Welcome to Disney Debate!
Over the next 11 weeks, we’ll discuss each of the “official” Disney princesses. Read the information and question below and then use the comments section to join the debate. Engage with people’s comments by replying to them, and add your own points by creating a new comment. Comments must be civil to be included.
WEEK 1: SNOW WHITE
Many people think Snow White has “no distinct personality” and “exists only to be victimized.” She has been accused of being “fairly one-dimensional” and “a bore.” All she does, the criticism goes, is get duped into eating a poison apple, fall asleep, and wait around for a man to come save the day.
So, is Snow White a gullible, passive damsel in distress? Or is there more to her than meets the eye?
The Story Club 
At the start of the story, Snow White is young, innocent, and naïve. She is guilty only of growing into a beautiful young woman, and for this the queen hates her. Lacking ill intentions, she is unaware of the Queen’s desire to destroy her. Escaping death by a whisper, she is overcome with fear. The following day she laughs at herself, and her sunny disposition allows her to become friends but the forest animals. She does the same with the dwarves, and is soon able to create a warm home for them. She is energetic, and a hard worker, and can make it all seem fun. The Queen takes advantage of her kindness to trick her into taking and eating a poison apple. 🍎 But her kindness remains and keeps her alive, while the stone cold heart of the Queen ends up causing the Queen’s destruction. It’s an encouraging story of perseverance, and the rewards that come from purposing in your heart to do what is right.
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This sounds like an excellent critique to me! I’m interested in the idea of her kindness keeping her alive. Do you mean it keeps her alive while in “the sleeping death” or that it kept her alive before eating the apple?
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Oops- I goofed up the old blog spot address.
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I think kindness is indeed the theme of Snow White. Kindness is never very flashy. It usually weaves quietly in and out of our lives, unspoken and sometimes ignored. Those who experience little kindness are of two types, the dwarves who are thrilled to find such a treasure and the queen who only sees kindness as weakness and views it with scorn and envy. The queen was beautiful but it is all she was. She did not give love. She was not generous of heart. Snow White is beautiful because she is kind and it made her radiant.
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Thinking that Snow White show a great deal of gratitude for her luck…. the Queen’s henchman took pity and let her go. She paid forward by helping the dwarves….and everyone is taken in by disguised evil. She was human. Interestingly enough it does not appear that she was particularly vain- she did not use her beauty to get out of “household management chores. Thinking taking care of the individuals that rescued her gave her purpose.
Snow White actually reminds me of Mother Teresa. Do the good works anyway.
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I agree. I think the fact that Snow White isn’t vain is one of the important elements of the story. She has no idea why the Queen is suddenly so jealous of her, because she has no idea that she has suddenly come into her maturity.
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Snow White is awesome. End of story.
She proves sweetness and gentleness are qualities worthy of mention. My mom always reminds me that IQ is not all there is to a person: being a faithful Christian, a diligent worker, and having a kind heart are ultimately more important.
I tend to place too much importance on IQ, though. Many evil men were brilliant, but not kind. Many lazy men are geniuses, but waste their potential. Hopefully not many. But only one of those qualities remains mostly the same, while the others can be greatly improved.
Snow White is the antithesis of modern feminism, which proclaims women must be brash, loud, impatient—anything to get their way. Snow White is gentle and kind, trusting God in her patience. Her dedication to hard work would be scorned in this age. Instead of begging for money or a place to stay with the dwarves (which would have gladly been given), she barters, offering her services, asking for a job instead of mere charity.
As to her Christian virtues, Snow White even goes so far as to pray for her enemies. Grumpy, who might have been a vice, later becomes a friend. That’s something anyone can learn from: being continually kind to that “one person.”
You can’t blame a girl for being nïeve; appropriate skepticism comes from experience or intelligence, neither of which are readily available in most circumstances. But kindness and diligence are virtues you can bring into any situation, regardless of intelligence or experience.
Hope you don’t mind reading all of this English-Majoring, Faith!
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Well said! (And I’m always happy to read good English Majoring!)
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Snow White is amazing. She survives not by strength of body or mind, but by strength of character. There are many types of power in fairy tales; she embodies a power that every young woman innately has, but our culture seldom praises them for: Influence.
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Snow white is a classic example of the positive side of a woman in the time she was written: industrious, kind, doesn’t make a fuss. She bargains for what she wants and her kindheartedness causes her to fall prey to the witch. She’s waiting on someone to save her because she’s done all she can to save herself. There’s nothing more she can do.
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I agree. Snow White does much more to save herself than people give her credit for!
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I believe, honestly, the following: 1) Those who talk about the absence of consent had a way too long, frustrated and imagination lacking childhood, and failed in making the transition to grown ups. 2) This idea about consent, and other bla, bla, bla is rapidly transitioning us to an age where good means suffering as children and adults about this capacity of having fantasy, dreams, and more than anything else, the own capacities of discerning right from wrong, and making the distinctions between what is real and what is fantasy.
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