Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
A Comparison/Contrast

ENG 3460
Fall 2001

The story of Snow White fits perfectly into the classic fairytale mold: princess, evil sorcerer/sorceress, handsome prince, happy ending. Like many favorite fairytales and folktales, though, there are a number of versions for Snow White. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast two particular versions. The first is simply called Snow White and was penned by the Brothers Grimm and translated by Paul Heins. The second is called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and was produced by the Walt Disney Company.

Of course, when there are two different renderings of the same story, there are bound to be similarities. For instance, both the Disney and the Grimm versions have a dominant theme of death in them. Consider the following: in both stories, the stepmother plots to kill the young Snow White – in both cases more than once. That is the starting point for the events that follow. The stepmother sends Snow White into the woods to be killed by a huntsman. In both stories, the huntsman kills a boar instead. True, he saves Snow White’s life, but her life is almost taken again by the stepmother in her jealousy and anger. The one other attempt on Snow White’s life that these two stories share in common is the poisoned apple; Snow White dies from eating that poisoned apple – or is at least in a death-like sleep. Finally, although it may seem satisfactory after all that has previously transpired, the stepmother dies in both versions of Snow White. However, despite the typical-fairytale nature of the ending, the stepmother’s death is made no less morbid.

Within each adaptation, however, the theme of death is handled differently, resulting in two slightly different notes. The Disney version has been somewhat tamed and is more cheerful, most likely due to the fact that it was geared towards young children, as well as the fact that it had to be animated. For instance, in the Grimm version, the stepmother orders the huntsman to bring her Snow White’s liver and lungs, and when he brings her those of the young boar he has killed she gladly eats them as if they really are Snow White’s. While this act of would-be cannibalism proves the evilness of the Queen, it also provides a disturbing image for readers. The Disney version has the Queen order the huntsman to bring back Snow White’s heart, but there is no indication of her intention to eat it. Furthermore, the Queen in the Grimms’ Snow White tries twice more (prior to the stories’ shared poisoned apple) to kill her young stepdaughter, with a poisoned comb and lovely laces. The Disney Snow White has neither of these things. The final contrast in the way these two versions handle death is in the way the stepmother dies. In the Grimm version she is forced to dance on hot coals until she drops down dead. In the Disney version she is chased off a cliff. One is hardly less painful than the other, but then perhaps the death of the stepmother needed to be gruesome to atone for all the pain through which she put Snow White.

It is difficult to determine whether these two versions of the same story are more alike than they are different or more different than they are alike. What they do have in common is their prevalent theme of death, but the two stories differ in the way in which they present this theme. Despite these differences, however, when one analyzes these stories it seems only natural to wonder about the kind of message this particular fairytale – regardless of which version it may be – is sending out to children all over the world.