Snow White
Throughout history, people from across the land and oceans have found that folklore and stories that they have shared have similarities that tie them together. Folklore enables readers to view the spiritual and material aspect of any different culture that can be transmitted orally or by observation. Most stories and folklore have been known to be passed from one generation to the next by word of mouth or written text. Many know the stories of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White, but what many people do not know is that in countries like China, Russia, France, Italy, and the United States there are stories that resemble the same. Cultures can well define the values that make each society different but there are many beliefs that lie within the values that keep our societies quite the same. In the story of "Snow White" a child can learn the consequence of what being vain can do to a person or drive a person to do and the constant battle between good and evil. Though the title of the story changes with different cultures the moral of the story seems to stay the same. The German version of the story is called "Little Snow-White", the Italians call the story "The Young Slave" or "The Crystal Casket", and in Scot
land it is called "Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree". Another similarity that is found in these different versions of "Snow White" is that of the antagonistic relationship that Snow White has with the female head of the household. In the different cultures the theme of envy and disgust stays the same. Snow White is sought out because she possesses a quality that the older woman wants, that is, beauty. It is along with that beauty that Snow White possesses a more dominating quality that is not seen; that is the quality of kindness. In all these cultures it can be illustrated the importance of vanity and the cost of achieving it. The question really lies in the mother's questions to the mirror and the responses that it gives her. In Most of theses cultures, the mirror simply reflects our outer ourselves and if we were to ask it the proper questions it will most honestly show us what there is to see. It's when one asks the wrong questions they become as delusional as Snow White's mother. Unfortunately, mirrors do not tell us of our inner beauty and the qualities one possesses. Some similarities in the story of "Snow White" are that, Snow White is the daughter of rich man and woman. Most stories like this seem to take on the shape of mystical and aristocratic society. There is royalty, vast land, dark and forbidding forests, and animals or mystical creatures that have human attributes to them. In the version that is most commonly told there is the existence of an enchanted forest, dwarfs, a magical mirror, and an wicked stepmother jealous of Snow White's beauty. In most of the other versions there is at least one of these elements that closely resembles another form in the story. In the Italian version there is a wicked aunt who thinks that the Snow White needs to have her hair chopped off and dressed in rags to hide h
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Approximate Word count = 1238
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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