Snow White

Last week I looked at the connections between the White Witches corruption of Edmund in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and the Bibles telling of the fall of man and how in each, food was the main temptation that lead to their betrayal. There is a tale however that uses The Original Sin even more as its influence.

Snow White was first collected by the Grimm Brothers and is probably one of the most well known children’s fairytales. In the tale Snow White is tricked by her step mother who obsesses over being the most beautiful. The Queen tries to kill her four times over the course of the tale but it is only when she involves food that her intentions nearly succeed. 

“Do as you please,” said the old woman, “but at any rate take this pretty apple; I will make you a present of it.” (33)

The Queen disguises herself and fools Snow White into eating a seemingly perfect apple. The Queen even goes as far as to poison only one side so that when she bites it herself the deception holds firm for the moment Snow White tastes the poisoned side. The Queens disguise as a poor woman imitates that of Satan’s when he deceives Eve as a serpent. The use also of an apple is exactly the same as the biblical version. The fruit that now will forever represent sin. 

“Snow-White shall die, if it costs me my life. So she went secretly into a chamber, and prepared a poisoned apple: the outside looked very rosy and tempting, but whosoever tasted it was sure to die.” (33)

Snow White follows a didactic rout taking the morals set up by the fall of mankind and making them more understandable to a young readership. The point is more that talking to strangers and taking things from them is dangerous especially when you have been told not to. Snow White pays the price for her gullible nature which is how the Grimm Brothers portray the potential effects of her wrong doing. 

Unlike in the Disney version of the tale the Prince does not save Snow White with a kiss but only by moving her, causing the piece of poison apple to dislodge from her throat. Regardless, this gives the tale its happy ending and unlike Adam and Eve where they are exiled for their betrayal by eating the fruit and for this are made to suffer. Snow White ends up with a happily ever after which is what is expected of a fairytale.

So here is another example of the famous tempt a child with food method in Children’s Literature. We also see this in Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti where the Goblin men tempt Laura. The consequences in this poem are much the same, Laura almost dies and Lizzie her sister, puts herself in harms way to help. Food becomes a tool for the antagonists in Children’s tales as it is something a child struggles to resist when it looks good. 

I will post my poison apple cakepop recipe soon. (Don’t worry they’re not really poison) 

Sammy xx

Photography by me from an old project from A Levels. I knew it would come in handy some day.