An Analysis Of Jacob And Wilhelm Grimm s Version Of The...

Reading of Rumpelstiltskin Do not abuse your power, do not lie, and above all else, do not be greedy. Like many within its genre, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s version of the fairy-tale Rumpelstiltskin, attempts to propagate strong moral lessons towards a youthful demographic. Many years ago, this concept held true to me, in which, with little contradiction, I was able to draw the three aforementioned conclusions from the classic fable. Recently, however, upon revisitation of the text, certain elements within the Grimm brother’s tale evoked a strongly oppositional reading from me. Where I once accepted the author’s words with minimal hesitation, I now found myself strongly resenting the ‘good’ character, unexpectedly empathising with the once†¦show more content†¦Alas, with the ability to spin straw into gold, the ring and necklace offered by the soon to be queen were of little worth to Rumpelstiltskin from the very beginning, yet still, in her time of need, he assisted h er like a true gentleman. In fact, in exchange for his valuable ‘services,’ he only ever asks for something truly precious, her child, when she no longer faces the threat of death. Evil? I think not. Rather, perhaps Rumpelstiltskin was simply lonely and in desire of the love and attention of a human companion†¦And for this, he died? As such, with this initial contradiction, I was prompted to re-read the text once more with even greater opposition, the seemingly pure and ‘good willed’ Miller’s daughter now falling into the path of my oppositional frenzy. She was, I noticed during my second reading now, in direct contradiction with my 21st century view of women , acting as a shameful and outdated representation of females in general. Surely, rather than simply contradicting her father at the beginning, or telling the king the truth later, she responds submissively and fearfully to their actions and commands, as though she is incapable of anything herself, relying on others (Rumpelstiltskin) instead to rectify her situation. This damsel in distress representation—although easily accepted in my innocence as a child—is one that I found exceedingly unpalatable now. Furthermore, as I continued, I discovered something else that saw me