Mastodawn

cmrosens Jan 10, 2024

A Darker Side of Snow White in Print

Snow White Retellings and Reimaginings

The tale that won the poll was ‘Snow White’, so I’ve decided to do this one in two posts. The first, here, will look at (1) variations on this tale, and ways to retell it, and (2) your recs for retellings/reimaginings.

Please be aware that this post gets dark, so either skip to the recs section (but even there, be careful), or stop reading here.

Catch up on the whole series of fairy tale posts here.

For variations of the Aarne/Thompson/Uther Type 709, here’s a list, trans. and/or ed. by D. L. Ashliman. I’m going to be looking specifically at this type for this post!! There are loads of variations and different cultures have their own, so I wanted to narrow this down. Also, this is the type I grew up with and the only one I feel comfortable claiming.

Snow White: Variations, Interpretations and Reimaginings

This tale isn’t especially romantic, but there are a plethora of romance, erotica, romantic suspense, and action retellings with romantic subplots, which seek to build a relationship between the protagonist and the “love’s first kiss” giver at the end of the story.

However, because the prince shows up right at the end as a kind of Deus Ex Machina to kiss an apparent (but not actual) corpse in the wood and suddenly restore order and harmony, and the action is focused on the jealous machinations of the mother-figure who wants her daughter-figure dead, a lot of very dark interpretations have sprang up as well. In fact, with the focus off the prince and on the mother/daughter conflict, it quickly slides more firmly into the domestic/family horror arena.

This is the kind of tale that might be used to explore personal feelings around maternal complicity and even jealousy and victim-blaming regarding abuse, or taking the father out of the picture, look specifically at mother-child trauma and abusive/toxic/deeply thorny and complicated relationships in this vein.

Angela Carter, for example, merged this tale with ‘The Snow Child’ and made the mother’s homicidal jealousy revolve around the shifting sexual attraction of her husband (from her to the young girl), implicit in the ending which involves necrophilia.

I’ve provided some context and warnings below, as a lot of the retellings follow Angela Carter’s interpretation of sexual violence and molestation, particularly in collections like Snow White, Blood Red, eds. Datlow and Windling. With this in mind, please be warned that some of the recs below include trigger warnings for rape, while others have warnings for racism, cultural appropriation and transphobia, which I’ve included. In some cases I’ve linked to reviews and articles on the criticism, rather than to the books themselves, which are all easy to find.

For (usually) lighter, more YA-focused, fantasy-heavy versions, try this list of Snow White retellings list on GoodReads. Some other retellings lists are here (kmshea.com has a lot of retelling rec posts so if you’re enjoying these, please check out that site too!). Tor has a list of 7 retellings to check out as well, including the film adaptation Snow White: A Tale of Terror, which I’ll be looking at in my post on Snow White in horror films (next).

Variations & Ideas for Retellings

Here’s a list of various retellings, including a few Snow White retellings, by authors of colour.

If you’re thinking about how to retell the tale in a way that doesn’t have the “snow white skin” element, a lot of variations don’t have it and she’s called something else.

One of the first ‘Snow White’ tales to be written in a ‘literary’ way was by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone, and there she was called Lisa.

In other cultures where a version of this story exists – although with different elements to it – the heroine is variously called Gold Tree (Scotland), Toute-Belle (Brittany), the nameless daughter of jealous Bella Venezia (Italy), Maria in ‘Maria, the Wicked Stepmother, and the Seven Robbers’ (Italy), Ermellina in ‘The Crystal Casket’ (Italy), Myrsina (Greece), and Nourie Hadig (Armenia).

So it’s perfectly fine to skip the “I wish I had a daughter with these 3 attributes” part and get right to the story, as this isn’t in all the versions of the tales, or you could swap out the 3 physical things Snow White’s mother wishes for with 3 other things to keep the rhythm and the feel of a fairytale. The only important thing is that the tale is essentially about an antagonist who is having an existential crisis – in this case, about aging, losing her looks (and therefore her value in her society, and her self-worth along with it) and becoming homicidally jealous of her own daughter, who is growing into her looks as fast as the mother is growing out of them. (Or stepmother, or guardian of some kind!)

This doesn’t even have to be about physical beauty, either. It could be just the fact her daughter has her youth, and the mother wants her own back for whatever reason. (No need to make this ableist, though…)

If you gender flip this, it still works for appearance/aesthetic playing into fears of ageing. You could look at the struggle between a father and son, replacing “beauty” with another attribute that has social currency. For example, usurpation of social position and the power that comes with it can be applied to any genders within a tale like this that is older gen vs younger gen.

The Mwindo Epic is obviously not from the Aarne/Thompson/Uther type, BUT it sprang to mind when I thought about the genderflip thing, and it’s fresh in my mind as it was mentioned by Helen Nde, curator of the Mythological Africans project and author of The Runaway Princess and Other Stories, in her interview on Eldritch Girl podcast (2023). If you haven’t heard Helen’s talks, a lot are available to watch/listen to, and the Mythological Africans podcast is great!

I also thought about how in Greek myth, King Laius vs Oedipus his son could be another narrative that plays with these themes, with Queen Jocasta as the poisoned apple in this scenario…

My husband’s idea for this is a gender-flipped historical fiction version set in 19thC Europe, where you contemporaneously have people comparing a man’s bravery and a woman’s beauty, which would mean concepts of bravery and cowardice in this time period are the ‘masculine’ version of the maternal ‘beauty’ crisis.

You can worldbuild around this construct and have ‘bravery’ as social currency, rather than (or as well as) evidence of good character, which would lead to all sorts of interesting things regarding societal context.

A son/father relationship where the father fears he is becoming a coward in his old age, while the son is out fighting Napoleon (or fighting FOR Napoleon, if so inclined), and so you have the father engineering behind-the-scenes career sabotage.

(Why yes, he is a big reader of Patrick O’Brian books, how did you guess??)

I would add in : as the son looks set to climb higher in the ranks than the father did (bringing in a whole host of social mores and hierarchical issues to explore). I think this might work especially well if the son was illegitimate, for example, (or stepson would work also depending on the social status of his late parents) and their relationship was only good when the son had to depend on his father’s paternalistic benevolence – so in upending that, and changing the power dynamic, the relationship fractures completely. (What’s the poisoned apple in this version?)

If you don’t like the hist fic angle here, you can transpose it as you please (including to a SciFi/second world fantasy world or setting) and make this work for any gender and attribute! Developing this existential crisis within a societal framework and exploring all the many factors that precipitate it and the antagonist’s courses of action may help to alleviate the flatness of the tale where the antagonist is reduced to a single motivator (jealousy) and creates more interlocking, intersecting factors to enrich the story.

There are a ton of things to choose from and reimagine, so there are a lot of ways this tale can be reinvented. Here are some ways it has been! I wouldn’t have known where to start to be honest, so this is the list of things people said when asked what versions they could think of/which were their favourites. I got a very mixed bag here, which made things interesting!

Retellings/Reimaginings You Told Me About

I am asking for recs and starting conversations around these stories, because there are SO MANY of them that I wouldn’t have a clue where to start. Also, in recommending and discussing them, I get to hear about stories I may otherwise never have come across, and get to share them. Here are the stories that came up this time.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

Frozen meets The Bloody Chamber in this feminist fantasy reimagining of the Snow White fairytale.

Sixteen-year-old Mina is motherless, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone—has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king’s heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she’ll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen’s image, at her father’s order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do—and who to be—to win back the only mother she’s ever known…or else defeat her once and for all.

Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything—unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.

Promise Me You Won’t Leave A Drop (horror flash fic, voring) by Sasha Brown

Deliciously creepy short fiction free to read via the hyperlinked title.

“The Snow Child” (TW: necrophilia/paedophilia) by Angela Carter, available at the link and in the collection The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories.

Seven by Jennifer Diemer

The strange witch girl Neve has skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and a dark secret. Her father Lexander, an alchemist, harbors an evil obsession, and Catalina, his newest bride, made the grave mistake of becoming his wife. When Catalina finds herself falling in love with his daughter, Neve, instead, the deepening bond between the women sets in motion the final chapter of a story that began long ago, with a desperate longing and a handful of apple seeds. Together, Neve and Catalina must venture into the Huntsman’s haunted forest to undo what has been done and set themselves free.

The novella SEVEN is the lesbian retelling of the classic fairy tale, “Snow White.” It is part of the series SAPPHO’S FABLES: LESBIAN FAIRY TALES.

Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly

Once upon a time, a girl named Sophie rode into the forest with the queen’s huntsman. Her lips were the color of ripe cherries, her skin as soft as new-fallen snow, her hair as dark as midnight. When they stopped to rest, the huntsman pulled out his knife . . . and took Sophie’s heart.

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Sophie had heard the rumors, the whispers. They said she was too kind and foolish to rule — a waste of a princess. A disaster of a future queen. And Sophie believed them. She believed everything she’d heard about herself, the poisonous words people use to keep girls like Sophie from becoming too powerful, too strong . . . With the help of seven mysterious strangers, Sophie manages to survive. But when she realizes that the jealous queen might not be to blame, Sophie must find the courage to face an even more terrifying enemy, proving that even the darkest magic can’t extinguish the fire burning inside every girl, and that kindness is the ultimate form of strength.

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow (Book 2 of the Fractured Fables series).

A Mirror Mended is the next installment in USA Today bestselling author Alix E. Harrow’s Fractured Fables series.

Zinnia Gray, professional fairy-tale fixer and lapsed Sleeping Beauty, is over rescuing snoring princesses. Once you’ve rescued a dozen damsels and burned fifty spindles, once you’ve gotten drunk with twenty good fairies and made out with one too many members of the royal family, you start to wish some of these girls would just get a grip and try solving their own narrative issues.

Just when Zinnia’s beginning to think she can’t handle one more princess, she glances into a mirror and sees another face looking back at her: the shockingly gorgeous face of evil, asking for her help. Because there’s more than one person trapped in a story they didn’t choose. Snow White’s Evil Queen has found out how her story ends, and she’s desperate for a better ending. She wants Zinnia to help her before it’s too late for everyone. Will Zinnia accept the Queen’s poisonous request and save them both from the hot-iron shoes that wait for them, or will she try another path?

Shadows on Snow by Starla Huchton (gender flipped!)

Once upon a time, a dark evil crept into my kingdom, stealing my loved ones and the happy life I knew. The world turned against me, and I swore to become stronger, to keep myself safe.

Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince, hair dark as ebony, skin as pure as the freshly driven snow, and I became the only one who stood between him and death.

Once upon a time, our stories intertwined, and now, healing my heart may be the only way to save us all from the evil that threatens to destroy what little we have left.

The Sleeping Beauty by Mercedes Lackey (despite the title, this is also a Snow White tale).

Heavy is the head—and the eyelids—of the princess who wears the crown…

In Rosamund’s realm, happiness hinges on a few simple

For every princess there’s a prince.

The king has ultimate power.

Stepmothers should never be trusted.

And bad things come to those who break with Tradition….

But when Rosa is pursued by a murderous huntsman and then captured by dwarves, her beliefs go up in smoke. Determined to escape and save her kingdom from imminent invasion, she agrees to become the guinea pig in one of her stepmother’s risky incantations—thus falling into a deep, deep sleep.

When awakened by a touchy-feely stranger, Rosa must choose between Tradition and her future…between a host of eligible princes and a handsome, fair-haired outsider. And learn the difference between being a princess and ruling as a queen.

The moral of the story? Sometimes a princess has to create her own happy endings….

“Red as Blood” by Tanith Lee, in Red as Blood or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer.

How would it be if Snow White were the real villain & the wicked queen just a sadly maligned innocent? What if awakening the Sleeping Beauty should be the mistake of a lifetime–of several lifetimes? What if the famous folk tales were retold with an eye to more horrific possibilities?

Only Tanith Lee could do justice to it. In RED AS BLOOD, she displays her soaring imagination at its most fantastically mischievous. Not for nothing was the title story named as a Nebula nominee. Not for nothing was the author of THE BIRTHGRAVE & THE STORM LORD called by New York’s Village Voice, “Goddess-Empress of the Hot Read.”

Here are the world-famous tales of such as the Brothers Grimm as they might have been retold by the Sisters Grimmer! Fairy tales for children? Not on your life!

Contents:
Paid Piper (1981)
Red as Blood (1979)
Thorns (1972)
When the Clock Strikes (1980)
The Golden Rope (1983)
The Princess and Her Future (1983)
Wolfland (1980)
Black as Ink (1983)
Beauty (1983)

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

In the kingdom of Ayortha, who is the fairest of them all? Certainly not Aza. She is thoroughly convinced that she is ugly. What she may lack in looks, though, she makes up for with a kind heart, and with something no one else has-a magical voice. Her vocal talents captivate all who hear them, and in Ontio Castle they attract the attention of a handsome prince – and a dangerous new queen.

In this masterful novel filled with humour, adventure, romance, and song, Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine invites you to join Aza as she discovers how exquisite she truly is.

Ages 8 – 14

‘The Missold Prince’ in Once Upon A Twisted Fairytale collection by Victoria Pearson

From the author of the Strange Stories series and A Tale of Two Princes comes Once Upon A Twisted Fairytale; ten classic fairytale re-tellings for grown-ups, twisted as only Victoria Pearson can.

What if Red Riding Hood’s Grandmother didn’t want to be saved? What if Cinderella’s prince was actually a bit of a creep? What exactly was Prince Charming doing kissing a girl he found in a coffin anyway? Find out why you should always be careful what you wish for, why you shouldn’t trust Hansel and Gretel just because they look sweet, and why you really don’t want to displease Mr Elffe.

Grab some iron to protect you from the shining ones, some salt to throw in the face of the fairies, and see what happened once upon a twisted fairytale…

Some of these stories have appeared in some form in other short story collections by Victoria Pearson.

Prétear (manga by Junichi Satō and Kaori Naruse)

Himeno is a high school freshman who’s having trouble adjusting to the lifestyle of the very rich. Her father, Kaoru, is a one-time famous author of young girls’ novels. One of his greatest fans was Natsue, a wealthy woman who liked Kaoru so much that she snatched him up from their rundown apartment and married him.

But Himeno’s life is far from rosy. Her dad tends to take the side of Natsue rather than her, and Natsue’s two daughters from a previous marriage aren’t very fond of their new stepsister. One day, Himeno takes a shortcut to school and meets a young boy. When she takes the boy’s hand, she’s transported to a fantasy world that lies on the brink of extinction. And the one person that can stop it is the girl called “Prétear.”

Illusive Wishes by Chace Verity (Standalone Book 2 in the Dithered Hearts series)

Ever since becoming disowned by his family, the person who matters most to Isaac is his best friend. Unfortunately, said best friend is trapped inside a mirror. For two years, Isaac has traveled various kingdoms with Penn at his side, searching for clues to break the curse and earning money however he can. When offered a job as an escort for a lavish party at the Embedded Palace—a place teeming with wealth and potential magic—Isaac is quick to accept. For the friend he’s fallen in love with, he’ll do anything.

Being stuck in a mirror is one thing, but for Penn, it’s even more humiliating because they’re a fairy who should have been able to avoid the curse. Whatever the curse is. They can’t quite remember. If only they had been a storybook Prince Charming instead of a useless fairy, life would have been better. But with a sweet, kind, and alluring friend like Isaac helping them, they refuse to give up.

As soon as the pair arrive at the Embedded Palace, buried memories start surfacing, darker than either of them ever imagined. With a misanthropic knight who has ties to fairies, cursed apples, a queen seeking an enchanted mirror, and a hunter obsessed with Isaac, the inseparable best friends find themselves being pulled apart. Maybe not even a Prince Charming can save the day, but Penn and Isaac will do anything to make their deepest wish come true—to be with each other.

Illusive Wishes is a full-length, standalone novel in the Dithered Hearts series.

Notes

The Serpent’s Shadow by Mercedes Lackey features a mixed race British-Indian heroine called Maya. The review/description on GoodReads is reproduced below and also available here.

Mercedes Lackey returns to form in The Serpent’s Shadow, the fourth in her sequence of reimagined fairy tales. This story takes place in the London of 1909, and is based on “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Lackey creates echoes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, pays affectionate homage to Dorothy Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey (who plays an important role under a thin disguise), and turns the dwarves into seven animal avatars who masquerade as pets of her Eurasian heroine, Maya.

Some of Maya’s challenges come from the fact that she is not “snow white,” and she has fled India for her father’s English homeland after the suspicious deaths of her parents. Establishing her household in London, she returns to her profession as a physician, working among the poor. Her “pets” and loyal servants stand guard, and Maya herself uses what bits of magic she managed to pick up in childhood to weave otherworldly defenses as well. But the implacable enemy who killed her parents has come to London to search for her; if Maya can be enslaved, her enormous potential powers can be used to the enemy’s ends. Fortunately, English magicians of the White Lodge have also noted a new, powerful presence in their midst, though they’re having trouble locating her, too. They send Peter Scott, a Water Master, to track her down. He finds Maya beautiful and benign, and is determined to teach her to use the Western magic she is heir to, before her enemy discovers her.

Some will find the author’s Kiplingesque descriptions of India and Hindustani culture offensive. Lackey describes Maya’s enemy as a powerful devotee of the goddess Kali-Durga, though she carefully shows that the avatars of the other deities will not attack her, and has Kali-Durga repudiate her servant in the climactic confrontation. And, though the story is layered, its surface is as glossy and brightly colored as an action comic. But readers who enjoy late Victorian London, Sayers, Sherlock Holmes stories, and a page-turning tale will want to take this one home. –Nona Vero

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi has been criticised for its harmful trans analogy/narrative, and is discussed in detail alongside a positive depiction of trans masc identity in G. D. Vidrine’s A Pair of Raven Wings, (a queer and trans retelling of ‘The Seven Ravens’ fable) in this open access article by Jeana Jorgensen, A Tale of Two Trans Men: Transmasculine Identity and Trauma in Two Fairy-Tale Retellings, From the journal Open Cultural Studies (https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2020-0128).

Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente has been criticised for its harmful Native depictions and appropriation. It is strongly not recommended by the AICL (American Indians in Children’s Literature).

Next Time:

Snow White themes in Horror Movies! I had fun with this. You’ll be able to vote in the poll for the next tale in that post.

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