Rapunzel Analyzed Through Archetypal Lens-Blog Post #5

Please select a fairy tale that you were not familiar with before this class and select a critical lens to use in an examination of the story.  Using your chosen critical lens, provide a thorough interpretation of the fairy tale in a well-organized blog post.  
Rapunzel Fairy Tale

“Rapunzel” Through The Archetypal Lens

Before reaching this unit in the course I had heard of the Rapunzel tale before, I knew it was about a woman with very long hair who lived in a tower, but I didn´t know anything else. After reading and analyzing it I found it to be very interesting, and also dark at some points. Rapunzel, analyzed through the archetypal lens is quite similar to other tales because of its common kinds of characters, development of the plot, and resolution.

All of the characters in Rapunzel represent some archetype: the neighbor, owner of the Rapunzel plant, represents evil; the mother represents a capricious, delicate character, who will die if not given the necessary item; the father, a good man is a caring character, willing to do whatever it takes to save his wife’s life; Rapunzel represents the typical values perceived about women, beautiful, delicate, and depending on men, and the Prince is the character who saves the woman from her misery.

The plot develops in a predictable way. First there is a problem, the couple isn’t able to conceive a child, and turns to an outside force in order to be able to. Then the helper asks for something in return of the help, and the gravity of the problem increases. Later the problem is gradually resolved until a sudden turn of events leads to misery for one, or more, of the characters. And finally, the happy ending, typical of most fairy tales.

The resolution, or ending, of the Rapunzel tale is the “Happy Ending”, extremely popular and common in fairy tales. When the prince finds his loved one again they reunite, the Prince’s blindness is magically cured, both go back to the Prince’s Kingdom, and live happily ever after.

Rapunzel, examined through the archetypal lens, is filled with common preconceptions about characters, values, and the feminine gender. Its plot and resolution also are a derivation of the standard plot for fairy tales.