Rapunzel

While reading fairytales, we enter an amazing world or surreal events that happen to the main characters. In this fairy tale, the main theme is the love between two young people. An evil Witch wants to destroy their love, but she doesn't do it in the end.

Rapunzel is a fairy tale about the love between a young prince and a girl with long, blond hair that conquered all of the Witch's evil intentions. They were persistent in their intentions on being happy together, and the Witch was their biggest obstacle.

Years passed by, and their love grew stronger. The evil Witch tried everything to split them up, but she didn't accomplish her goals. Even though they were separated for years, the prince managed to find his Rapunzel, and he never separated from her again. Love won again.

Genre: fairytale

Place: tower

Time: once upon time

Book Summary

Once upon a time, a young, married couple waited for their child to be born. They lived in a beautiful house near a garden in which all sorts of fruit and vegetables grew. The woman often watched the garden through the window in a desire to taste the Rampion (Rapunzel plant). Sometimes she would tell her husband that he doesn't know what it's like to be pregnant, and she asked him to go and get her some of the rampions.

The owner of the garden was an evil Witch, so he didn't dare to ask her for some. He didn't want to confront her, so he decided to steal some rampion but as soon as he stepped into the garden he heard a noise. The Witch yelled at him and asked him how he dares to steal from her garden. He fell down on his knees and asked her to spare him because he just wanted some rampions for his wife.

The Witch was so evil that she told him he will get the rampion only if he gives her his firstborn child or she will turn him into a pig. The husband felt he didn't have a choice, so he agreed.

The woman gave birth to a little girl, and the Witch took her away. She named her Rapunzel. The days passed by and Rapunzel became a long, blond haired beauty. Nobody knew what happened to her because the Witch had her locked away in a tower. Nobody could reach the top room where Rapunzel was because there were no stairs. There was only a small window on the top of the tower, and the beautiful girl would appear on it now and then. The Witch would call her every day to let down her hair, and she would climb to her.

Time passed, and Rapunzel only knew about the Witch. She never saw anybody else. Since she loved to sing a Prince that passed through the woods heard her. He hid in the bushes nearby and enjoyed her singing until the Witch called her to let down her hair.

The prince thought he could do the same thing, so he called Rapunzel to let her hair down. He climbed to her room, and when Rapunzel saw him, she got scared. Until then she only knew the Witch, and now she saw a beautiful prince. She calmed down, and he explained to her she shouldn't be frightened, and they fell in love.

They saw each other secretly because they didn't want the Witch to know about them. She still came to Rapunzel's every day, but she didn't notice anything strange. One morning Rapunzel accidentally told her she is much heavier than the prince and that it's harder to pull her up.

The Witch was furious, and she started yelling at Rapunzel. She told her she was an ungrateful brat and reprimanded her that after everything she did for her this was how she paid her back. The Witch grabbed her by the hair and cut it off. The long hair was lying on the floor, and Rapunzel was sentenced to a lifetime of loneliness and misery in the tower. Rapunzel was the loneliest person alive. The Witch didn't only get her revenge with Rapunzel. She also decided to attack the prince.

She waited for him to call for Rapunzel to let her hair down and then she threw the cut-off hair, and he started climbing. When he came up high the tower, the evil Witch was looking at him. He saw her and got scared because of her ugliness. She let go the hair. He fell into the thorny bushes and became blind, sad and miserable.

He searched for his Rapunzel from city to city, village to village but she was nowhere to be found. He fed on berries and drank the water from the rivers. His misery was growing by the day as he pictured his beautiful Rapunzel and her voice.

He wondered for years when he came to a forest where he sat under a tree and cried. His Rapunzel used to live there before and since he was exhausted, he thought it would be best to give up the search. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he heard a well-known voice. It was his Rapunzel.

He gathered the last atoms of his strength and moved towards that beautiful voice. He held on for trees, stumbled and got stuck in the bushes while he was calling for his Rapunzel.

He managed to come to her and as soon as she spotted him she ran to his arms. It was true love. Rapunzel started crying, and her tears healed his eyes.

They went to his castle where they got married and had many kids. They loved each other and lived happily ever after. And the Witch? Well, who cares about her when the newlyweds were so happy.

 

Characters: Rapunzel, Prince, Witch, the parents

Characters Analysis

Rapunzel - young, beautiful girl sentenced to live in a tower. The evil Witch didn't let her go out, so the only person she knew was the Witch. When the prince appeared she fell in love with him but the Witch didn't approve of their love. She cut her hair off and decided to keep her forever locked in the tower. Luckily Rapunzel managed to run away and find her prince who was blinded by the Witch. Rapunzel healed her prince's eyes with her tears, and they lived happily ever after.

Witch - evil, old lady who locked away Rapunzel and blinded her prince. When the couple managed to find each other again, nobody cared about the Witch because love conquered all obstacles.

Prince - handsome, young man who fell in love with Rapunzel when he heard her sing. In his intention to meet her he ends up blinded and searches for his Rapunzel for years. He wandered the world until he found her again and he recognized her by her beautiful voice.

Brothers Grimm Biography

Thanks to the Grimm brothers many children enjoyed reading the stories of brave heroes that always win over the evil. The Grimm brothers are well-known German authors that, with a little help from the national stories, made fairytales that were enjoyed by the older and the younger.

The older brother Jacob was born in 1785 and died in 1863. The younger brother Wilhelm was born in 1786 and died in 1859. Both of them were linguists and philosophers. Jacob published a German grammar and together with his brother he published a German dictionary.

Both of them studied law in Marburg and during that period both of them criticized the King Ernest August I. and because of that, they could not end their school because they were banned. Because of the inability of studying law both of them started writing fairy tales which made them famous.

They were collecting them and writing them together while Wilhelm gave them a final touch. Their fairy tales are known as stories full of wisdom and cheerfulness.

In the beginning, their collection contained 86 stories and through repeated publishing the number grew to 200. Some of their most famous works are "The Sleeping Beauty", "Cinderella", "Snow White", "Rapunzel"…