Alex Rose, Little Snow White (Brothers Grimm)

While reading the Brothers Grimm’s Little Snow White, it felt like I was reading an original pitch for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But, this pitch was shut down because it was both terrifying and the main character should have been in the first grade. The Brothers Grimm’s version of Snow White may have been culturally acceptable in 19^th century Germany, but read in today’s society the story is gross and dark.

The scariest part of Little Snow White is Snow White’s age. In this version, she is only seven years old. A seven-year-old today is in the first grade. Describing a first grader as the most beautiful girl in the world is deeply unsettling. The fact that she marries at such a young age is also disturbing. While her age is unnerving to any reader in today’s society, it shows things about the culture in early 19^th century Germany and earlier because the Grimm’s version is based on oral stories told long before they wrote them down.

The Grimm’s emphasize the number seven throughout the story. Snow white age is seven, there are seven dwarfs, the Grimm’s emphasize there is seven of everything in the house, and Snow White falls asleep in the seventh bed. Seven is often regarded as the holy number. The dwarfs help Snow White and save her life multiple times. Since there are seven of them it seems the dwarfs may be some representation of a god or a higher power. At the time the story was written the audience of the Brothers Grimm knew the significance of the number seven, so the seven dwarfs and Snow White’s age both would have indicated some kind of divinity to them.

Snow White is also confined to the gender stereotypes of women. Her appearance is the only description the audience receives, which indicates the only thing the audience should care about are her looks. In addition, her only actions in the movie are either cleaning the house or making mistakes that portray her as helpless and simply domestic.

The punishment of the queen at the end of the story also greatly differs from Disney’s version. In the Brothers Grimm’s version, the queen is killed after being brutally tortured. Snow White makes no effort to spare her. Punishing the queen at the end of the story enforces the lessons that are supposed to be taught. The severity of the punishment differs because of people’s tolerance for violence at different times.

Both the Brothers Grimm and Disney condemn jealousy, more specifically acting on jealousy, in their stories. However, one of the reasons the Brothers Grimm’s version is so much darker is because they do not enforce kindness in the same way that Disney does. In the Brothers Grimm’s story, Snow White stays with the dwarfs because she is beautiful and can clean. She does not spare the queen in the end and there is relatively little interaction with her and anyone else. Snow White is never developed as the kind person she is portrayed as in Disney’s film.