Damsel in Distress vs the Active Heroine Story of Rapunzel In the different versions of Rapunzel we come across very different kind of heroines.
Some of them are very active and independent thinkers and other ones fit into the description of Damsel in Distress.
First literal version of Rapunzel originates from ancient Persia,
From 19th century fairytale collection Shamanech.
It is a story about a woman called Rubada,
Whose name means the daughter of the flowing river.
She was a noble woman and the princess of Kabul.
She was told to have a long beautiful black hair.
Suitors came from all over the ancient world to ask her hand.
One of them was Char,
The king of Iran.
He had heard about the great beauty of the princess.
He walked to the edge of the palace,
He grabbed Rubada's hair and climbed into her balcony.
People fell in love,
But Rubada's father disliked Iranians.
He seeked counselling from the fortune teller,
Who said that the couple would have a son,
Who would become the greatest hero of all Persia.
After father heard this,
He gave his approval and Char and Rubada got married.
They had a son called Rostal,
Who became a great hero.
First European version of Rapunzel comes from 4th century.
It is a Catholic legend of Saint Barbara.
She was told to be a beautiful woman with a very long hair.
According to folklorist,
Barbara lived in Turkey,
When Turkey was ruled by the Roman Empire.
Barbara's father was a pagan merchant called Diokouros.
He disliked the new religion and was afraid that Barbara would turn Catholic.
To prevent this,
He locked the girl into the tower.
She was sent clothes,
Food and suitors,
But Barbara didn't have any desire to get married.
One day someone hid religious texts to the basket.
Barbara read them and converted into Catholicism.
Soon after she became severely ill.
Doctor was called and he turned out to be a priest.
When her father was away,
Barbara asked priest to baptize her.
When father found out what she had done,
He became outraged and he tried to kill her.
Soldiers began chasing her.
At the end they managed to grab her from her hair.
Barbara was executed and at the same time a lightning struck and killed her father.
Saint Barbara has been canonized by the Catholic Church,
But there isn't any historical record or archeological evidence which would prove that she actually existed.
If you look at the images of Saint Barbara,
Her most well known feature is that she has a very long hair.
In South American Yoruba religion there is the god archetype Shangu,
Who portrays possession.
God locks the child into the tower,
So that the child won't change and this action turns against the parent.
This is a motive that comes across in all versions of Rapunzel.
In 17th century Italian writer Giambattista Basile wrote his version of Rapunzel.
His heroine was called Persinette,
Which means parcel.
Woman lived next to a manor where a family of trolls resided.
She was brightened on and was craving for parcel.
Trolls grew parcel in their garden and woman went to pick some.
Troll found out and told the woman that a time would come when she would take her child.
When the child was 12,
Troll took her.
He locked Persinette into a tower,
Where she lived to her teenage years.
One day her singing was overheard by a duke.
He climbed into the tower and became friends with Persinette.
One day she heard trolls talking about her and the couple decided to escape together.
Persinette stole magical mushrooms from the trolls and when they were running away,
Trolls chasing them,
Persinette threw the mushrooms into the air and they turned into magical animals.
First animal was a bulldog from Corsica,
Next one was a lion and the third one was a giant wolf,
Who ate all the trolls.
Basile's Persinette is a talkative,
Smart,
Sassy and a very active character.
In 1698 French author Charles Delaforte wrote her version.
Plot of this story is very similar to Basile's story,
But Delaforte's villain is not a troll but an evil fairy.
Persinette's tower is more similar to a luxury hotel.
Delaforte spends lots of time describing interiors of the tower,
Which was decorated in baroque style.
When Persinette meets the prince for the first time,
She gets frightened because she has never met a man before.
When Persinette becomes frightened,
She doesn't know what is wrong with her.
Prince realizes the situation,
But does not want to upset the girl,
So he won't tell her.
When the fairy finds out what is going on,
She sends Persinette into a remote Iceland and pushes the prince out of the window and prince loses his eyesight.
After looking for Persinette for years,
Prince finally finds her.
Brothers Grimm version was based on Delaforte's story.
Brothers named the girl Rapunzel and the evil fairy got the name Gertel,
Unlike other versions of the story,
Which took place in manors.
In the Grimm's fairy tale,
The tower is hidden deep in the forest out of sight.
In the first version,
Rapunzel accidentally reveals to mother Gertel that she is pregnant by saying,
This corset has become too tight on the upper waist.
Scene was taken away and replaced with a scene where Rapunzel is pulling mother Gertel up to the tower and says,
Oh mother,
How come it is so much harder to pull you up than that handsome prince?
Rapunzel of the Brothers Grimm is not the brightest.
Like many of their heroines,
She is completely dependent to the male counterpart.
19th century Germany was a Puritan society and women were often suppressed.
In the case of Rapunzel,
The archetype of the female character goes through a transformation.
In 2014 Disney released their version of Rapunzel,
Tangled,
Which introduced Rapunzel who refused to be a victim.
Character returned back to its roots and once again became the active hero,
Like in Basile's version and even in the story of Saint Barbara.
Symbol of Rapunzel is the long hair,
Which has magical properties.
First literal version of the story comes from the 17th century from a time period when long hair was a sign of a noble woman,
Who kept their hair closed and decorated them with heavy ornaments.
Loose hair was considered immoral and inappropriate.
In the fairy tale,
Rules of society are meant to be broken.
Rapunzel running free with her hair loose symbolizes freedom from any authority.
