The queen in the various versions of the Snow White stories proves to be a dynamic character. She assumes slightly different roles across each version examined. Looking at her roles in the 1916 silent film, the Disney version, and the Annie Sexton story will provide three unique queens. She can be dumb and selfish, a conniving sorceress, or just a vindictive and cannibalistic stepmother.
In the 1916 silent film, the queen approaches a witch to do her bidding. In exchange for making her beautiful so she can seduce the king, she promises to give Snow White to the witch. This version is interesting in that the queen starts out as an ugly woman. The change from the beautiful but vain woman from the Grimms' tales to the ugly woman who needs a magic potion to transform her physical appearance. It's almost as if the filmmakers took away the single positive quality the queen had to make her an even more detestable figure.
The Disney version of this story opens with the queen summoning her (dark?) magical face in the mirror. She sounds as if she is saying an incantation and it draws an immediate parallel to witchcraft for the viewer. She goes on to brew a potion with which she poisons Snow White. She is clearly not completely human as far as Disney is concerned. If she were at Hogwarts, she would most definitely be meddling in the Dark Arts.
The last version by Annie Sexton is the only one that pays homage to the cannibalistic queen of Grimms infamy. Not only is the queen evil and murderous, she also wants to eat Snow White. It is not enough for her to have Snow White's heart presented to her, she must also have it artfully prepared like prime filet mignon; quite the epicurean. It makes sense that this graphic and twisted scene would be removed from films marketed to mass audiences, but it is nice to see that this interesting little twist would not be forgotten by 1971.
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I am a big supporter of Anne Sexton's Transformations. She typically uses the original Grimm version as a starting point and then reveals a unique interpretation of the text that allows the reader to see some of the morality and absurdity of the occurrences by means of colloquial interjections that function both as explanatory and questioning. My personal favorite is Cinderella where she informs us as to the source of "that story"--the story we use in order to delude ourselves into imagining the world as more or better than it is.
ReplyDeleteAnd here, for your viewing pleasure (or pain depending on perspective) is a link to it:
http://www.units.muohio.edu/technologyandhumanities/sexton.htm
I agree with the 1916's decision to make the Queen begin ugly. This adds another level of her motives to be the "fairest" and better explains why she would be so jealous of Snow White's beauty. Also, like most fairy tale characters, her true appearance reflects her personality.
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