January 19th
"And therefore, to the extent that Snow White, as her daughter, is a part of herself, she wants to kill Snow White in herself, the angel who would keep deeds and dramas out of her own house."
- Gilber and Gubar
Gilber and Gubar offer a unique point when they describe the seven dwarfs as representatives of Snow Whites loss of power in her own autonomy. I believe that they offer fair opinions in matters of this classic fairytale in regards to Snow White's seemingly domestic personality as well as her selflessness and femininity. To me, the most interesting part of the pairs discussion regarding Snow White revolved around the Queen and what she represented in regards to sexuality and the horrors of womanhood. As the living "bad" mother, the queen has already filled the role of someone who is rude, selfish and conniving. However, I believe that there is something to be said about the man involved in this story having a looming effect on the queen's personality. Not to say that every woman changes herself to meet the needs of a man, but is it probable that the Queen felt she had no other option to gain the attention and favor of her husband than to rid their lives of his one true love- his daughter? Is it possible, that beneath the surface of ruthlessness and anger, there is an insecure woman who just wishes to please a man? This is what I think of when I hear the story of Snow White.
Going off of this, I think that Rowe offers a similar situation with the example of Philomela and her catering towards her husband; a life of servitude and silence in exchange for the stability of a marriage. In turn, Philomela creates a tapestry to find her voice, a seemingly domesticated task used as a figure of uprising against her enforced silence. What a badass right? Warner describes the women of the villages in Crete coming down to the water to comfort children in the midst of chaos. In another example of the importance of women, Warner describes the success of folk-tails lies in the conversations between "grandmother and grandchildren", which I deem to be quite a message to the importance that women have played in the success and longevity of these stories' lives.
But alas, with all of these stories comes a fight to prove that a female protagonist is in fact of equal quality to that of a male. In Tatar's work, she describes this phenomenon as a way to "define males appetites and desires" which is frustrating, because women have their own sets of defining characteristics and features and appetites and desires and any other adjective or noun or verb you could use to describe a man. But above all, Tatar offers the idea that the 'double agent' of women is to save herself and rescue others-- something that I, in my opinion, believe is a defining quality of the female sex that no man can take away-- mythical or not.
I think you make some very interesting points about how women in fairy tales are products of the patriarchal systems they were created in while also pushing against those same systems. Specifically, I think it is very interesting you bring up the Snow White example. Personally, I am all for Gilber and Gubar's reading that Snow White and the Queen are the same person in that they are in different points in the same cycle. The Queen has internalized the patriarchal voice of the King and her need for validation from him has driven her to madness. Snow White is the "ideal" woman and is taught to the domestic woman of the household. As Gilber and Gubar mention, she engages in small acts of rebellion against the mold she shoved into before ultimately falling victim to it and eventually turning into the next evil queen. On one level, Snow White seems to merely convey the patriarchal ideals. But, when you read it this way, it also seems to warn against those ideals.
ReplyDeleteI love the points you make in this blog post! I'd heard of the Snow White interpretation that explains the Queen's actions from a point of her own jealousy, but to look at it also as the Queen just trying to be subservient/satisfactory to her husband is really interesting. I especially enjoyed your last sentence- this quality of women is exhibited in a lot of fairytales. This then means that female characters (their roles & purpose) can be interpreted in a number of ways (all correct?) depending on the motives and perspective of the interpreter. Men took stories passed down through generations of women and used them as an example of women's fragility, innocence and (to an extent) blind incompetence, but women used these same stories to show the power, wit, and heroism of women. The good thing is today's society allows for the latter interpretation to be championed:)
ReplyDeleteYou make some really good points in this! I definitely had never thought of the seven dwarves representing her loss of autonomy and her basically living in domesticity and servitude. I think the Gilbert and Gubar reading resonated the most with me, especially the idea of it being a cycle for Snow White to inevitably turn into the Queen who will inevitably succumb to the patriarchy and change from the virtuous angelic daughter to the wicked conniving queen. I also thought that the Philomela story was interesting especially how it was in conjunction with the Scheherazade story which shows two different women as storytellers, one using traditional femininity (Philomela) and one using cleverness (Scheherazade). Great points :)
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I have never taken the time to completely understand and interpret a simple story such as Snow White but I enjoy your take on it. Understanding the seven dwarves as a loss of autonomy is an interesting reading. I will have to think about that when we read the various versions this semester!
ReplyDeleteI also wrote about weaving in my blog post for this week! I really do find it amazing that Philomela could take ownership of her domestic task assigned to her by the patriarchal society and use it to empower others and tell her story. The process of taking a limitation or expectation placed on you by society and distorting it to have some sort of agency is also something that is present in literature broadly. Not only is this process ubiquitous in literature but in society as well. Minority groups often take the discrimination that they face and use it to empower their communities and spark change. It is quite beautiful. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel your frustration. The fact that every aspect of Snow White's life has been determined by men, including her relationship with her mother is horrid but speaks volumes on how women were viewed. Snow White is literally placed in a glass coffin to be put on display like an object in a museum. Her opinions, personality, interests, etc. don't matter. Looks and household duties are the only value women hold. I think you did a great job outlining how these texts relayed this message.
ReplyDeleteI found your argument about Snow White to be a powerful, compelling interpretation of the piece. My familiarity with Snow White is with the Disney film, and I have always viewed the seven dwarves as silly, comic relief. I feel that you make a strong case for how the dwarves are a representation of Snow White's loss of autonomy due to the fact that she is doing household chores for them. What I found even more interesting was your take on the Queen. Can she truly be boiled down to a woman that's just trying to gain the affectionate eye of her husband? I think that you show that this can be so. Your argument for the strong is such a different take from traditional interpretations; you almost feel a little pity for her with this analysis when attempting to consider what drove her to her evilness. I really enjoyed this take on Snow White!
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was interesting to talk about the seven dwarves as snow white's loss of autonomy. The fact that they taught her about living independently was one thing, but teaching her to cook and clean leaves a bad flavor in my mouth at the same time, like that is snow white's duty as a woman almost. I also share your frustrating, because I wish that the representation of women in media was for women and not as male-oriented as it is.
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