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SNOW WHITE

It was the middle of winter when the duchess gave birth to her only child. Her skin was as white as snow; her lips were as red as blood; and her hair was as black as ebony. The girl was given the fitting name Snow White. Not long after, the duchess passed, leaving the poor child under the care of her father, the duke.In a kingdom not so far away was a young, widowed Queen. Years ago, she had risen to the throne as the supreme monarch and maintained her rule with grace and aplomb. However, there were occasional whispers from her people who worried that her rule would not be complete without a figure akin to a prince consort. As whispers grew into louder murmurs, her advisors urged her to find a husband, and she relented under the condition that the king shall never have more power than she. The Queen searched far and wide for a suitable match; she needed a man who was of aristocratic background yet with little power and waning honorable title. Snow White’s father was most suitable of all, and so she married him.When the duke––newly the prince consort––and his daughter were invited to the palace, everyone was pleased by the duke’s charm and his daughter’s unrivaled beauty. The Queen, however, appeared distracted, and there were accounts claiming that she spent most of her days and nights alone in a secret chamber. The palace guards that occupied every corner of the corridor witnessed the Queen’s suspicious behavior as she wove in and out of the dark room. Two guards claimed to have stolen a look inside and briefly saw what appeared to be a grand, embellished mirror. However, they thought it very strange, for it did not reflect the image of its owner; instead, it showed the silhouette of someone else, the young and beautiful Snow White who was taking a peaceful walk in the woods but leaving behind a trail of blood.

Within the castle walls, word traveled past, and new details––mostly unverified––began attaching themselves to the tale and transforming the guard’s original story. Rumor that the Queen resented her stepdaughter for her amazing beauty spread throughout the kingdom. People began to believe that it was the Queen’s magic mirror that announced Snow White as the most beautiful of all and that the Queen was not at all happy about it.Within years, Snow White grew into a beautiful young maiden with a kind spirit, beloved and respected by all except one, the Queen who was allegedly eager to permanently banish her from the castle.On the morning of Snow White’s eighteenth birthday, a secret order to murder her was sent in to the huntsman. “Take her into the woods,” the message read, “so that I may no longer set my eyes on her. Put her to death, and bring her heart to me as a token.”The huntsman attempted but failed to execute the order, as his will dissolved the moment Snow White began to weep.“Please, dear huntsman, spare my life,” she begged him. “I will hide away in the woods and never return.”Because she looked so innocent and miserable, the huntsman took pity on her and let her disappear into the woods. He then took a dead boar’s heart to the palace and claimed it was the heart carved out of the princess’s chest.Meanwhile, in her terror and shock, Snow White traversed deep into the wilderness, falling upon sharp stones and stumbling upon thorny bushes. Desperate in her flight, she did not dare stop until at last she found a cottage in the middle of nowhere. The extreme fatigue and exhaustion prompted the poor princess to knock on the door, and when there was no answer, she opened it. There was no one, she observed, and so decided to rest for a while. Every furniture and object in the house was tiny, but all was kept nice and tidy. At the center of the room was a

perfectly laid table covered with a white cloth, and there were seven of every plate, knife and fork, and cup. By the wall stood seven little beds.Snow White could not resist the wonderful smell of porridge, bread, and wine and sampled small bites from each of the dishes and cups so as not to finish a full single serving. Sated and sleepy, she then chose the bed that best fit her height and fell into a deep slumber.When twilight came, the owners of the house returned. They were seven dwarfs and did not like it when they realized that a stranger had been to their house.“Who sat in my chair?” the first said.“Who ate from my plate?” the second said. “Who drank from my cup?” the third said. “Who cut with my knife?” the fourth said. “Who used my fork?” the fifth said.“Who lay in my bed?” the sixth said.And when the seventh checked his bed, he discovered Snow White lying there fast asleep. All seven dwarfs stared at the poor maiden’s face and wordlessly agreed to let her sleep on, for she looked so sad and tired.Snow White woke at dawn and was immediately greeted by the seven dwarfs. Although quite frightened, she returned their salutations as they seemed quite friendly. They asked her what her name was, and she shared it; they asked how she ended up at their home, to which she explained how she was nearly put to death by the queen, how a huntsman almost cut her heart out, and how she ran into the deepest part of the woods in her escape when she found this house. Snow White promised with the dwarfs that she would keep the house clean, cook, wash, make the beds, sew, and knit if they promised to let her stay, and they agreed.

In a few hours, the dwarfs had to leave the house to dig for gold. On their way out, they warned her that it would not be long until the queen would find out the truth and that she must let no one into the house.True to the dwarfs’ words, word circulated that Snow White was well and alive as she found asylum in the peculiar cottage in the woods. Once more, the enraged monarch arranged for the death of the princess and ordered a palace servant to visit the dwarf’s cottage. His mission was to lace Snow White’s dress so quickly and tightly that all breath left her.And so he knocked on the cottage door and found Snow White standing before him. He introduced himself as a professional lacer and showed her a beautiful strand of lace, even offering to lace her dress for her. Snow White was momentarily intrigued and prepared to welcome the guest into the house, but a question occurred to her: Why would any lacer roam around in such a deep part of the woods? She also remembered the word of caution from the dwarfs and hesitated. Acting upon her vigilance, she politely declined and slammed the door in the alleged lacer’s face. The alleged lacer kept knocking and even threatened to tear it down if need be. Eventually, however, he accepted the futility of his actions and retired to the castle.The monarch was positively fuming after hearing about yet another failure. However, repeated failure did little to deter the subsequent attempts. Yet another palace servant was sent to the cottage, and this one was given a simple order of placing on the doorstep an ornately jeweled comb. As beautiful as the ivory comb was, it was also poisonous that anyone who touched it could face instant death.The palace servant accomplished the task, and Snow White was cleaning the house when she found a beautiful comb but the entrance. Wise, clever Snow White was not quick to change her mind, as she questioned once more: for what reason

would an expensive, royal comb be lying on the doorsteps of an old cottage? Remembering her previous encounter with the lacer, she decided to run the comb under water, and indeed, dark liquid trickled off the teeth of the comb. She immediately set it aside with other garbage and returned to her chores.Snow White seemed to remain safe from danger when she discovered a succulent apple placed atop the dining table whilst she was sweeping the floor. She simply thought that the dwarfs had left an extra apple for her, and it looked so fresh and crisp that she took a bite.Little did she know that a palace servant was watching from outside and that the apple had been thrown in through the open window. The apple had been dipped in poison that caused a slow and painful death.The potent effect of the poison was immediate. Poor Snow White felt feverish as the poison spread through her veins. Knowing that she would lose consciousness in mere minutes, she quickly scribbled a note to the dwarfs and sank into a deep sleep.The dwarfs returned shortly to see Snow White sprawled unconsciously on the floor. As most dwarfs panicked and cried, one dwarf discovered the note left on the table and shushed his brothers. He read aloud, “‘Fetch the royal doctor for his loyalty lies with father and not with the Queen.’”The dwarfs saw that Snow White was still breathing but only barely. Except for one dwarf to stay with the dying princess, the rest ran to the palace where they begged to see the prince consort to tell him the state of his daughter. The prince consort listened solemnly and promised to send the royal doctor.“Meanwhile,” he told them, “you can follow me.”The dwarfs were led by a palace servant to an underground dungeon. By the time they realized what was

happening, it was too late. In the blink of an eye, their hands and feet were tightly bound in cuffs, and the door leading upstairs closed shut. Held captive in the dark room, six dwarfs cried out for help and attempted to free each other, but to no avail. When all hope seemed lost, the door suddenly creaked open and let in a beam of light. A figure appeared before the dwarfs and chopped the ropes off their hands and feet.“A doctor has been sent,” said the figure in a calm tone, “so return to your cottage immediately and look after Snow White.”The dwarfs pondered the identity of their rescuer, but the elusive hero evaded the question by simply telling them that there was no time to waste. The dwarfs obligingly hurried to the cottage to see that a doctor was indeed tending Snow White. A healthy pink was slowly returning to her cheeks, and her fingers twitched as she gradually regained her consciousness.At last, Snow White’s eyes fluttered open, and she saw the dwarfs hovering over her and exclaiming tearfully. With their help, she sat upright.She thanked the doctor and asked for him to deliver a word of thanks to her father. She also mentioned her stepmother, the Queen, and the physical and mental fatigue that come with her unending murder attempts.Upon listening closely, the doctor spoke back to her, and what he said stunned her. “It was never your stepmother,” he said. “It has always been your father.”Not all of the gossip surrounding the Queen was invented. Indeed, the Queen’s secret chamber had a magic mirror. However, in no way did it, as the rumor suggested, show the Queen the most beautiful woman in the world; instead, it showed both the sights which the Queen wanted to see but could not and the prophecies of the future. The magic mirror granted her magical sight into every nook and cranny of the kingdom and

foretold the blessing and the curse that had yet to emerge.When a prophecy manifested in the form of bloody Snow White in the mirror, the Queen knew very well that something terribly sinister was on the horizon, for on the same day, she had already saved her stepdaughter from grave danger. Through the magic mirror, the Queen was contentedly watching the beautiful princess playing in the woods when a large, hungry bear began tailing her. A talented archer, the Queen effectively shot the bear and saved the princess. Snow White was unaware of everything from the appearance of the bear to the Queen’s intervention, and the Queen ensured that the details remained a secret lest the young princess grew agitated at the idea of danger that was long past.Still, the Queen thought it strange––that such a gigantic, dangerous creature was roaming about the castle forest without any detection. And so she implored the magic mirror to predict any other looming dangers for the precious princess, and the prophecy was finally revealed. This was the day the Queen pledged to protect her stepdaughter even if doing so exhausted all of her strength and resources.Under the Queen’s unconditional protection, Snow White was largely unscathed throughout her childhood and grew to be a confident, sanguine maiden. Although the Queen was aware of the malicious rumors inculpating her for the alleged attempts to murder her stepdaughter, she thought very little of them, for she was occupied with her duties as as queen and a mother. In fact, she even deemed the rumors useful as the accusation stole focus away from the true conspirator that was plotting to kill the young and vulnerable Snow White and allowed for a successful covert investigation.For years, the progress in the investigation was rather slow. Attempt after attempt, the conspirator left behind hints, yet somehow he was always slightly out of reach and therefore remained unidentified. The Queen came to have some suspicions

against certain people in the palace, but there was never incriminating evidence that gave her the confidence to confront them. Moreover, the Queen had more urgent matters on her plate, and these demanded so much of her attention that she even had to compromise her priority of protecting her stepdaughter. Her most taxing concern was the overly ambitious prince consort who discreetly yet insistently caused division in the court in his attempt to seize more power. After all, since before the royal marriage, the Queen was chary of finding a prince consort and insistent on exercising total control over the kingdom.She could not have imagined that these two matters--her stepdaughter’s perilous fate and her husband’s greedy ambition--could be linked before one hunting trip to the woods. This type of excursion was not new, yet on this particular one, she spotted a familiar face from the palace. It was mere curiosity that initially prompted the Queen to follow him, but the moment he stopped in his tracks and let out a devastating, remorseful cry, she went to his side to comfort him. The man immediately recognized the Queen and desperately asked for help. “I am a huntsman that the prince consort sent to kill his only daughter,” said he, “but I could not, for she looked so innocent and scared. Now, if I go back to the palace without proof of her death, he will not let me live.”Words escaped her. The Queen was no fool; she precisely understood the prince consort’s ultimate goal: to overthrow the throne and claim it for himself. The process inevitably required the elimination of the current monarch and the heir that was first in line to succeed her. After the murder of the princess, then, the Queen would be next.She remained speechless and solemn as she used her bow and arrow to shoot a boar nearby. She ripped out its heart and handed it to the huntsman. As she did so, she also advised him, “This should fool him.” And she was right. The prince consort

was ecstatic to hear that Snow White had been killed.The joy was short-lived, however, as the prince consort eventually discovered the truth that his daughter was well and alive. Not long after he was delivered his daughter’s organ, he was roaming the rooms and halls of the palace when he noticed an open door leading to a large room. He entered it and gasped at the sight of a majestic mirror. As did the rest of the kingdom, he had heard of this infamous mirror but never thought to search for it. The mirror, as though it had read his mind, suddenly flashed to the image of the Queen frantically gathering her belongings as if she was preparing for a hasty departure. The prince consort continued to observe her but made no sense of it. As he turned to leave the room, the mirror suddenly shifted to a different image: a small cottage in the woods. In it was his daughter’s healthy, glowing figure and seven dwarfs, all sitting around a small table and enjoying dinner.He was furious and orchestrated attempt after another until Snow White finally dropped to the floor. And so the story goes. The dwarfs from the forest came searching for the prince consort and the royal doctor, but the latter was locked up in the dungeon. The trusting dwarfs eventually joined the royal doctor in imprisonment but were later freed by none other than the Queen.During the span of three days in which three continuous murder attempts occurred, the Queen was nowhere to be seen in the palace. Her servants believed that she had fled the castle, for she took some belongings with her; in reality, however, she had gone on a journey, disguised as an old woman, to find the best doctor in her kingdom. Moments before the prince consort approached the magic mirror, the Queen herself had seen another prophecy, an image of her stepdaughter as a pale corpse. Her return not only ended with a successful discovery of a skillful doctor but also luckily coincided with the imprisonment of the dwarfs.

After hearing this story, Snow White demanded that she make an official visit to the palace to see the Queen. A proper reunion between mother and daughter with years of misunderstanding had to be postponed, as they had more urgent matters to address: the prince consort was preparing to flee upon seeing Snow White in the castle.Before the prince consort could escape the palace grounds, Snow White’s seven dwarfs stood in his path, arrested him, and brought him to the Queen and the Princess. Together, they permanently and officially banished him from their kingdom, and the prince consort was stripped of all of his titles and wealth. He was never to be seen again.Years later, the people of the kingdom were invited to the beautiful coronation of a new Queen by the name of Snow White––the second queen to be crowned monarch without a king.

Author’s NotePerhaps the most misogynistic fairytale is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which blatantly centers around the theme of ethereal beauty and the myth of female-on-female jealousy.The life of Snow White, as told in this story, completely revolves around the fact that she is beautiful: the main factor causing and bringing about the main conflict and resolution is her exceptional looks. Even her gullibility, which instigates trouble after trouble, is easily compensated by the power she wields as a beautiful woman. Snow White is constantly surrounded by men who are willing to protect her, thereby becoming a character who never takes control of her own life or has to put in the effort to make achievements. Her inability to watch out for herself should detract from her attractiveness, but as other tales have done, her gullibility and stupidity are sugarcoated as endearing and charming components of an “ideal” woman. The story makes it seem like a perfect woman must not know how to look out for herself because, then, she would require the attention and protection of another man. For this particular tale, let us pay attention to not only the heroine but also the villain. In Snow White, the villain is immediately unlikable because she is everything that the heroine is not: selfish, jealous, cruel, vicious, and prideful. However, are all of her traits truly negative? As much as she is selfish, she is also ambitious and proactive. As much as she is cunning, she is also intelligent and logical. It seems as though the Queen is punished––as she is forced to accept either suffering or death––only because she does not fit the conventional, desirable female type of the era.Furthermore, that the powerful, mature, beautiful queen feels threatened by a mere child for her looks––or for any other reason, for that matter––is unconvincing, weak characterization. Although jealousy is not a positive emotion, neither is it

necessarily a negative one; however, Snow White so negatively portrays it that the readers may develop an aversion toward this perfectly natural human emotion. Furthermore, the blatant hatred that the Queen harbors against Snow White merely perpetuates the misogynistic idea that “women are their own worst enemies.” This tale, as the others have already tirelessly done, conveys the dangerous idea that beauty is the greatest advantage a woman can have––so much so that one may decide to commit a heinous crime like murder in order to become the most beautiful. It also plants the idea that unattractiveness equals worthlessness. The fact that the Queen, a beautiful woman herself, is consumed with jealousy and feelings of insecurity reflects society’s patronization of women in constantly telling women that they are “not good enough” and that they must constantly strive to be perfect and more beautiful. The plot twist at the end of the story is an attempt to put an end to the perpetuation of the poisonous women vs. women narrative. This modern version of Snow White reinvents the originally dumb, dependent female protagonist and advocates female empowerment, which this author hopes is an opening to the the infinite possibilities for portrayals of princesses in fairy tales.