| Roses | Shoes | Number Three | Wolf |
In at least three fairy tales (Briar Rose; Beauty and the Beast; and The Fairy in the Wood) the rose plays a signifigant role. Roses often symbolize feminine beauty and grace and because of theif often delicate nature they are sometimes compared with the ideal princcess. However, unlike similarly symbolic flowers (the lily and the lotus for example), a rose has thorns. Thorns may and have been portrayed as a streak of rebeliosnous, a sharp conflict. That although the flower is beautiful and delicate it (an symbolically the princess) is well and able to defend itself.
Shoes (and to some extent feet) represent the past and the future of their owner. They symbolize the journey of life. Thus in the story of the The Red Shoes, the pretty red shoes that made their owner dance uncontrollably, might represent a glamourous face-paced life that burns out far to quickly. Similarly the glass dancing slipper in Cinderella, could symbolize a fragile and superfical life with unrealistic goals or expectations. (I won't say dancing in slippers made of glass is immpossible, but it isn't safe or easy.)
The number three has often been considered a mystical number. In norse myth particularly, it is the number of Norns (similar to the greek fates) that determain the destiny of each man at birth. It is also the most common number of goddess aspects, or in the Christian doctrine it is symbolic of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The number pops up in various places thourgh fairy tales as well. Three is one of the most common number of brothers in such tales, the elder two will attempt a task and fail but the youngest will succeed. It is also the number of tasks or trials a hero or heroine must overcome (See The Making of a Hero) before they reach thier goal. In Rumplestiltskin the miller's daughter is asked to spin straw into gold on three consecutive nights. Before Parrault, in many ash girl tales, Cinderella went to three balls before dropping her slipper. The third way the number three comes up in fairy tales is the number of otherworld guaridans. Good Grisela and The Three Spinners are two tales in which girls are rewarded by three spirit guardians.
The wolf symbolizes eternal hunger and desire. Expecially in the freudian and French renditions of Little Red Riding Hood.
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