The Evil Queen | |
---|---|
First appearance | Grimms' Fairy Tales (1812) |
Created by | The Brothers Grimm (adapted from pre-existing fairy tales) |
In-universe information | |
Occupation | Queen consort, witch (secretly) |
Spouse | King |
Children | Snow White (daughter in the original version, stepdaughter since the 1819 revision) |
The Evil Queen ( German: böse Königin), also called the Wicked Queen or the Queen, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of " Snow White," a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm; similar stories exist worldwide. Other versions of the Queen appear in subsequent adaptations and continuations of the fairy tale, including novels and films. One particularly notable version is Disney's depiction, sometimes known as Queen Grimhilde. The character has also become an archetype that inspired unrelated works.
The Evil Queen is Snow White's vindictive wicked stepmother, obsessed with being "the fairest in the land." The beautiful young princess Snow White evokes the Queen's sense of envy, so the Queen designs several plans to kill Snow White through witchcraft. A driving force in the story is the Queen's Magic Mirror. In the traditional resolution of the story, the Queen is grotesquely executed for her crimes. The tale is meant as a lesson for young children, warning them against the dangers of narcissism, pride, and hubris.
In some retellings of the fairy tale, the Queen has been re-imagined or portrayed more sympathetically, such as being morally conflicted or suffering from madness instead of being simply evil. In some of the revisionist stories she serves as the protagonist and has even been portrayed as an antihero or a tragic hero.
The Evil Queen is a very beautiful but proud and arrogant woman who marries the King after the death of his first wife, the mother of Snow White. The Evil Queen owns a magic mirror, which one day informs her that her young stepdaughter Princess Snow White has surpassed her in beauty.
After deciding to eliminate Snow White, the Queen orders her Huntsman to take the princess into the forest and murder her. The Queen tells him to bring back Snow White's lungs and liver, as proof that the princess is dead. However, the Huntsman takes pity on Snow White, and instead, brings the Queen the lungs and liver of a wild boar. The Queen has the cook prepare the lungs and liver and she eats what she believes are Snow White's organs.
While questioning her mirror again, the Queen discovers that Snow White has survived and has found sanctuary with the Seven Dwarfs. Intending to kill Snow White herself, she takes the disguise of an old peddler woman. She visits the dwarfs' house and sells Snow White laces for a corset that she laces too tight in an attempt to suffocate the girl. When that fails, the Queen returns as a comb seller and tricks Snow White into using a poisoned comb. When the comb, too, fails to kill Snow White, the Queen again visits Snow White disguised as a farmer's wife and gives Snow White a poisoned apple.
Snow White is awakened by the Prince from another kingdom, and they invite the Queen to their wedding. Although fearing what will happen, her own jealousy drives her to attend. There she is forced to put on red-hot iron shoes and "dance" until she drops dead. [1]
In the classic ending of "Snow White", the Evil Queen is put to death by torture. This is often considered to be too dark and potentially horrifying for children in modern society. In fact, already the first English translation of the Grimm's tale, written by Edgar Taylor in 1823, has the Queen choke on her own envy upon the sight of Snow White alive. Another early (1871) English translation by Susannah Mary Paull "replaces the Queen's death by cruel physical punishment with death by self-inflicted pain and self-destruction" when it was her own shoes that became hot due to her anger. [2] Other alternative endings can have the Queen just instantly drop dead "of anger" at the wedding [3] or in front of her mirror upon learning about it, [4] die from her own designs going awry (such as from touching her own poisoned rose [5]) or by nature (such as falling into quicksand while crossing a swamp on her way back to the castle after poisoning Snow White [6]), be killed by the dwarfs during a chase, [7] be destroyed by her own mirror, [8] run away into the forest never to be seen again, [9] or simply being banished from the kingdom forever. [10] As Sara Maitland wrote, "we do not tell this part of the story any more; we say it is too cruel and will break children's soft hearts." [11]
Therefore, many (especially modern) revisions of the fairy tale often change the gruesome classic ending in order to make it seem less violent. In some versions instead of dying, the Queen is merely prevented from committing further wrongdoings. Fawzia Gilani-Williams' Snow White: An Islamic Tale, for instance, has Snow White forgive her evil witch stepmother entirely, making her repent and redeem herself, as part of the book's religious lessons for children. [12] However, in the same 2014 nationwide UK poll that considered the Queen from "Snow White" the scariest fairy tale character of all time (as cited by 32.21% of responding adults), around two-thirds opined that today's stories are too "sanitized" for children. [13] Anthony Burgess commented in 1983: "Reading that, how seriously can we take it? It is fairy-tale violence, which is not like real mugging, terrorism and Argentinean torture." [14]
Sheldon Cashdan, Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, argues that, in accordance to the logic of fairy tales, the Queen could not be allowed to flee or merely be locked up in a dungeon or exiled, as the story portrayed her "as a thoroughly despicable creature who deserves the worst conceivable punishment." In his opinion, fairy tale narrative also demands that "if the witch is to die — and remain dead — she must die in a way that makes her return highly unlikely," and so "the reader needs to know that the death of the witch is thorough and complete, even if it means exposing young readers to acts of violence that are extreme by contemporary standards." [15] Conversely, writers such as Oliver Madox Hueffer have expressed sympathy for the queen, [16] or, like psychology professor Sharna Olfman, remove the violence when reading the story to children while also acknowledging that verbal storytelling lacks "graphic visual imagery". [17]
In the first edition of the Brothers Grimm story, from their 1812 collection Kinder- und Hausmärchen ("Children's and Household Tales"), the Queen is Snow White's biological mother, and in the beginning sits sewing at an open window when she pricks her finger with her needle, causing three drops of red blood to drip onto the white snow on the black ebony windowsill. She then wishes to have a daughter with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony, later giving birth to Snow White. In subsequent versions after 1819, [18] this was changed; text was added to include that Snow White's mother died and the king remarried. [19] [20] Jack Zipes said that the change was made because the Grimms "held motherhood sacred." [21] According to Cashdan, a "cardinal rule of fairy tales" mandates that the "heroes and heroines are allowed to kill witches, sorceresses, even stepmothers, but never their own mothers." [15] Zipes' 2014 collection of Grimm fairy tales in their original forms reinstated the Queen as Snow White's mother. [22] [23]
However, the wicked stepmother was not unknown in German versions predating the Brothers Grimm's collection. In 1782, Johann Karl August Musäus published a literary fairy tale titled " Richilde" which reimagined the folktale from the villain's point of view. [24] The main character is Richilde, arrogant Countess of Brabant, who as a child received the gift of a magic mirror invented by her godfather Albertus Magnus. Many elements of the Grimms' Snow White appear in this story, including the wicked stepmother, the magic mirror, the poisoned apple, and the punishment of dancing in red-hot shoes. [25]
Hueffer noted that the wicked stepmother with magical powers threatening a young princess is a recurring theme in fairy tales; one similar character is the witch-queen in " The Wild Swans" as told by Hans Christian Andersen. [16] According to Kenny Klein, the enchantress Ceridwen of the Welsh mythology was "the quintessential evil stepmother, the origin of that character in the two tales of Snow White and Cinderella." [26]
Equivalents of the Evil Queen can be found in Snow White-like tales from around the world. In the Scottish Gaelic oral tale " Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree", the Queen is named Silver-Tree and is the heroine's biological mother. A talking trout takes the place of the Queen's mirror and the huntsman figure is the princess' own father. [27] [28] The villain's relationship with Snow White can also vary, with versions from around the world sometimes featuring wicked sisters or sisters-in-law, or a wicked mother of the prince. [29] One earlier variation of the tale was Giambattista Basile's " The Young Slave" (1634), where the heroine's mother is unintentionally involved in putting her to sleep, and she is awoken by her cruel and jealous aunt who treats her like a slave.
The Queen's tricks also vary from place to place. In Italy, she uses a toxic comb, a contaminated cake, or a suffocating braid. In France, a local tale features a poisoned tomato. [26] The Queen's demands of proof from the huntsman (often her lover in non-Grimm versions [30]) also vary: a bottle of blood stoppered with the princess' toe in Spain, or the princess' intestines and blood-soaked shirt in Italy. [31]
Rosemary Ellen Guiley suggests that the Queen of the Brothers Grimm tale uses an apple because it recalls the temptation of Eve; this creation story from the Bible led the Christian Church to view apples as a symbol of sin. Many people feared that apples could carry evil spirits, and that witches used them for poisoning. [32] Robert G. Brown of Duke University also makes a connection with the story of Adam and Eve, seeing the Queen as a representation of the archetype of Lilith. [33] The symbol of an apple has long had traditional associations with enchantment and witchcraft in some European cultures, as in case of Morgan le Fay's Avalon ("Isle of the Apples"). [34]
Diane Purkiss attributes the Queen's fiery death in the Brothers Grimm tale to "the folkbelief that burning a witch's body ended her power, a belief which subtended (but did not cause) the practice of burning witches in Germany." [35] The American Folklore Society noted that the use of iron shoes "recalls folk practices of destroying a witch through the magic agency of iron." [36]
According to some scholars such as Roger Sale and University of Hawaii professor Cristina Bacchilega, the story has ageist undertones vilifying the older woman character, with her envy of Snow White's beauty. [37] [28] Terri Windling wrote that the Queen is "a woman whose power is derived from her beauty; it is this, the tale implies, that provides her place in the castle's hierarchy. If the king’s attention turns from his wife to another, what power is left to an aging woman? Witchcraft, the tale answers. Potions, poisons, and self-protection." [28]
Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar regard Snow White and her mother/stepmother as two female stereotypes, the angel and the monster. [38] The fact that the Queen was Snow White's biological mother in the first version of the Grimms' story has led several psychoanalytic critics to interpret "Snow White" as a story about repressed Oedipus complex, or about Snow White's Electra complex and sexual rivalry with the Queen. [38] According to Bruno Bettelheim, the story's main motif is "the clash of sexual innocence and sexual desire": "whereas Snow White achieves inner harmony, her stepmother fails to do so. Unable to integrate the social and the antisocial aspects of human nature, she remains enslaved to her desires and gets caught up in an Oedipal competition with her daughter from which she cannot extricate herself. This imbalance between her contradictory drives proves to be her undoing." [39] Cashdan interprets the Queen's motives as "fear that the king will find Snow White more appealing than her." [15] This struggle is so dominating the psychological landscape of the tale, that Gilber and Gubar even proposed renaming the story "Snow White and Her Wicked Stepmother". [31] [40] Harold Bloom opined that the three "temptations" all "testify to a mutual sexual attraction between Snow White and her stepmother." [41]
Cashdan proposes that the evil queen "embodies narcissism, and the young princess, with whom readers identify, embodies parts of the child struggling to overcome this tendency. Vanquishing the queen represents a triumph of positive forces in the self over vain impulses." As such, "the death of the witch signals a victory of virtue over vice, a sign that positive forces in the self have prevailed." In addition, "the active involvement of heroine in the witch's demise communicates to readers that they must take an active role in overcoming their own errant tendencies." [15] Similarly, psychologist Betsy Cohen wrote about the perceived symbolism of the act: "In order to avoid becoming a wicked queen herself, Snow White needs to separate from and kill off this destructive force inside of her." [42] In the words of Bettelheim, "only the death of the jealous queen (the elimination of all outer and inner turbulence) can make for a happy world." [43]
Regarding the manner of the Queen's execution, scholars such as Cashdan, Sheldon Donald Haase, and John Hanson Saunders argue from psychological and storytelling viewpoints that the Queen's punishment fits her crimes, gives closure to the reader and shows good triumphing over evil. [15] [38] [44] Jo Eldridge Carney, Professor of English at The College of New Jersey, wrote: "Again, the fairy tale's system of punishment is horrific but apt: a woman so actively consumed with seeking affirmation from others and with violently undoing her rival is forced to enact her own physical destruction as a public spectacle." [45] Likewise, Mary Ayers of the Stanford University School of Medicine wrote that the red-hot shoes symbolise that the Queen was "subjected to the effects of her own inflamed, searing hot envy and hatred." [46] It was also noted that this ending echoes the fairy tale of " The Red Shoes", which similarly "warns of the danger of attachment to appearances." [47]
This section needs additional citations for
verification. (August 2023) |
This section may require
copy editing. (February 2024) |
The character was portrayed in a variety of ways in the subsequent adaptations and reimagining's of the classic fairy tale. According to Lana Berkowitz of the Houston Chronicle, "Today stereotypes of the evil queen and innocent Snow White often are challenged. Rewrites may show the queen is reacting to extenuating circumstances." [37] Scott Meslow, of The Atlantic, noted that " Disney's decision to throw out the Grimm's appropriately grim ending—which sentences the evil queen to dance in heated iron shoes until her death—has meant that ending is all but forgotten." [48]
In Disney's seminal 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Queen, usually known as the Evil Queen or the Wicked Queen, is the villain. This version of the character was sometimes referred to as Queen Grimhilde in Disney publications from the 1930s, and was originally voiced by Lucille La Verne. The film's Queen, in the form of an old witch, falls to her death after poisoning Snow White. In the film, similar to the Brothers Grimm story, the Queen is cold, cruel, and extremely vain, and obsessively desires to remain the "fairest in the land". She becomes madly envious of the beauty of her stepdaughter, as well as the attention of the Prince from another land; such a love triangle element is one of Disney's changes to the story. This leads her to plot the death of Snow White and ultimately on the path to her own demise, which in the film is indirectly caused by the Seven Dwarfs. The film's version of the Queen character uses her dark magic powers to actually transform herself into an old woman instead of just taking a disguise like in the Grimms' story; this appearance of hers is commonly referred to as the Wicked Witch or alternatively as the Old Hag or just the Witch. The film's version of the Queen was created by Walt Disney and Joe Grant, and originally animated by Art Babbit and voiced by Lucille La Verne. Inspiration for her design came from several sources, including the characters of Queen Hash-a-Motep from She and Princess Kriemhild from Die Nibelungen, [49] [50] as well as actresses such as Joan Crawford and Gale Sondergaard. [51] [52]
This interpretation of the classic fairy tale character has been very well received by film critics and the general public, often being considered one of Disney's most iconic and menacing villains. Besides the film, the Evil Queen has made numerous appearances in Disney productions and attractions, including works not related to the tale of Snow White, such as Fantasmic!, The Kingdom Keepers and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, sometimes appearing alongside Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. The Queen has since been voiced by Eleanor Audley, Louise Chamis and Susanne Blakeslee, and was portrayed live by Anne Francine, Jane Curtin and Olivia Wilde, among others. Her surviving and aged version was portrayed by Kathy Najimy in Descendants. The film's version of the Queen has also become a popular archetype that influenced a number of artists and non-Disney works.
The 1989 film Happily Ever After, introduces the late Queen's brother, the evil wizard Lord Maliss, who arrives in the kingdom to avenge his sister on those responsible for her demise: Snow White and Prince Charming. [53] Due to pressure by Disney lawyers, [54] [55] the Queen herself does not appear in person and is only shown via a portrait and a bust statue, and the film begins with her monster minions actually partying and celebrating her death. Her brother is eventually destroyed when he is transformed into a dragon and turned into a stone statue.[ citation needed]
Gal Gadot is set to portray the character in Snow White, Disney's own 2025 live-action film reimagining of their 1937 animated classic.
One early yet notable animated adaptation was Snow White (1933), a Betty Boop series cartoon short in which the Queen resembles Olive Oyl. [68] [56] Another early American animation, Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (1943), is a controversial [60] World War II propaganda short that reimagines all the story's characters as African-Americans. The "mean ol' queen" (voiced by Ruby Dandridge and Danny Webb) of the story, a parody of the Disney character, [69] plots to murder So White out of jealously for the handsome Prince Chawmin, represents food hoarders at the time of war rationing.
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The Evil Queen | |
---|---|
First appearance | Grimms' Fairy Tales (1812) |
Created by | The Brothers Grimm (adapted from pre-existing fairy tales) |
In-universe information | |
Occupation | Queen consort, witch (secretly) |
Spouse | King |
Children | Snow White (daughter in the original version, stepdaughter since the 1819 revision) |
The Evil Queen ( German: böse Königin), also called the Wicked Queen or the Queen, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of " Snow White," a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm; similar stories exist worldwide. Other versions of the Queen appear in subsequent adaptations and continuations of the fairy tale, including novels and films. One particularly notable version is Disney's depiction, sometimes known as Queen Grimhilde. The character has also become an archetype that inspired unrelated works.
The Evil Queen is Snow White's vindictive wicked stepmother, obsessed with being "the fairest in the land." The beautiful young princess Snow White evokes the Queen's sense of envy, so the Queen designs several plans to kill Snow White through witchcraft. A driving force in the story is the Queen's Magic Mirror. In the traditional resolution of the story, the Queen is grotesquely executed for her crimes. The tale is meant as a lesson for young children, warning them against the dangers of narcissism, pride, and hubris.
In some retellings of the fairy tale, the Queen has been re-imagined or portrayed more sympathetically, such as being morally conflicted or suffering from madness instead of being simply evil. In some of the revisionist stories she serves as the protagonist and has even been portrayed as an antihero or a tragic hero.
The Evil Queen is a very beautiful but proud and arrogant woman who marries the King after the death of his first wife, the mother of Snow White. The Evil Queen owns a magic mirror, which one day informs her that her young stepdaughter Princess Snow White has surpassed her in beauty.
After deciding to eliminate Snow White, the Queen orders her Huntsman to take the princess into the forest and murder her. The Queen tells him to bring back Snow White's lungs and liver, as proof that the princess is dead. However, the Huntsman takes pity on Snow White, and instead, brings the Queen the lungs and liver of a wild boar. The Queen has the cook prepare the lungs and liver and she eats what she believes are Snow White's organs.
While questioning her mirror again, the Queen discovers that Snow White has survived and has found sanctuary with the Seven Dwarfs. Intending to kill Snow White herself, she takes the disguise of an old peddler woman. She visits the dwarfs' house and sells Snow White laces for a corset that she laces too tight in an attempt to suffocate the girl. When that fails, the Queen returns as a comb seller and tricks Snow White into using a poisoned comb. When the comb, too, fails to kill Snow White, the Queen again visits Snow White disguised as a farmer's wife and gives Snow White a poisoned apple.
Snow White is awakened by the Prince from another kingdom, and they invite the Queen to their wedding. Although fearing what will happen, her own jealousy drives her to attend. There she is forced to put on red-hot iron shoes and "dance" until she drops dead. [1]
In the classic ending of "Snow White", the Evil Queen is put to death by torture. This is often considered to be too dark and potentially horrifying for children in modern society. In fact, already the first English translation of the Grimm's tale, written by Edgar Taylor in 1823, has the Queen choke on her own envy upon the sight of Snow White alive. Another early (1871) English translation by Susannah Mary Paull "replaces the Queen's death by cruel physical punishment with death by self-inflicted pain and self-destruction" when it was her own shoes that became hot due to her anger. [2] Other alternative endings can have the Queen just instantly drop dead "of anger" at the wedding [3] or in front of her mirror upon learning about it, [4] die from her own designs going awry (such as from touching her own poisoned rose [5]) or by nature (such as falling into quicksand while crossing a swamp on her way back to the castle after poisoning Snow White [6]), be killed by the dwarfs during a chase, [7] be destroyed by her own mirror, [8] run away into the forest never to be seen again, [9] or simply being banished from the kingdom forever. [10] As Sara Maitland wrote, "we do not tell this part of the story any more; we say it is too cruel and will break children's soft hearts." [11]
Therefore, many (especially modern) revisions of the fairy tale often change the gruesome classic ending in order to make it seem less violent. In some versions instead of dying, the Queen is merely prevented from committing further wrongdoings. Fawzia Gilani-Williams' Snow White: An Islamic Tale, for instance, has Snow White forgive her evil witch stepmother entirely, making her repent and redeem herself, as part of the book's religious lessons for children. [12] However, in the same 2014 nationwide UK poll that considered the Queen from "Snow White" the scariest fairy tale character of all time (as cited by 32.21% of responding adults), around two-thirds opined that today's stories are too "sanitized" for children. [13] Anthony Burgess commented in 1983: "Reading that, how seriously can we take it? It is fairy-tale violence, which is not like real mugging, terrorism and Argentinean torture." [14]
Sheldon Cashdan, Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, argues that, in accordance to the logic of fairy tales, the Queen could not be allowed to flee or merely be locked up in a dungeon or exiled, as the story portrayed her "as a thoroughly despicable creature who deserves the worst conceivable punishment." In his opinion, fairy tale narrative also demands that "if the witch is to die — and remain dead — she must die in a way that makes her return highly unlikely," and so "the reader needs to know that the death of the witch is thorough and complete, even if it means exposing young readers to acts of violence that are extreme by contemporary standards." [15] Conversely, writers such as Oliver Madox Hueffer have expressed sympathy for the queen, [16] or, like psychology professor Sharna Olfman, remove the violence when reading the story to children while also acknowledging that verbal storytelling lacks "graphic visual imagery". [17]
In the first edition of the Brothers Grimm story, from their 1812 collection Kinder- und Hausmärchen ("Children's and Household Tales"), the Queen is Snow White's biological mother, and in the beginning sits sewing at an open window when she pricks her finger with her needle, causing three drops of red blood to drip onto the white snow on the black ebony windowsill. She then wishes to have a daughter with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony, later giving birth to Snow White. In subsequent versions after 1819, [18] this was changed; text was added to include that Snow White's mother died and the king remarried. [19] [20] Jack Zipes said that the change was made because the Grimms "held motherhood sacred." [21] According to Cashdan, a "cardinal rule of fairy tales" mandates that the "heroes and heroines are allowed to kill witches, sorceresses, even stepmothers, but never their own mothers." [15] Zipes' 2014 collection of Grimm fairy tales in their original forms reinstated the Queen as Snow White's mother. [22] [23]
However, the wicked stepmother was not unknown in German versions predating the Brothers Grimm's collection. In 1782, Johann Karl August Musäus published a literary fairy tale titled " Richilde" which reimagined the folktale from the villain's point of view. [24] The main character is Richilde, arrogant Countess of Brabant, who as a child received the gift of a magic mirror invented by her godfather Albertus Magnus. Many elements of the Grimms' Snow White appear in this story, including the wicked stepmother, the magic mirror, the poisoned apple, and the punishment of dancing in red-hot shoes. [25]
Hueffer noted that the wicked stepmother with magical powers threatening a young princess is a recurring theme in fairy tales; one similar character is the witch-queen in " The Wild Swans" as told by Hans Christian Andersen. [16] According to Kenny Klein, the enchantress Ceridwen of the Welsh mythology was "the quintessential evil stepmother, the origin of that character in the two tales of Snow White and Cinderella." [26]
Equivalents of the Evil Queen can be found in Snow White-like tales from around the world. In the Scottish Gaelic oral tale " Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree", the Queen is named Silver-Tree and is the heroine's biological mother. A talking trout takes the place of the Queen's mirror and the huntsman figure is the princess' own father. [27] [28] The villain's relationship with Snow White can also vary, with versions from around the world sometimes featuring wicked sisters or sisters-in-law, or a wicked mother of the prince. [29] One earlier variation of the tale was Giambattista Basile's " The Young Slave" (1634), where the heroine's mother is unintentionally involved in putting her to sleep, and she is awoken by her cruel and jealous aunt who treats her like a slave.
The Queen's tricks also vary from place to place. In Italy, she uses a toxic comb, a contaminated cake, or a suffocating braid. In France, a local tale features a poisoned tomato. [26] The Queen's demands of proof from the huntsman (often her lover in non-Grimm versions [30]) also vary: a bottle of blood stoppered with the princess' toe in Spain, or the princess' intestines and blood-soaked shirt in Italy. [31]
Rosemary Ellen Guiley suggests that the Queen of the Brothers Grimm tale uses an apple because it recalls the temptation of Eve; this creation story from the Bible led the Christian Church to view apples as a symbol of sin. Many people feared that apples could carry evil spirits, and that witches used them for poisoning. [32] Robert G. Brown of Duke University also makes a connection with the story of Adam and Eve, seeing the Queen as a representation of the archetype of Lilith. [33] The symbol of an apple has long had traditional associations with enchantment and witchcraft in some European cultures, as in case of Morgan le Fay's Avalon ("Isle of the Apples"). [34]
Diane Purkiss attributes the Queen's fiery death in the Brothers Grimm tale to "the folkbelief that burning a witch's body ended her power, a belief which subtended (but did not cause) the practice of burning witches in Germany." [35] The American Folklore Society noted that the use of iron shoes "recalls folk practices of destroying a witch through the magic agency of iron." [36]
According to some scholars such as Roger Sale and University of Hawaii professor Cristina Bacchilega, the story has ageist undertones vilifying the older woman character, with her envy of Snow White's beauty. [37] [28] Terri Windling wrote that the Queen is "a woman whose power is derived from her beauty; it is this, the tale implies, that provides her place in the castle's hierarchy. If the king’s attention turns from his wife to another, what power is left to an aging woman? Witchcraft, the tale answers. Potions, poisons, and self-protection." [28]
Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar regard Snow White and her mother/stepmother as two female stereotypes, the angel and the monster. [38] The fact that the Queen was Snow White's biological mother in the first version of the Grimms' story has led several psychoanalytic critics to interpret "Snow White" as a story about repressed Oedipus complex, or about Snow White's Electra complex and sexual rivalry with the Queen. [38] According to Bruno Bettelheim, the story's main motif is "the clash of sexual innocence and sexual desire": "whereas Snow White achieves inner harmony, her stepmother fails to do so. Unable to integrate the social and the antisocial aspects of human nature, she remains enslaved to her desires and gets caught up in an Oedipal competition with her daughter from which she cannot extricate herself. This imbalance between her contradictory drives proves to be her undoing." [39] Cashdan interprets the Queen's motives as "fear that the king will find Snow White more appealing than her." [15] This struggle is so dominating the psychological landscape of the tale, that Gilber and Gubar even proposed renaming the story "Snow White and Her Wicked Stepmother". [31] [40] Harold Bloom opined that the three "temptations" all "testify to a mutual sexual attraction between Snow White and her stepmother." [41]
Cashdan proposes that the evil queen "embodies narcissism, and the young princess, with whom readers identify, embodies parts of the child struggling to overcome this tendency. Vanquishing the queen represents a triumph of positive forces in the self over vain impulses." As such, "the death of the witch signals a victory of virtue over vice, a sign that positive forces in the self have prevailed." In addition, "the active involvement of heroine in the witch's demise communicates to readers that they must take an active role in overcoming their own errant tendencies." [15] Similarly, psychologist Betsy Cohen wrote about the perceived symbolism of the act: "In order to avoid becoming a wicked queen herself, Snow White needs to separate from and kill off this destructive force inside of her." [42] In the words of Bettelheim, "only the death of the jealous queen (the elimination of all outer and inner turbulence) can make for a happy world." [43]
Regarding the manner of the Queen's execution, scholars such as Cashdan, Sheldon Donald Haase, and John Hanson Saunders argue from psychological and storytelling viewpoints that the Queen's punishment fits her crimes, gives closure to the reader and shows good triumphing over evil. [15] [38] [44] Jo Eldridge Carney, Professor of English at The College of New Jersey, wrote: "Again, the fairy tale's system of punishment is horrific but apt: a woman so actively consumed with seeking affirmation from others and with violently undoing her rival is forced to enact her own physical destruction as a public spectacle." [45] Likewise, Mary Ayers of the Stanford University School of Medicine wrote that the red-hot shoes symbolise that the Queen was "subjected to the effects of her own inflamed, searing hot envy and hatred." [46] It was also noted that this ending echoes the fairy tale of " The Red Shoes", which similarly "warns of the danger of attachment to appearances." [47]
This section needs additional citations for
verification. (August 2023) |
This section may require
copy editing. (February 2024) |
The character was portrayed in a variety of ways in the subsequent adaptations and reimagining's of the classic fairy tale. According to Lana Berkowitz of the Houston Chronicle, "Today stereotypes of the evil queen and innocent Snow White often are challenged. Rewrites may show the queen is reacting to extenuating circumstances." [37] Scott Meslow, of The Atlantic, noted that " Disney's decision to throw out the Grimm's appropriately grim ending—which sentences the evil queen to dance in heated iron shoes until her death—has meant that ending is all but forgotten." [48]
In Disney's seminal 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Queen, usually known as the Evil Queen or the Wicked Queen, is the villain. This version of the character was sometimes referred to as Queen Grimhilde in Disney publications from the 1930s, and was originally voiced by Lucille La Verne. The film's Queen, in the form of an old witch, falls to her death after poisoning Snow White. In the film, similar to the Brothers Grimm story, the Queen is cold, cruel, and extremely vain, and obsessively desires to remain the "fairest in the land". She becomes madly envious of the beauty of her stepdaughter, as well as the attention of the Prince from another land; such a love triangle element is one of Disney's changes to the story. This leads her to plot the death of Snow White and ultimately on the path to her own demise, which in the film is indirectly caused by the Seven Dwarfs. The film's version of the Queen character uses her dark magic powers to actually transform herself into an old woman instead of just taking a disguise like in the Grimms' story; this appearance of hers is commonly referred to as the Wicked Witch or alternatively as the Old Hag or just the Witch. The film's version of the Queen was created by Walt Disney and Joe Grant, and originally animated by Art Babbit and voiced by Lucille La Verne. Inspiration for her design came from several sources, including the characters of Queen Hash-a-Motep from She and Princess Kriemhild from Die Nibelungen, [49] [50] as well as actresses such as Joan Crawford and Gale Sondergaard. [51] [52]
This interpretation of the classic fairy tale character has been very well received by film critics and the general public, often being considered one of Disney's most iconic and menacing villains. Besides the film, the Evil Queen has made numerous appearances in Disney productions and attractions, including works not related to the tale of Snow White, such as Fantasmic!, The Kingdom Keepers and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, sometimes appearing alongside Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. The Queen has since been voiced by Eleanor Audley, Louise Chamis and Susanne Blakeslee, and was portrayed live by Anne Francine, Jane Curtin and Olivia Wilde, among others. Her surviving and aged version was portrayed by Kathy Najimy in Descendants. The film's version of the Queen has also become a popular archetype that influenced a number of artists and non-Disney works.
The 1989 film Happily Ever After, introduces the late Queen's brother, the evil wizard Lord Maliss, who arrives in the kingdom to avenge his sister on those responsible for her demise: Snow White and Prince Charming. [53] Due to pressure by Disney lawyers, [54] [55] the Queen herself does not appear in person and is only shown via a portrait and a bust statue, and the film begins with her monster minions actually partying and celebrating her death. Her brother is eventually destroyed when he is transformed into a dragon and turned into a stone statue.[ citation needed]
Gal Gadot is set to portray the character in Snow White, Disney's own 2025 live-action film reimagining of their 1937 animated classic.
One early yet notable animated adaptation was Snow White (1933), a Betty Boop series cartoon short in which the Queen resembles Olive Oyl. [68] [56] Another early American animation, Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (1943), is a controversial [60] World War II propaganda short that reimagines all the story's characters as African-Americans. The "mean ol' queen" (voiced by Ruby Dandridge and Danny Webb) of the story, a parody of the Disney character, [69] plots to murder So White out of jealously for the handsome Prince Chawmin, represents food hoarders at the time of war rationing.
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