How Would You Define the Struggle Between Snow White and the Stepmother in Grimm S Tale?

Pritchard

LIT 105

Snow White

How would you define the struggle between Snow White and the stepmother in Grimm’s tale? (See Tatar, “Introduction: Snow White”) Protagonist vs. antagonist? Angel-woman vs. monster-woman? Daughter vs. mother?

What is the “patriarchal voice of judgment” (Tatar, 76)? How is this “voice” seen in the mirror? Do you see evidence of this patriarchal judgment in your own life?

According to Tatar, how do the dwarfs in the Disney version affect our interpretation of Snow White? Do you think Snow White represents a “woman’s world and woman’s work”?

From a cultural or social perspective, what does the stepmother’s envy suggest about stepparent/child relationships?

Gilbert and Gubar note that each of the three murder attempts employs a “female device as a murder weapon” (294). These arts, conventional female arts, kill. But these conventional arts are also “the only measure of power available to a woman in a patriarchal culture” (295). What does this say about the role of women in society?

And if we suppose the Queen is successful, does Snow White’s “death” make her a perfect object? Is this what women must become in order to be successful?

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/pentamerone/

How would you characterize the tone of Anne Sexton’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”? How would you describe Sexton’s Snow White? What is Sexton saying about the story? What is she saying about women and beauty? Is there cultural evidence that this attitude is prevalent in the 21st century?