Reading Response to Snow White

Snow-White is depicted as the epitome of beauty with white skin, black hair, and red lips (assuming that is what red as blood refers to). Given that the Grimm brothers are from Germany and German ideals consist of blonde hair blonde hair and blue eyes, Snow-White’s “black as ebony” and “red as blood” characteristics seem contradictory. This makes me question if perhaps the oral tale of Snow-White originated somewhere in Asia. In India, where my family is from, the ideal for feminine beauty historically was and continues to be fair skinned with black hair and red lips, reminiscent of Snow-White herself.

It seems so bizarre that she is only seven in the story; I know that often times a character is written much younger than they appear in film adaptations (e.g. Daenerys Targaryen is only 13 in A Game of Thrones, the first book), but seven is just unbelievable. I also find it ridiculous that seven years old is considered the age of transition from child to maiden. Snow-White does come off as very young for a majority of the story and her age would explain her naivety in trusting all of the Queen’s disguises, but the ending scene where she marries the Prince is unrealistic. This makes me question the annotations which say that in this version of the story much time does not pass; perhaps she does grow up during the “long, long time” that she is in the coffin.

I appreciate Walt Disney’s decision to give the dwarves names and personalities. Although this took away their significance in the story as nameless “immature and pre-individualistic” forms, his choice made Snow White & The Seven Dwarves into a much more human tale. Instead of just having extreme, idealistic characters like Snow-White, the queen, and the king’s son, Walt Disney adds characters with realistic and relatable personalities that make them the true heroes of the story. They take away the one-note nature of the other characters and are the most likable.

Even in the Grimm brothers’ version of Snow White & The Seven Dwarves, the dwarves are extremely likable because of their hardworking and kind nature. Because of their role in the story, I was disappointed at the end when Snow-White is taken off with the prince who she does not know. I would have preferred if she stayed with the dwarves, though that would have taken away the “romantic” ending and perhaps she would have never woken up.

I find the queen’s ending intriguing given the significance of shoes in fairy tales. Her ultimate downfall is satisfying because of her role as the classic evil stepmother. Perhaps the story would have benefitted from more elaboration on this scene. I would have liked to know who put the shoes on the fire and gave them to her, and what was going through her head when it occurred. It would have been interesting to have a full verbal reaction from the queen during her downfall more than just her conversation with the looking-glass. Perhaps this would have added more complexity to her character rather than just being the classic evil stepmother.