Snow White: Outline

Thesis: Girls have no control over lives I. Snow White a weak protagonist A. B. C. D. 1. II. No power: oppressed by stepmother No strength: pitied by huntsman No intelligence: tricked repeatedly No hand in climax Saved by chance

Problems of beauty A. 1. B. C. 1. 2. D. E. Snow Whites strengths: beauty, purity, youth Preserved in magic cof n Beauty also source of jealousy Symbols of beauty Mirrors, bodices, combs Associated with Queen Poison apple: illusion of beauty Beauty a losers game: Queen

III.

Men have power A. B. C. D. Huntsman: power of life and death Dwarves: dominate Snow White Prince Charming: protects and punishes Queen Benevolent power

Argument Draft

Written down at a time when women had no real power, the Brothers Grimm version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves warns girls that they have no control over their lives. Snow White, the protagonist of the story, is not known for her power, intelligence, personal strength, or even virtue. Indeed, she cannot stand up to her stepmother nor the huntsman. She is tricked again and again despite being warned by the dwarves. In fact, she is not even involved at all in the climactic moment of the story; no one is, for the poison apple falls out of her throat by accident. She is saved, in other words, by chance. What Snow White is known for her is her beauty, perhaps, too, her purity and youth. She is perfectly preserved forever magically in her glass cof n until the kings son arrives. Her beauty, though, is the very thing that brings her con ict in her story; signi cantly, her beauty causes the Queen, her stepmother, to be insanely jealous. Furthermore, the things that symbolize the tools women have to control their beautymirrors, bodices, combs, shoesare associated with the evil Queen. In fact, the Queen stepmother, though she may seem to be the most powerful character in the story, is actually helpless herself; helpless against time and competition. She can make herself uglier and older, but she cannot make herself more young or more beautiful. Her ultimate weapon is the poisoned apple, which is pretty and seductive but that beauty is an illusion, a trick. The characters that do have lasting power in this story are the men. The huntsman, though he works for the stepmother, is the one who nally has the power of life and death over Snow White. His potential for violence, however, is tempered with compassion and mercy. The dwarves, also, dominate Snow White and make her stay in the house and clean, but they are hospitable and wise and try to protect her. When Snow White triumphs in the end, it is because she is married to Prince Charming, who has the power to conclusively protect her and also punish her antagonist, the Queen stepmother.

Snow-White: A Maiden in Distress (includes textual evidence)

Written down at a time when women had no real power, the Brothers Grimm version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves warns girls that they have no control over their lives. Snow White, the protagonist of the story, is not known for her power, intelligence, personal strength, or even virtue. Indeed, she cannot stand up to her stepmother nor the huntsman. She is tricked again and again despite being warned by the dwarves (264-268). In fact, she is not even involved at all in the climactic moment of the story; no one is, for the princes servants carrying her cof n happened to stumble over a bush, and with the shock the poisoned piece of apple came out of her throat (270). She is saved, in other words, by chance. What Snow White is known for her is her beauty, perhaps, too, her purity and youth. She was named Snow-White because she is as white as snow, as red as blood, and with hair as black as ebony (257) and her wicked stepmother acknowledges she is a paragon of beauty (266). She is perfectly preserved forever magically in her glass cof n until the kings son arrives (270). Her beauty, though, is the very thing that brings her con ict in her story; signi cantly, her beauty causes the Queen, her stepmother, to grow yellow and green with envy (258). Furthermore, the things that symbolize the tools women have to control their beautymirrors, bodices, combs, shoesare associated with the evil Queen. In fact, the Queen stepmother, though she may seem to be the most powerful character in the story, is actually helpless herself; helpless against time and competition. She can make herself uglier and older (263), but she cannot make herself younger or more beautiful. Her ultimate weapon is the poisoned apple, which on the

outsidewas beautiful, white with red cheeks, so that anyone who saw it wanted it (267) but is actually an illusion, a trick. In the end, she is undone by her obsession with beauty, grotesquely dancing to death in red-hot slippers (274). The characters that do have lasting power in this story are the men. The hunter, though he works for the stepmother, is the one who nally has the power of life and death over Snow White. His potential for violence, however, is tempered with compassion and mercy (258-259). The dwarves, also, dominate Snow White and make her look after [the] house, cook, make the beds, wash, sew, and knit (262), but they are hospitable and wise and try to protect her. When Snow White triumphs in the end, it is because she is married to the kings sonYoure with me, he says (273). He has the power to conclusively protect her and also punish her antagonist, the Queen stepmother. All in all, we can take Snow White to be a story deeply pessimistic about the power and control women have over their lives. The hero of the story, Snow White, has no strength of character and succeeds despite herself. The one virtue she has as a woman, her beauty and purity, is not within anyones ability to control or hold on to, as the wicked Queen nds out. Finally, her fate takes its fortunate twists and turns through the power and kindness of men. Is this a story not for our time, then? Has it nothing to teach the girls of today, who are rightly encouraged to be independent and assertive? It should certainly be read critically, but I believe it still holds valuable and timeless lessonsfor both sexes. If I had to put its thesis positively, Id say it teaches us to let go, to not waste energy grasping and ghting for things that are empty and beyond our control. We should, instead, seek the guidance and help of those around us who are good at heart, who can help and protect in moments of crisis. The stepmother was a one-woman army, but Snow White was stronger with her community of support.