Note: I love it when students stretch back in time to find inspiration for their work. Jayne did consistently strong work on her blog comments and I think that shows through in this thoughtful and entertaining guest blog post. I am also unsure of who the illustrator is for this lovely image. Any ideas?Genesis 3:4-6: “’You won’t die!’ the serpent hissed…the woman was convinced…so she ate some of the fruit.” What does the Bible have to do with fairy tales? Since the Garden of Eden, there has been a connection between forbidden fruit, temptation, and an evil character. For Eve, the tempter was the serpent, but in some fairy tales, the tempter is more likely to be a temptress with a good-looking apple.
Take, for example, “Snow White,” by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. In the tale, the queen, who is also Snow White’s stepmother, sends Snow White into the forest to be killed, but the huntsman spares her young life and she begins to live with the seven dwarfs. While Snow White stayed with the dwarfs, the evil queen visits her three times, with the intent to killing Snow White. On her first visit, the queen laces up Snow White too tightly, the second time she uses a poisonous comb to brush her hair, and the third time she finally tricks her into eating the fateful apple. After just one bite, Snow White was dead.
Much like the serpent in the Garden of Eden persuaded Eve to eat the fruit forbidden by God, the queen convinces Snow White that the apple is not poisonous and takes a bite out of the fruit. The apple is said to be an exact likeness to Snow White’s features, white - the half that the queen eats, and red – Snow White’s half. Just as God had advised Eve against the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Snow White had been instructed by the seven dwarfs to not accept anything from the woman at the door, but the temptation was too great. Although Snow White is eventually awakened, the queen still succeeds in tempting the young girl.
Another fairy tale that repeats both the wicked female character and the temptation of fruit is “The Juniper Tree” by Phillip Otto Runge. In this tale, “Brother,” as he is simply referred to, is welcomed home from school by his stepmother, only to be killed. The stepmother offers Brother an apple, but just as he reaches in the chest for the fruit, “Bam! She slammed the lid down so hard that the boy’s head flew off and fell into the chest with the apples.” Talk about an evil stepmother! Stepchildren may refer to their stepmothers as “stepmonsters,” but how many can honestly say that their stepparent would chop their head off and serve it to their father in a stew? Hopefully few… Even harder to believe is that actual parents would treat their children this way. Many of the original Grimm’s tales told of mothers and fathers abandoning, poisoning, and killing their children, but the brothers Grimm decided that the way the real parents behaved was too appalling to include.
According to Neil Philip, apples were given as a sign of love and affection in the past, similar to elementary teachers receiving apples from their model students. Obviously, evil stepmothers and wicked queens break the mold; to them, apples do not represent love and affection. Stepchildren and teachers beware: the next time you are offered an apple, think twice before biting into the juicy, red, tempting fruit.
Take, for example, “Snow White,” by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. In the tale, the queen, who is also Snow White’s stepmother, sends Snow White into the forest to be killed, but the huntsman spares her young life and she begins to live with the seven dwarfs. While Snow White stayed with the dwarfs, the evil queen visits her three times, with the intent to killing Snow White. On her first visit, the queen laces up Snow White too tightly, the second time she uses a poisonous comb to brush her hair, and the third time she finally tricks her into eating the fateful apple. After just one bite, Snow White was dead.
Much like the serpent in the Garden of Eden persuaded Eve to eat the fruit forbidden by God, the queen convinces Snow White that the apple is not poisonous and takes a bite out of the fruit. The apple is said to be an exact likeness to Snow White’s features, white - the half that the queen eats, and red – Snow White’s half. Just as God had advised Eve against the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Snow White had been instructed by the seven dwarfs to not accept anything from the woman at the door, but the temptation was too great. Although Snow White is eventually awakened, the queen still succeeds in tempting the young girl.
Another fairy tale that repeats both the wicked female character and the temptation of fruit is “The Juniper Tree” by Phillip Otto Runge. In this tale, “Brother,” as he is simply referred to, is welcomed home from school by his stepmother, only to be killed. The stepmother offers Brother an apple, but just as he reaches in the chest for the fruit, “Bam! She slammed the lid down so hard that the boy’s head flew off and fell into the chest with the apples.” Talk about an evil stepmother! Stepchildren may refer to their stepmothers as “stepmonsters,” but how many can honestly say that their stepparent would chop their head off and serve it to their father in a stew? Hopefully few… Even harder to believe is that actual parents would treat their children this way. Many of the original Grimm’s tales told of mothers and fathers abandoning, poisoning, and killing their children, but the brothers Grimm decided that the way the real parents behaved was too appalling to include.
According to Neil Philip, apples were given as a sign of love and affection in the past, similar to elementary teachers receiving apples from their model students. Obviously, evil stepmothers and wicked queens break the mold; to them, apples do not represent love and affection. Stepchildren and teachers beware: the next time you are offered an apple, think twice before biting into the juicy, red, tempting fruit.
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7 comments:
Your students have some extremely interesting theories. The fact that the bible may have played a role in some of these fairy tales isn't unlikely once you consider it, yet you don't think about it when you first read or hear about fairy tales.
The illustrator of the image is Gustav Tenggren, with the title "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," created in 1923.
Jayne
It seems like the apple being a symbol of love and affection would make the deception that much worse -- if the characters of Snow White or Brother could be assumed to be at all familiar with the symbolism, the betrayal would have been that much more unaccepted. Like a poisonous bouquet of red roses or a deadly teddy bear!
I never really thought about the Bible being a part of fairy tales even when reading them. I never even actually had the thought cross my mind until reading this post. Now that I stop and read it WOW how amazing it is that someone actually connected that link between the two. I find it particulary amazing that in the end a lot of things come back on the Bible and have a major impact on us as humans for the rest of our lifes. Snow White was warned many times by the dawrfs but yet she still let the stepmother in, aftering reading this post I do find the common things between the story and the Bible. I give you props for actually making that connection as this thought would have never crossed my mind. Now that I have noticed this connection in the story Snow White I will look for it as I continue to read over many more fairy tales.
K.A.
I’m glad this idea of relating fairytales back to the bible finally came up in the blogs. We just recently discussed this issue in our lecture class and it really hit home for me. It seems interesting that some people fail to realize that stories, particularly fairy tales, can be related back to the bible. Take the classic Snow White example of being tempted by her evil stepmother. If we, as children, were taught by our parents about temptation and the connection to the bible, these fairytales might’ve meant even more to us. Fairytales were meant for adults, in many ways, and this is just another way to show that. I have to admit that by seeing the Disney version of Snow White, I failed to realize the connection back to Eve being tempted in the Garden of Eden. However, when I read the real version of Snow White written by Tatar, I finally realized there was more meaning to all the temptations from the stepmother.
-Jessica L.
When I think of fairy tales I never would have correlated it to any biblical stories. On the other hand, I never knew the truth behind fairy tales. The more I break down fairy tales, the more I can relate to some of the bible teachings. The connection of Snow White eating the apple and Eve eating the apple indicates a curiosity which humans obsess and the greed of wanting more or just what they can’t have. Throughout fairy tales and the Bible we find stories of individuals searching for more than what they have, only to find themselves in a worse scenario. For instance, Beauty and the Beast, the father only wanted to please his daughter by bringing home one rose, but forgot what was already given to him and we know how that ends. Similarly, the story of David and Bathsheba, David had all the women a king could have, but wanted Bathsheba and the cost was the life of Uriah and the eventually the throne. Fairy tales and Bible mostly resemble themselves by the consequences that individuals find themselves in because of choices they make even with good counsel.
Terry B.
I never once thought the Bible would be related to fairy tales. It does make me think after reading this blog if these stories would be okay introduce to our children. We teach our children how to live their lives based on what God says, and when we use something, like an apple in Snow White, to show the evilness our children may become confused on what is right and wrong. We think that most children grow out of this fairy tale life, but when we’re young we learn and take so much with us and I believe that this could make children question what the right thing truly is. Then again, maybe this is something that we do not realize until we are older, understand what is real, and make believe, but it still makes me question if these stories will make a negative impact on how our children become.
Brittany C.
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