Tea at Trianon: Snow White and Rose Red

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, February 6, 2009

Snow White and Rose Red

A short time afterwards the mother sent her children into the forest to get firewood. There they found a big tree which lay felled on the ground, and close by the trunk something was jumping backwards and forwards in the grass, but they could not make out what it was. When they came nearer they saw a dwarf with an old withered face and a snow-white beard a yard long. The end of the beard was caught in a crevice of the tree, and the little fellow was jumping about like a dog tied to a rope, and did not know what to do. ~from "Snow White and Rose Red" by the Brothers Grimm

One of my favorite fairy tales as a child was "Snow White and Rose Red," one of the many stories collected by William and Jacob Grimm from the peasants of Germany in the early nineteenth century. According to SurLaLune:

Snow White and Rose Red is of German origin with no known oral antecedents. The Grimms included the mostly original story in their collection and consequently popularized it. According to Stith Thompson, Wilhelm adapted the tale from a story, titled "The Ungrateful Dwarf,"by Caroline Stahl published in her own collection of German stories in 1818.
The elements of the story beyond the broad theme of the Animal Bridegroom is uniquely German. Aarne and Thompson have classifed the tale as type 426: The Two Girls, The Bear, and The Dwarf. In this tale, as well as Grimm's The Lion and the Frog, the Animal Bridegroom is a kind and gentle beast whom the heroines do not find threatening. The girls are not required to "tame" the bear; they must deal with the wicked dwarf instead.

The tale has not appeared outside of a small geographic region in central Europe. Thompson considers the tale to be part of the animal bridegroom themes, including Beauty and the Beast, that are all related to the Cupid and Psyche myth (Thompson 1945).

Another tale that is related to the myth of Cupid and Psyche is "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" which will be the topic of a future post. There are many elements of "Snow White and Rose Red" which always charmed me, such as the roses, the angel, and living in solitude in a cottage in the woods. As explained by SurLaLune, the rose trees symbolize beauty and perfection, the angel's appearance indicates that the girls are pure of heart. It is one of the few tales in which the birth mother is alive but the father has died; widowhood sets the stage for poverty, but in spite of their dire straits, the family is happy and harmonious. The girls' fidelity and kindness are rewarded at the end, and the bear to whom they showed compassion ends up being a prince in disguise.

"Snow White and Rose Red" has a contemporary interpretation in Regina Doman's novel Shadow of the Bear. I cannot recommend highly enough Regina's books based upon the classic fairy tales as being especially wonderful for teenagers and young adults, although there are plenty of mature adults who enjoy them as well. It is fascinating how the tales which meant so much to our ancestors can still resonate so deeply with us today, especially when in the hands of a master story-teller.

Alexandra said...: We use vintage children's readers in our homeschool. "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" is seen frequently in many vintage children's readers, but almost unknown in modern children's literature.

It's such a shame than many of the really good myths and stories has been kicked to the curb. So much of the modern reading for children is junk - poorly written and ridiculous topics. We pass it in favor of the older books.; February 6, 2009 at 9:32:00 AM EST
Enbrethiliel said...: +JMJ+

I read both East of the Sun and West of the Moon and Snow White and Rose Red as a child. I'm surprised that they're so unfamiliar to children today. Perhaps because Disney never touched them? (A blessing that!)

On Snow White and Rose Red: I always felt a bit sorry for Rose Red, because she ended up with the Prince's brother, whom we hear absolutely nothing about until the last line.; February 6, 2009 at 7:51:00 PM EST