The fairy
tale that Disney started it all with.
I’m using the latest version of Snow White for
this little breakdown.
Great Planning, Poor Execution
The queen
seems to be quite clever with how she comes up with plans to dispatch Snow
White; however, she never gets the execution right. She also forgets about
verifying Snow White is even dead except through the use of the magic mirror.
Her first attempt with the Huntsman required the organs to convince the queen
Snow White was dead. Yet the plans with the laces, the comb, and the apple are
all without any kind of tangible proof. Even though Snow White was at her
complete mercy three different times, the queen was content to walk away and
only ask the mirror.
The story
gives no reasoning for this. If the first attempt hadn’t asked for drastic
proof, we could simply analyze it as the Queen is hesitant to spill blood; as
it is, though, we are left with the Queen’s poor execution of her plans as
either inconsistent or once again a proof that Evil is Stupid, and must be so
in order to provide a vehicle for “Happily Ever After.”
Women Are Property
I don’t
agree with the idea, but the fairy tale is pretty clear on this when the prince
offers to buy Snow White for any cost, moreso because that was his default
tactic. Only after the dwarfs refuse does he ask for her. Furthermore, the
dwarfs, instead of giving her a proper burial, put her behind glass and display
her like a prized trophy. Before that, Snow White was a servant, and the
language is vague enough that servant could just as equally mean slave (or
serf) in that time period, despite her birth station as a princess.
Beauty above All
Clearly,
the overriding value of the story is beauty. Beauty trumps everything. Beauty,
not wealth, blood, or political station, commands real power. Obsessed with her
own Beauty, the Queen constantly needs validation from the mirror. The Queen
out of jealousy of Snow White’s beauty is willing to murder her daughter. The
Prince will pay anything to obtain the Beauty of Snow White. The Dwarfs need to
immortalize her beauty by sealing Snow White under glass. The Huntsman, after
seeing Snow White’s Beauty, changes his allegiance, betraying the queen.
Not so Good Guys
The Queen,
without a doubt, is wicked, and deserves punishment and justice. However, what
she receives indicates that Snow White and the Prince are equally—if not worse—wicked
in their treatment of the Queen. While the Queen wanted Snow White dead, and
made repeated attempts to do so, she did not wish to torture Snow White. Each
of the deaths she planned out were swift in execution. Even the laces that cut
off Snow White’s breathing quickly rendered her unconscious instead of forever
gasping for breath. The Queen, however, is sentenced to dancing in hot iron shoes
until she dies. This kind of torture could have gone on for hours or even days
as her feet were literally burned to a crisp by the shoes. Clearly the moral
character of the protagonists is lacking in this story.