We rarely think about the true meaning of fairy tales we know. But if you dig deeper into the story, you will see that Rapunzel is about unhappy love, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs didn’t actually have a stepmother in the story, and Pinocchio was supposed to have a different ending. And the deeper you go into a story, the more interesting it gets.
We at Bright Side are convinced that over time, one’s interest in fairy tales doesn’t become weaker, especially when you learn about curious details.
1. Rapunzel was a single mother.
A lot of people remember and love the animated film about the princess locked in a tower. In the movie, she gets kidnapped by mother Gothel. This tale wouldn’t be in this compilation if things were actually that simple. Originally, the tale of Rapunzel wasn’t just a funny story: it served as a warning to women about the harm of having relationships before marriage.
In the original story, the prince would come to Rapunzel’s tower several nights in a row. Sometime later, the girl notices that her dress becomes too tight and her belly grows day by day. Her stepmother finds out about the pregnancy, cuts Rapunzel’s hair, and leaves her in the desert. Rapunzel doesn’t give up, gives birth to twins, and lives alone. The prince eventually finds her and the twins and they live happily ever after.
2. Snow White was taken to the forest by her own mother.
In the classic story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, her evil stepmother is jealous of her beauty so she takes her to the forest. But in the first edition of the story, the main villain was Snow White’s mother.
She tells Snow White to walk in the forest, collect some flowers, and then leaves her there. According to a different version, the mother asked a servant to get rid of the annoying daughter. Researchers think that the stepmother character appeared much later in order not to scare children so much.
Walt Disney changed the story. In his cartoon, the gnomes had names and Snow White met the Prince before she fell asleep. But in the original story, she doesn’t wake up from the kiss, she wakes up from a horse ride when the prince takes her to a resting place.
3. Puss in Boots wasn’t a cat...
The Italian writer, Giovanni Francesco Straparola, is the author of Puss in Boots. In his version, a little brother gets a cat after his mother dies. In fact, it was a fairy that turned into a cat. She helps the owner to get the estate of a lord that dies, win over the heart of the princess, and become king.
Later, Charles Perrault changed the tale. The cat was just a cat without any magic powers.
4. Alexander Volkov didn’t steal the idea of The Wizard of Oz.
Some readers have noticed similarities between The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Lyman Frank and the story by Alexander Volkov. So who stole the idea?
Alexander Volkov was a math teacher for a long time until he decided to start studying the English language. In order to practice, he started to translate Frank’s book. The writer changed the story several times, added new characters, and soon his version became its own book. And 20 years after publishing his first book, he wrote a sequel about Ellie.
5. Cinderella’s shoes were not made of glass.
Let’s talk about the shoes that were popularized by Walt Disney Studios.
In one of the first versions of the story, the Chinese Cinderella wears shoes made of golden threads. In the Brothers Grimm version, she went to the ball 3 times and wore silk, silver, and golden shoes. In the Venice version, the shoes were made of diamonds. Charles Perrault’s version says the shoes were made of glass. But in most versions, the fairy gives Cinderella simple shoes.
What unusual details about fairy tales do you know? Share them in the comment section below!
