Rapunzel

Rapunzel

"Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair" by Anne Anderson.

Author Anonymous Published 1812-??-?? Type Fiction, Short story Genre Fairy tale, Romance Themes Drama, Romance Age Group Teen

Rapunzel is a German fairy tale first published in the 1812 compendium Children's and Household Tales which was compiled by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The tale is highly derived from the older French fairy tale, Persinette, published in 1698, which itself is derivative of the Italian Petrosinella, published in 1634. Based on the varied lineage, and the use of common tropes, it is unlikely the Italian version was the original tale. All of these versions are in the public domain.

In the story, a woman wishes to eat the herbs from a witch's garden so she convinces her husband to keep stealing them for her. Eventually the witch catches him and demands the couple give her their first born child. When their baby is born, the witch takes her and names her Rapunzel. When Rapunzel turns 12 years old, the witch forces her to live in a tall tower with no exit other than a window. The witch can enter and exit the tower by climbing Rapunzel's 75-foot-long hair. One day, a prince overhears Rapunzel singing and becomes infatuated with her voice, by observing the witch he discovers how to call to Rapunzel to let down her hair and climbs up. The two fall in love, and Rapunzel tells the prince to bring her silk thread every night so she may braid a rope to escape, but, before she can finish, the witch discovers Rapunzel is pregnant and sends her far away and confronts the prince. After being told he will never see Rapunzel again, the prince leaps from the tower, blinding himself in the process. After years of wandering, he eventually hears Rapunzel's voice again and the two are reunited, now with their twin children. Overcome by emotion, Rapunzel cries and her tears magically cure the prince's blindness and the two return to his kingdom and live happily ever after.

Personal

Own?	Compilation book.
Read?	? / Margaret Raine Hunt translation.
Finished	2000s / 2025-02-21.

In the late 2000s, I got the idea of compiling a collection of public domain works and selling them as ebooks. I started with Rapunzel, however, after creating the first ebook, I was already bored, and didn't pursue the project. I don't remember which translation of the story I read, but, on 2025-02-21, I read the 1884 Margaret Raine Hunt translation.

Review

Overall:

Good

• The idea of a woman with hair so long it can be climbed like a ladder is quite creative, though this was by no means the origin of the idea.

Bad

• None of the characters are admirable: The mother says she will die without a salad and convinces her husband to keep stealing them for her. The husband is a thief, and not a very good one, and both surrender their child. The witch Gothel kidnaps and imprisons children. Rapunzel is a helpless damsel. The prince is a drama queen who falls in love with a woman based solely on her singing ability, then tries to kill himself when he can't see her anymore.
• Because the story is so fanciful, it's not so easy to take away a useful moral. Potentials include: don't tell your husband to steal herbs from witches, don't surrender your unborn children to strangers, and don't impregnate maidens who have been imprisoned by their kidnappers. I know times have changed since the 1800s, but, even then, I don't think these were useful life lessons.
• Some of the translations censor Rapunzel's pregnancy and instead have her absentmindedly tell Gothel she is a slower climber than the prince, giving away her tryst. This only serves to makes Rapunzel seem like a ditz.
• While it's not uncommon for stories to change over time to become more simplified and understandable, strangely, the later German version makes even less sense than the older French version.
• Like so many other fairy tales, the women are greedy and villainous.

Ugly

• The story is very muddled and disjointed, so it raises a lot of questions that don't have any clear answers. Why did the couple choose to live nextdoor to a witch? If she's a witch, why doesn't she have any magical powers? Why does the witch demand a child if all she does is imprison her? Why does Rapunzel's hair grow 75 feet long? Couldn't Rapunzel ask the prince to bring her a rope ladder instead of silk thread? Shouldn't the king have gone looking for his missing son? How did Rapunzel get magic tears? Did the witch finally get her comeuppance? And so forth. A lot of these questions came about because the German version has a witch, while the French version has a fairy with clear magical powers. And, although the Grimm Brothers said they did some editing to try and removed what they felt were alterations to the story, they clearly didn't put enough work into editing it.

Media

Illustrations

• 

  "Rapunzel" by Isobel Lilian Gloag, circa 1900.

• 

  "Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair" by Anne Anderson, circa 1900.

• 

  Illustration by Otto Ubbelohde, circa 1900.

• 

  Art by "Stabstabstab."

• 

  "Rapunzel's Tower" by Muirgheilt.

• 

  "The Golden Stair" by Patricia Brennan.

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	Rapunzel is almost strong in her plan to escape, but it's not a very good plan.
Bechdel test?	Pass	Gothel tells Rapunzel to let down her hair multiple times.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	The setting implies everyone is white.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Adaptions

The story has been translated and adapted a great number of times, though the most profitable has been Disney's Tangled.

Links