Snow White
Gilbert & Gubar
- Why does a mirror know and tell who the prettiest woman is?
- Isn’t this super subjective?
- The mirror in Snow White is basically a man saying who the prettiest is, while pretending to be the ultimate knower of truth.
- Being chosen as the hottest by men posing as a mirror is the basis of the queen’s power.
- The world tells women that their only access to social standing and power is through a designation of beauty given by men.
Bettelheim
- The Grimms turned the evil queen from a mother into a stepmother.
- A child is incapable of understanding the complexity of relationships, so we need to separate cool mom vs. hurtful mom into separate characters.