According to the story, Rapunzel was taken away from her mother by a witch immediately after her birth. The justification for this is that the girl’s mother had eaten a Rapunzel from the witch’s farm. However, Rapunzel grew up as a loving beautiful girl. When she was thirteen years old, the witch devised more strategic ways of hiding her from her mother.
She managed it by hiding her in a high tower only one small hole to let in air so that no one could reach her. Whenever the old witch visited Rapunzel, she would command Rapunzel to throw her hair down so that she could use it as a climbing rope (Oracle Think Quest, n.d, para. 6).
One day, as a prince was passing by, she heard a melodious voice coming from the tower. At first, the prince experienced some difficult tracing where the voice was coming from. Fortunately, she succeeded when he saw the witch climbing the tower by the help of the girl’s hair (Oracle Think Quest, n.d, para. 5). Later on, the prince came back in the evening and asked Rapuunzel to throw her hair down so that he could climb up to her. From that day on, Rapunzel and the prince began a new life together.
Upon realizing what was going on, the witch became very furious and decided to cut off Rapunzel’s beautiful hair after which she took her away to a desert. When the prince went to meet her love the next day, he could not trace the girl. He became so disappointed and immediately walked out the tower.
On his way out, he accidentally got pricked by thorns in the eyes and would only roam allover as a blind man. This continued for a long time but one day as he was moving around, he heard the same voice that he had heard in the tower at the first time. Again, it was Rapunzel.
The only way he could show his joy was by crying. The prince was overtaken and uncontrollably wept out of joy until his blindness disappeared. Thereafter, he took Rapunzel to his empire where they happily lived together (Oracle Think Quest, n.d, para. 3).
Rapunzel fairy tale is a folklore whose origin is Germany and is done by Brothers Grimm. Germany which is a federal country is well known for historic contribution especially in relation to arts. The folklore from Germany is a unique product that portrays great thinkers.
This fairy tale is important to Germans culture. This arises from the meanings it has to the family statues in Germany. Although family statue is almost facing extinction due to high rates of divorce, it is still a significant unit within the society (Advameg Incorporation, 2010, para. 3). According to this folktale, Germans are depicted as superstitious. The witch (mother Gothel) commonly referred to as godmother, is an epitome of superstition as shown in the story.
The prevalent theme in the fairy tale is love. As Rapunzel grows up, she falls in love with the prince who becomes her only family. This is because she had been snatched by the witch from her parents and did not have any other person she could relate to. Her long hair is a symbol of a bond that links her to the outside world and from the witch’s bondage.
In as much as this folktale is important to the Germans, it also helps me appreciate folklore from other cultural settings. Consequently, through the tale one is able to understand Germany as a cultural group.
Source:Google Images
Reference List
Advameg Incorporation. (2010). Countries and their culture, Culture of German. Web.
Oracle Think Quest. (n.d). Projects by students for students, The fairy tale Rapunzel. Web.