Jonathan Pageau's "Rapunzel," Summary and Discussion

An old woman lives alone in a small cottage in the woods, with bitterness and her rapunzel cabbages as companions. She prizes the plants, however, attending them relentlessly. Now a newly-married woodcutter and his pregnant wife live nearby, and the woodcutter eyes the greens in passing because his wife craves them. The crone notices his taking one and says she’ll take what is most precious should he do that again. He and his wife agonize over it, but she must have it, so he takes a bushel on his trip and brings peace to the house. But after the baby is born, the witch steals into the house at night and absconds with their green-eyed daughter.

Twelve year-old Rapunzel lives deep in the woods, happy but lonely, with long flowing golden hair and bound by a magic circle. One day Zoran calls to her from a tree outside, and she leaves the circle and joins him to view the heavens. On the way down, her hair gets caught in the branches and she falls, bloodying herself a bit. The witch screams at her in anger and fright, and Zoran flees.

Now her mother has a tower built for her and she wiles away the days singing. When the witch visits she calls up to Rapunzel, who lets down her hair to climb up. One day a prince was wandering in the woods and saw the visit, and when the old lady left he did the same. The maiden was surprised to see a man, but he spoke kindly to her and they began regular visits. But one day the witch saw a flower in her hair given to her by the prince, and her mother flew into a rage and cut her long locks. Leading her down a hidden staircase and through a tunnel, she banished Rapunzel into the woods.

On the prince’s next visit, he was startled at who was in the tower and lost his trip and fell down it and into thorns which pierced his eyes. He then wandered for years as a mendicant, being laughed at when he told his story. He eventually came upon a crowd and learned that his father had died and that another was being crowned in his place. His shame and anger were unbearable, and he stumbled out of town and fell, hurting himself. A voice asked him about himself, and a hermit brought him to his hamlet.

Over the next days, the prince healed as the hermit spun flax, and he told the story to the old man. The old man also told him stories, but distorted ones that the prince corrected, including his own story of losing his crown and that of Snow White, his mother. When he left, the man reminded him to attend to his own story.

Soon after, in the silence after a loud cawing of a crow, he heard the faint singing of his beloved once again. He followed the sound and, after days, went to the small, abandoned cabin she’d settled into to raise their children. Upon reuniting, her tears washed away his blindness, and he decided to live a private life, knowing that contending for his crown could put his children into danger.

LL and I summarize and discuss this retelling of the Grimm’s folktale, and then discuss its meaning. Please join our discussion in the comments!

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