The Original Version of "Snow White"

A creepy story for a dark and stormy evening.....

Article by Quercus

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" as you know it from the beautifully cartooned Disney movie, was originally known as "Little Snow-White" or Schneewittchen in German. A German cultural folktale transcribed by the folklorist brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm in 1812, the original version was a little different: it wasn't the jealous step-mother, but the girl's own jealous mother who took her flower-picking and abandoned her in the forest to die (reference - Kay Stone, "Three Transformations of Snow White" pp 57-58 James M. McGlathery, ed. The Brothers Grimm and Folktale).

The second edition put out by the Brothers Grimm had a re-worked story involving a step-mother instead, purportedly to make it less frightening to young children (reference - Maria Tatar, The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales, p 36). From reading the edited version, I noticed that the story's transition from the mother of Snow White to the step-mother seemed rather choppy; why mention that a mother wished for a child of certain appearance? Why not start with the step-mother's point of view in the description of young Snow White? I'm certain this segue is awkward because of the rehash of the story.

Regardless, this chilling fairy tale is especially frightening to children of narcissistic mothers. The jealous step-mother demands that Snow White, who has become more lovely than she, be murdered and her heart (in some versions, all the innards) be returned to her as proof. The step-mother then eats the heart of the murdered Snow White (which is really the heart of a boar; the step-mother has been deceived).

If having her step-daughter murdered and eating her heart for lunch isn't bad enough, she then attempts to murder Snow White by her own hand after she becomes aware that her young competition is still alive and living in the woods with a bunch of dwarves. She tries three different tactics on three separate occasions (and the lovely and sweet but horribly naive Snow White falls for it every time). 

Although Snow White is unaware that the disguised stranger is her step-mother, I see this as an allegory to the ever-hopeful vulnerability of daughters of narcissistic mothers; have you not gone against instinct and willingly trusted your mother's seemingly good intentions, wishing to believe her motives are pure, only to be stung again by her wrath? ACoNs are famous for continuing to hope that their narcissistic parent will transform and become the loving parent they long for. A year into therapy, I can still sense vestiges of this forlorn hope in my soul. Despite all the literature to the contrary, especially reports on how narcissists worsen with age, I still secretly, quietly hope that this year my mom's going to be better.

Want a good dose of creepy? Here are links to the several on-line versions of the original (revised) Grimm fairy tale. Each is quite similar, with some minor differences in phrasing, though the evil Queen always meets with a sticky end:

1812 Grimm's Fairy Tale (2nd Ed.) version:
http://pinkmonkey.com/dl/library1/story158.pdf

As found in Grimm's Household Tales:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/042.txt

Yet another Grimm version:
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm053.html

My mother never tried to kill me (at least, not that I was aware of anyway - I couldn't put it completely past her to consider it at least even briefly). She did, however, get meaner and meaner as I grew and grew. She prevented me from wearing make-up, shaving my legs (I was teased at school until I finally asked a friend to teach me to shave), and having a proper wardrobe. She would never buy me pads or tampons for some reason - I always had to sneak them onto the shopping list via my dad.

I have memories of two or three different occasions when it was just her and me that went somewhere together as a recreational activity (it was the only times we ever did anything that was 'just the two of us'). In every instance, we were to 'have a day out together', and the venues had strict dress codes. I did not own any skirts or pants that weren't jeans, and there was a no-jean policy (I had to buy all my own clothes). Instead of simply buying me an appropriate garment (we were wealthy), I wore what little I had (or in one case, a decade-out-of-style outfit she lent to me, which I now believe was to intentionally humiliate). She then complained on how embarrassed she was to be seen with me - the lady doth protest too much, methinks.

What can you do when your daughter is blossoming into a beautiful, attractive young woman, and you're shrivelling and sagging like old fruit? Learn to base your self-worth on anything other than your superficial appearance, read articles for envious moms like this one (The Jealous Mother), or simply be proud and happy for your offspring, and support them like the wind beneath their wings.

Or, conversely, you can try to stop your daughter from being attractive (see my mom's tactics above), and/or compete with your daughter (she kissed my boyfriend in front of me!) right up to the point where you're post-menopausal and still wearing short-shorts. Denude the daughter's self-esteem at every opportunity - make sure her self-image is flawed so that she'll lack the confidence required for normal social interaction. Or take it to the extreme like Snow White's mother (or step-mother) and try to bump her off.

If you'd like a topical snack to go along with your reading, assuming you have any appetite left at all, check out "The Poisoned Apples" store on Etsy - those are the prettiest (and yummiest sounding) creepy candy apples I've ever seen!

Was your beauty threatening to your mother (or step-mother)? Share your stories below - let us hope that none of us ACoNs have a mother worse than the Evil Queen of Snow White. Although I will say that I envy Snow White's situation somewhat; at least she got to live with people (dwarves) and friendly animals who cared for her enough to come to her rescue again and again. She didn't have to live under the same roof as the jealous step-mother for all the years of her adolescence and young adulthood. I wonder what is more damaging - isolated attempts on your life by your mother, or 20 odd years of her daily psychological abuse? It's probably like comparing poisoned apples to poisoned oranges.

If you haven't had enough horror for one day, here's an interesting list of gruesome fairy tales (Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" is very, very different to the saccharine and frankly revolting Disney version of the same name!):  http://listverse.com/2009/01/06/9-gruesome-fairy-tale-origins/

References:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White 
• Kay Stone, "Three Transformations of Snow White" pp 57-58 James M. McGlathery, ed. The Brothers Grimm and Folktale
• Maria Tatar, The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales, p 36