Revolution of Snow White

As formerly discussed, traditional fairy tales, including Snow White, give women passive roles. Marriage is also a result of love at first sight, with no developed relationship between the couple before the marriage. Finally, no account is given of the couple’s life after they wed. The only focus is the romance of a traditional wedding, after which the couple lives ‘happily ever after.’ In the Brothers Grimm’s version, Snow White is a little girl (beginning at age seven, though her age at her marriage is unclear) whom the queen hates for being the most beautiful. She is abandoned in the woods by a huntsman who was ordered to kill her. Snow White then stumbles upon seven dwarves and fails to learn not to answer the door to strangers. In the evil queen’s third attempt to kill Snow White, the disguised queen poisons Snow White with an apple. Snow White falls into a deep, cursed sleep, where she passively waits until she is woken by a prince who she never met, immediately falls in love with and agrees to marry, and lives happily ever after with. Recently, however, the traditional fairy tale pattern is being broken, particularly in the new versions of Snow White, where women are active, marriage is untraditional, and love is developed and tried.

In Mirror Mirror directed by Tarsem Singh and released in 2012, Snow White is clearly an active character. Unlike the original story, Snow White defies her queen; she disobeys the queen’s orders by sneaking out of the castle and getting a glimpse of the kingdom’s oppression. Then she sneaks into a ball to ask for the prince’s help in retaking the throne and restoring the kingdom. Rather than being raised and cared for by the seven dwarves, Snow White convinces them to teach her how to fight and leads the band of bandits in a war against the evil queen. Later, she engages in a battle with the prince. It is also Snow White who rescues Prince Charming with a true love’s kiss, not the other way around. Snow White never even eats the poisoned apple or falls into a cursed sleep, for she is too clever. Furthermore, Snow White is the one who cleverly discovers how to defeat the magic puppet monsters by cutting their invisible strings. She is also the one who frees the beast – who is actually her father under a curse – and who ultimately defeats the evil queen.

https://popgoesalicia.com/2012/04/11/mirror-mirror/

Not only does Mirror Mirror give a woman an active role, but it demonstrates a developing relationship between Snow White and the Prince before their marriage. Early in the story Snow White finds the prince robbed and tied up in the wood, freeing him from the bandit dwarves’ trap and meeting him for the first time. She also dances with him at the ball, where she intrigues him with not only her beauty, but her feistiness. Their relationship also has its share of trials, as especially demonstrated when they traitorously battle against each other for opposing causes.

Snow White and the Huntsman directed by Rupert Sanders and released in 2012 continues the revolution, beginning with giving Snow White a leading role in the action. Again, Snow White grows into an independent warrior. First, she single-handedly escapes the tower in which she was locked for many years, and then she runs into the Dark Forest. The Dark Forest is a magical forest where one can only survive by overcoming his/her fears. When the Huntsman, Eric, is nearly defeated by a troll, Snow White rescues him by yelling courageously at the troll, thereby overcoming her weakness and the magic of the Dark Forest. Afterwards, Eric says, “I told you to run” to which Snow White counters, “If I had you would be dead.” (Sanders 2012). When the evil queen Ravenna sends men to destroy a village of refugees in search of Snow White, Snow White bravely turns back to save the little girl Lily. In the closing scenes of the story, one does not see a princess sleeping in a coffin while a prince fights battles, but a princess dressed in chain mail and personally leading the army to the evil queen’s gates. In the end, it is Snow White who defeats the evil queen.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13273621-snow-white-the-huntsman

Snow White and the Huntsman also shows a developing, tried, and non-traditional love story. The love story begins in the earliest scenes, where Snow White and Prince William are close childhood friends. Sanders intentionally attempts to crush the viewer’s heart when young Prince William is rescued from Queen Ravenna but cries out when he sees that Snow White is not. When William discovers that Snow White is alive and about somewhere, their love story continues as he sets out to reunite with her before she is cursed into sleep. The trials of love after marriage are also well demonstrated in the Huntsman, Eric, who frequently reminisces the death of his beloved wife. After all, it is Queen Ravenna’s promise to bring his wife back from the dead that motivates the Huntsman to search for Snow White to begin with. However, the love stories told in Snow White and the Huntsman further break the normal pattern; the love story exists between Snow White and both men, Eric and Prince William, simultaneously. Interestingly, it is not the prince who wakes up Snow White with a true love’s kiss, but the Huntsman. It never becomes clear in this story who Snow White loves most, for no wedding ever takes place.

Director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan’s 2016 film The Huntsman: Winter’s War, a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman, continues the same revolutionary pattern of the twenty first century. In this story the Huntsman, Eric, is reunited with his believed-to-be-dead wife, Sara, in a battle to defeat Queen Freya and her sister Ravenna all over again. Just like Snow White in the former two films, Sara, the female protagonist, is an active character. She is a skilled warrior. Her tough character is demonstrated when she reunites with her long lost husband, puts a knife to his throat, and threatens him. She also survives many long, harsh years without her husband’s or, presumably, anyone’s support.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/huntsman-winters-war-review-star-studded-cast-shine-despite-fantasy-sequels-pantomime-plot-1552747

Furthermore, Eric and Sara develope a loving relationship early in the story. They are kidnapped together as children, become the greatest huntsmen together, and fight wars together. Before their marriage Queen Freya suspects their intimacy. Then after their marriage they face many trials. They are separated by the villain Freya; Eric believes Sara was killed, while Sara believes Eric abandoned her and turns against him. Eric complains to Freya of the suffering she put them through, “You broke my heart and turned hers against mine.” (Nicolas-Troyan 2016). It takes a large part of the film for the couple to build their trust again. The theme of the story is that love always endures, further claiming that love is more than a wedding. As in The Huntsman: Winter’s War, this love story is also non-traditional; the ‘marriage’ between Eric and Sara is not really a wedding, but a sexual act and Sara’s act of giving her necklace to Eric.

Therefore the retellings of “Snow White” are part of the revolution of the message of women and love in fairy tales. Fairy tale writers are no longer giving women passive roles. Love is being cultivated and tested, and the image of marriage is changing to something other than a couple proclaiming vows before a minister. One can only imagine what love stories will be told next.

References:

The Huntsman: Winter's War. Dir. Cedric Nicolas-Troyan. Perf. Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Nick Frost, Sam Claflin, Rob Brydon, Jessica Chastain. Perfect World Pictures, 2016. Film.

Perrault, Charles, and Betts, Christopher. Complete Fairy Tales. Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press, 2009. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 26 April 2016.

Mirror Mirror. Dir. Tarsem Singh. Perf. Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, Armie Hammer, Nathan Lane, Mare Winningham, Michael Lerner, Sean Bean. Relativity Media, 2012. Amazon.

Snow White and the Huntsman. Dir. Rupert Sanders. Perf. Kristen Stewar, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Sam Claflin. Universal Studios, 2012. Amazon.