Cobalt Issue 29 - Poison Apple

The Messages of Fairytales
When we think of fairy tales, we may think of ancient forests, glittering gowns and heroic
kisses. However, as children, people don’t stop to think what meanings may lurk behind these
charming tales, and how this may impact the way we see life.
Fairy tale critic Jack Zipes argues that fairy tales represent struggles over family, gender and
sexuality. Without realising it, fairy tales may even shape the way we think and lead to certain
stereotypes. Take the example of stepmothers. Remarriage is a common theme in fairy tales,
and is seen in various tales including Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Snow White. In every
one of these tales, the stepmothers are portrayed as vindictive abusers. Arguably, this may
have contributed to the misconception that stepmothers are not going to treat their step
children well.
There seems to be a series of different explanations for the portrayal of stepmothers, but none
of these seem to be connected. For example, scholars Gilbert and Gubar propose that the
reason for the step mother’s abuse in ‘Snow White’ arises from a need to survive. In a world
where a woman’s worth was measured in terms of her beauty, a woman who was more
beautiful than herself would have posed a major threat to the queen as she will one day be
replaced by Snow White. So to prevent the inevitable, the queen attempts to eliminate her
opposition. Gilbert and Gubar go as far as to suggest that Snow White will eventually become
like her stepmother in the same desperate attempt to keep her social status from being taken
away by the young and beautiful. This would imply that the Evil Queen’s immorality does not
stem from her status as stepmother, but rather is a representation of the brutal truth of a
woman’s survival in those times.