Reflections of Cultural Voices in the Magic Mirror of "Snow White"

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Sutherland, Wendy

Keywords

Fairy Tales, Snow White, Brothers Grimm, Mirror

Area of Concentration

Humanities

Abstract

This thesis analyzes how the voice of the magic mirror of “Snow White,” by the Brothers Grimm, reflects the cultural contexts that have made the story one of the most well known tales in the Western fairy tale canon. The primary text and films reflect the cultural context of their authors and directors. The Grimms’ “Snow White” reflects the voice of nineteenth-century patriarchy. Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs presents the tale from a culture escaping the economic depression of the 1930s in the United States. Cohn’s A Tale of Terror reflects the internalized value of motherhood and competition for females in a patriarchal context. Berz’s Snow White presents the patriarchal voice that condemns age and promotes beauty. Kolditz’s Schneewittchen, or Snow White, reflects the socialist values of Eastern Germany in 1961. Through an analysis of these films, a discussion of the female dichotomy of angelic and wicked fairy tale women created by cultural voices, and a discussion of a number of works by fairy tale scholars such as Zipes, Tatar, Lüthi, and Bettelheim, this thesis looks at cultural reflections of fairy tales and the magic mirror in “Snow White.”

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