Oh dear.
My first reaction was "what, do you mean can I se a gay subtext there as well?" (for answer, see the appropriate story in Emma Donoghue's beautifully written collection "Kissing the Witch" in which Snow White has a fairly intense relationship with the step-mother).
Then I realised that it's time to tell you the facts of life. Fairy tales are usually about sex. The versions most current are the little that was left after the Victorians "sanitised" them. Hunt around and you'll realise that there's a lot more to them than that. (I'm interested in fairy tales, oral traditions of literature etc.) usually there's far more sex, violence, seriously dysfunctional families and so forth. The versions we are used to are primarily based on the works of the Brothers Grimm, I believe: European, nothing too exotic, they left most of the violence in but i think they cut the sex. And then we get the versions that have been mashed to shreds and fed to children (no wonder the creatures prefer Roald Dahl's versions, which are actually closer to the original in spirit and content last I checked, if not in style!), including panto. And again, panto has been sanitised big time. pity, I rather like the sound of the way it used to be; but there you go, can't have anything that looks like a fertility festival, now, can we!
Snow White isn't one I've read many traditional versions of, but last I heard Prince Charming woke her up with far more than a kiss. Don't know much about the dwarves (I'm excluding modern retellings here, and looking at traditional symbolism etc.) Story about sexual freezing and awakening, I think (like many of them!) Look at Red Riding Hood (pause to think about the symbolism of her name alone). Look at all that mutilation in Cinderella. hell, look at the Arabian Nights (if you didn't realise there's sex, both of the gay and straight variety, in that marvellous collection, then I suggest you stop reading bowdlerised children's versions.) A lot of them are ways of teaching the youngsters: Red Riding Hood and Bluebeard's Castle (anyone know Bartok's incredible opera about that?) are both warnings about young girls who are just beginning to awaken sexually and are running dangers from various men (watch out for the wolves/magicians who will eat you alive/cut you into pieces).
One good collection to look at is the two volumes of the Virago Book of Fairy Tales, ed. Angela Carter (herself a fairy tale afficionado, read her "The Bloody Chamber" for beautiful, stunningly vivid and yes, erotic retellings of various fairy tales - it's perfectly mainstream stuff). She collected fairy tales from all over the world, being very careful to get ones that were as authentic as possible. Her definition, by the way, which I rather like, is "A fairy tale is a story where one king goes to another king to borrow a cup of sugar."
Anyway, it's fascinating seeing the way different cultures have developed different stories. The Cinderella myth comes up again and again (wish-fulfilment, anyone?): there are some very interesting versions from Egypt, Scandinavia, Russia, trying to remember if one of those feisty Eskimo ones covered it.
fabulous stuff. if you like Tolkien chances are this kind of thing will interest you (interest in the fantastical for starters). didn't mean to be patronising! also didn't mean to be so long, as you can tell I love this stuff.
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