Rapunzel

**Rapunzel** is a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales. The Brothers Grimm's story is an adaptation of the fairy tale Rapunzel by Friedrich Schulz (1790) that was a translation of Persinette (1698) by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force, which was itself influenced by an earlier Italian tale, Petrosinella (1634), by Giambattista Basile.

## Plot

A poor couple, soon to be parents, lived next to a garden owned by an evil witch by the name of Dame Gothel, which held a wondrous array of vegetation.

During the poor woman's pregnancy, she began to crave the rapunzel plants in the garden so intensely, that she became quite ill! Her partner agreed to collect some for her, and her health improved; her appetite was not quenched, however. The man returned to the neighboring garden and was just about to collect more rapunzel, when he was caught by Dame Gothel:

With the accusation of theft and a possibility of an extremely hostile retaliation, the man begs for forgiveness–but to no success. He is punished with the demand their newborn baby be handed over to her, and in desperation, the man agrees.

When the baby is born, she is nurtured by the dame, and named after her mother's favourite salad. She grew up to be incredibly beautiful with incredibly long, blonde hair. However, on her twelfth birthday, she is locked away into a steep tower with no doors; the only way to enter is to scale the tower by using her hair as rope. Therefore, Gothel calls out every morning:

‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so that I my climb the golden stair’.

One day, a Prince overhears Rapunzel's extraordinary melodious singing, and followed her voice to lead him to her presumed beauty: he discovers the tower in which she resides, and after a little examination, recites the phrase to which Gothel enters each morning. Rapunzel responds with the release of her long, blonde hair, and the Prince climbs up the tower. The two become close friends, and after many visits, the Prince asks her to marry him, to which she agrees.

The betrothed scheme an escape plan, wherein each night the Prince will deliver silk for Rapunzel to eventually weave into a ladder long enough for her to exit her prison. Unfortunately, Rapunzel accidentally hints to her plan with the Prince (by stating her dress has grown too tight, revealing she is pregnant in the first edition, and by forgetfully asking why Dame Gothel finds it easier to draw up the Prince than she in the second edition), ultimately making Dame Gothel furious to the point that she cuts off Rapunzel's hair and abandons her in the brutal wilderness.

The following night as the Prince arrives at the tower, Gothel reveals Rapunzel's severed hair and promises he will never see Rapunzel again! The prince then falls out of the window (in a state of despair or through being maliciously shoved, depending on the respective version) and lands in a thorn bush, blinding himself.

After months of abandonment in the wilderness, Rapunzel gives birth to twins, starting her own family. Still in such harsh and unpleasant conditions, she sings just as beautifully, resulting in the Prince eventually reuniting with his family.

In some versions, Rapunzel's hair and the Prince's sight is restored at the reunion, and some reveal that Dame Gothel ends up trapped in the tower with no means to release herself.The difference is that Dame Gothel is never mentioned to be a witch–a detail Brothers Grimm added to spark more interest in children. Also, the fact that Rapunzel becomes pregnant out of wedlock does not stir much trouble with the narrator, unlike in the Brothers Grimm's version thanks to the judgemental Victorian era; some parents did throw out their Daughters for that very reason! The Victorian era had a very prudish society, so this detail and even Rapunzel and the Prince's meetings were removed in the second edition, as this level of contact was seen as highly inapropriate for young eyes. This is my example of the Rapunzel folklore.