“Rapunzel” is a universal tale known across many cultures. Children all over the world yell “Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair!” There are different versions of the story created in other cultures before the Grimms tackled the narrative into their own. Once again a woman seems like a selfish beast who wants more and more of something she doesn‘t have. One salad from the witch’s garden wasn’t enough she just had to have another. Her husband can not bare to tell her no or to have her die, so he trespasses more than once, the second time getting caught by the sorceress. The man will not dare to say no or deny the woman what |
she wants. To save his own life he agrees to give the enchantress his first born. Once more he is too much of a coward to say anything to his wife about his promise. So with out prior knowledge her child is ripped away from her. This is where the tale turns for the worst.
The witch locks Rapunzel in a tower. This building might just be a symbol of something more phallic. That is what the old woman was saving her from. She is trying to force Rapunzel to keep her innocence and to never be swept away by a man. The decrypting lady has probably been scorned once or twice or she lost her innocence to a man, had his child, and then was shunned by everyone. That’s why she wanted the child in the first place; to make up for the lose of her own child.
The witch locks Rapunzel in a tower. This building might just be a symbol of something more phallic. That is what the old woman was saving her from. She is trying to force Rapunzel to keep her innocence and to never be swept away by a man. The decrypting lady has probably been scorned once or twice or she lost her innocence to a man, had his child, and then was shunned by everyone. That’s why she wanted the child in the first place; to make up for the lose of her own child.
Just for an added twist in my own untold story of “Rapunzel” the Prince is the son of the king who accidentally impregnated the sorceress.
In some versions of “Rapunzel”, the one Grimm wrote and the story written by authors before the two brothers, the narrative ends the same. The blinded prince finds Rapunzel in the forest with the twins she bore and live happily ever after. She is even reunited with her real parents. It’s the climax of the story that varies. In a few cases the witch discovers Rapunzel has been having a visitor by the girl asking her to help her with her dress, it is suddenly too tight. Ought oh that’s right she has last her virginity to the prince and is now pregnant- the very thing the woman has been trying to keep her from. Of course what is any evil mother to do but kick her out and assault the prince.
In the Grimm version, perhaps to make it more original, Rapunzel accidentally slips and asks her mother why it takes her so long to climb her hair while the King’s son is up to see her in a moment. The story takes the same course as what was just described. Shockingly enough, in other tales there is talk of death and girls falling down wells but in “Rapunzel” pregnancy is never mentioned. There isn’t even a hint that Rapunzel’s real mother is even pregnant with her. There isn’t even a hint of Rapunzel being pregnant until her and her prince reunite in the forest.
The underlying moral of this story is you can not keep someone innocent forever. No matter how much we try we will never be able to protect our children from everything. Especially the things we try to keep them from the most. This fairy tale is a lesson for the adults. For kids it’s just another story about a girl who is taken by an evil woman and then saved by a handsome prince.
In some versions of “Rapunzel”, the one Grimm wrote and the story written by authors before the two brothers, the narrative ends the same. The blinded prince finds Rapunzel in the forest with the twins she bore and live happily ever after. She is even reunited with her real parents. It’s the climax of the story that varies. In a few cases the witch discovers Rapunzel has been having a visitor by the girl asking her to help her with her dress, it is suddenly too tight. Ought oh that’s right she has last her virginity to the prince and is now pregnant- the very thing the woman has been trying to keep her from. Of course what is any evil mother to do but kick her out and assault the prince.
In the Grimm version, perhaps to make it more original, Rapunzel accidentally slips and asks her mother why it takes her so long to climb her hair while the King’s son is up to see her in a moment. The story takes the same course as what was just described. Shockingly enough, in other tales there is talk of death and girls falling down wells but in “Rapunzel” pregnancy is never mentioned. There isn’t even a hint that Rapunzel’s real mother is even pregnant with her. There isn’t even a hint of Rapunzel being pregnant until her and her prince reunite in the forest.
The underlying moral of this story is you can not keep someone innocent forever. No matter how much we try we will never be able to protect our children from everything. Especially the things we try to keep them from the most. This fairy tale is a lesson for the adults. For kids it’s just another story about a girl who is taken by an evil woman and then saved by a handsome prince.