The Fairy Tale Rapunzel by Brothers Grimm - Essay Example

Rapunzal First published in 1812 by Brothers Grimm the fairy tale Rapunzal concentrates upon the captivity of the protagonist Rapunzal by her god-mother, the witch Dame Gothel as well as the adopted girl’s longing for winning freedom and erotic love of her beloved from the Dame’s custody. It so happens that Rapunzal’s real mother, during her long-awaited pregnancy demands the fruit of Rapunzel plant grown in the neighboring garden. Her husband complies with the same, but is caught by the owner Dame Gothel, who frees him with the promise of handing the coming child to her. Consequently, the parents surrender to Dame, which confides the girl in a magical tower having no stairs or other source to reach. Dame herself assures her entrance to climb over the tower by holding the girl’s very long blonde hair she offers by felling the same through the window of the tower. Since the girl, named Rapunzal, is not familiar with the outer world, no one has got acquaintance with her dwelling in the tower. Somehow, a prince discovering her voice while singing, and detected the way to reach her during night hours. The both fall in love and promise to get married. However, Dame detects the affair, deprived Rapunzal of her hair and kicks her out of the tower. She also fells the prince from the tower, and the fall deprives him of his eyesight. Both the two spent many years in wandering, and subsequently reunited with the help of the same singing voice of the girl. The prince leads her to his kingdom where they enter into marital knot and thus lead a happy life for the rest. Since the fairytale invites the curiosity of the readers for the explanation of theme and symbols involved in the story, the present paper aims to throw light on the same by applying psychoanalysis of the story. Presented by illustrious Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud, psychoanalytic theory specifically concentrates upon the erotic feelings prevailing in human mind. He not only declares sexual gratification as one of the most imperative thing in human conscious and subconscious, but also interprets every dream as the outcome of unfulfilled sexual desires. Somehow, his theory is not confined to sexual gratification only. Rather, all the actions providing mental and physical pleasures are the part of his theory. The same can be witnessed in the story under analysis, where Rapunzal’s mother forces her husband to pluck the plant from the adjacent garden for her, and the husband acts upon her instructions without taking legal and moral legitimacy of the theft on the one hand, as well as the outcome of his entering the garden without permission on the other. (1-2) The same is the case with the enchantress, which turns extremely haughty and revengeful towards him, and demands the most precious thing the couple has been waiting for the last several years i.e. their coming child. Thus, the small wish to taste the fruit of a plant that did not belonged to the couple deprives them of the beautiful child they have been waiting vey anxiously for a long time as the greatest joy their life. The enchantress’s keeping Rapunzal confined in the tower far from the eyes of the people also reflects upon the very fact that she does not allow any sharing in the love between her and the adopted daughter. She provides all basic necessities to the girl, but fails to comprehends with the reality that when the god Eros hurls his arrow in the heart of the individuals, it is really hard to escape its affects altogether. The same is the case with the young girl, who cannot resist the charm of love growing in her heart at her first meeting with the prince, and is captivated with the sweet words he delivers in her praise. It not only urges the wish to attain freedom from her many years long imprisonment, but also seduces her to make erotic love with the prince. Hence, carnal desires overcome the feelings for her so called mother, which forces her put her life at stake in the pursuit of physical love. Here appears the Freudian thanatosic theory, which aims to state that the lust to explore and obtain physical and sexual pleasures tempt the individuals to take maximum possible risk, during the course of which man may encounters pains, agonies, sufferings and tortures, as is undergone by both Rapunzal and the prince. The protagonist girl, though innocent, but is well acquainted with the Dame’s reaction on the secret visits made by the prince; she is also aware of the very reality that the Dame would not tolerate the prince and life of both the lovers will be in grave jeopardy; even then she happily becomes Thanatos’ victim, the demon, according to Greek mythology as well as the symbol of death and destruction, for the sake of joy, pleasure and happiness she looks for in her life. (4) It is therefore she shares the plan devised by the prince for her escape from the Gothel’s confinement. However, she has to sacrifice her bewitching long blonde hair during the course of her struggle to get rid of the enchantress. The prince also experiences the same state of affairs, which dares to jump from the sky-scraping tower just to explore the Rapunzal’s whereabouts, and loses his eyesight on the one hand, and has to wander in the wilderness for many months on the other. The only thing enkindling his heart and the only hope keep the ball of his determination rolling is the unabated affection for his innocent beloved searching of which is the only objective of his entire life. Thus, the prince sacrifices his comforts, peaceful life and even eyes, and embraces pains and troubles just for the sake of the most alluring pleasure he experienced while meeting with Rapunzal. The story also has oedipal elements in its scope. Taken after ancient Greek playwright Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, where the protagonist unconsciously kills his father King Laius of Thebes and marries his mother Queen Jocasta, Freud has indicated the existence of erotic love in children for the parents of opposite sex, where the child, according to the theorist, feels sexual attraction towards the parent of opposite sex, and fears the parent of his/her own sex. As a result, he/she unconsciously abhors the parent of the same sex in the pursuit of the lover of his/her opposite gender. (Pervin, 1995) Since Rapunzal considers Gothel as her mother, she does not like the ways Gothel applies. Thus, she actually raises revolt against unnecessary banishments and bars imposed by the enchantress upon her. Since Gothel has snatched Rapunzal from a helpless couple, she also undergoes the same fear and anxiety regarding lest she loses the girl at the hands of the destiny. Hence she inflicted pain on the couple and their daughter for obtaining pleasure in her life, and concealed the girl just for her personal satisfaction; but finally was deprived of the joy in search of which she hurt the two couples. The story is highly symbolic in theme and meanings. The pregnancy of the woman after few years of marriage symbolizes the nature’s blessings upon humans after some time span. Similarly, the nearby garden symbolizes the presence of fertility, prosperity and beauties of nature all around humans. The woman’s longing to taste the fruit of Rapunzel plant signifies man’s impatience and curiosity in the objects that are beyond his reach. The man’s complying with the unlawful demand to steal the plant symbolizes Adam’s tasting the fruit of the forbidden tree on the demand made by Eve because of the satanic temptations for breaking the Law of God. (Milton, 1667; IX) Tasting the fruit of forbidden tree had deprived the first parents of humanity of Eden garden and all comforts bestowed upon them by the Lord, and the stealing of the plant from the sorceress’s garden deprived the couple of their paradise i.e. their sweet infant daughter. The enchantress’s cruel decision reveals the inner obnoxious nature of the satanic forces, which snatch joys, mirth and smiles from humans. Similarly, Rapunzal’s confinement in the lonely tower symbolizes the loneliness of human nature and isolation of human thoughtfulness. The tower signifies the obstacles, hurdles and mysteries humans experience in their life while making struggle and running amuck for achieving power, pelf, possession, comforts, love, affection and satisfaction of lustful desires. Rapunzal’s long blonde hair reflects the worldly charms females are blessed with to fascinate the males. Beauty is also essential for the reproduction process and the coming of future generations as well. Thus, the author has very skillfully depicted the fairytale making it vehemently meaningful, deep and symbolic one. The same story has also been adopted in the computer animated fantasy Tangled directed by Nathan Greno, where the director has included the character of Eugene Fitzherbert and his gallant horse Maximus and the Snuggly Duckling Parlor thugs in the fantasy in order to make it more recreational and amusing. The director has also made changes in the chronicle of events that pave the way towards setting Rapunzal free. The animated fantasy also shows Rapunzal as belonging to the royal family. Additionally, the flying lanterns, Eugene’s betrayal, Maximus’s heroic deeds and Rapunzal’s wandering have also been included in the animation. Works Cited Greno, Nathan. “Tangled.” 2010 Retrieved from http://www.latestmovieheadlines.com/2011/03/tangled-2010-nathan-greno-byron-howard/ Grimm, The Brothers. “Behind the Rapunzal.” 1812/1960 Retrieved from http://www.loudlit.org/audio/rapunzel/pages/01_01_rapunzel.htm Milton, John. “Paradise Lost.” Book IX 1667 Retrieved from http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_9/ Pervin, Lawrence A. “Personality: Theory, Assessment & Research.” 7th Edition John Wiley & Sons Inc. Canada 1995 69-84 Read More