gothell the witch character. Mother Gothell enlists the aid of the thief’s two accomplices to help separate Rapunzel and the thief. The story ends with Mother Gothell turned to dust and Rapunzel reunited with her family (Tangled).
The morals of this version are both similar and different from the original. Both stories warn parents about the dangers of being over protective. However, the underlying morality code of the original becomes a rebellion from unfit authority in the new Disney version.
In “Tangled" it has the underlining moral of vanity being a curse as well as to not judge a book by its cover. Cliché morals, but Disney gives it a modern twist with a magical style. The audience can also view the film as a lesson to adults to give a child room while growing up, to let them have their own sense of explorations. (Punkfairy53)
Modern Retelling
In a modern retelling, “Falling for Rapunzel” by Leah Wilcox the story continues to evolve. In this story Rapunzel is in her tower with her maid. The prince passing nearby comes to rescue her. The prince calls for her to let down her hair, but Rapunzel is so high up she mishears him and begins throwing out different items depending upon what the prince shouts. Finally the prince tries the word ‘braid’ and Rapunzel throws down her maid.
The prince is immediately smitten and rides off into the sunset with the maid. Rapunzel then descends the tower via the back door and begins collecting her thrown possessions quite happy the prince has found what he was after. She then returns to her tower, happy to have been of service (Wilcox).
This comparison shows as time goes on society drifts further and further from the original tale until the story is almost nonexistent. No tale is more so, than that of the story of Rapunzel, some might also find this retelling slightly offensive due to Rapunzel being hard of hearing (Katrina).
Regardless of the origin or the changes that take place over time, this story is meant to teach. By looking at these stories from ancient beginnings to modern retellings we can see the moral lessons of these stories shift with the culture that embraces them.
Sleeping Beauty
Overview
The tale of a young princess named Briar-Rose has been told throughout the generations. There are many versions of this story about a young woman who pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and falls asleep. However, the tale is always told a little differently as shown.