Once there was a woman who told a story. However, she had more than just an entertaining tale to tell. She chose common images that everyone would understand, and she wrapped her story around them, and in this way she was able to teach the people . . .
The traditions of storytelling have long been used as a means to impart
wisdom and life lessons to others. One of the most effective ways in which this is done is through the use of archetypes. While it is possible to look
at these images in a general way, one may also focus an analysis on a single tale. In this way it is possible to explore the particular images used and
their significance in a given situation, (often a coming of age rite of
passage). One such tale is “Rapunzel”.
A general outline of this type of folktale is the introduction of a task, leading to a journey which concludes in the completion into maturity. Here the task is inverted, as it is not the child who must complete it, but her father. However, this undertaking influences the child directly. The father is told he must fetch some rapunzel lettuce from a witch’s garden to satisfy his pregnant wife’s cravings. His wife then eats this rapunzel, effectively tying her unborn child to the witch who has provided the lettuce. Food is often used as a symbol of transformation, and in this instance it allows the witch to claim possession of the baby girl before she is even born. Through the consumption of the rapunzel that belongs to the witch, the child becomes a sort of extension of her. Naming the baby Rapunzel for the very thing that connects them shows this. After this initial task, the father is never mentioned. He has completed his part in the child’s life, and disappears to allow the mother-daughter relationship to progress.
The witch effectively replaces the birth mother, and is in fact another (less pleasant) aspect of her. She attempts to control Rapunzel and keep her from reaching maturity, and thus independence. The moment Rapunzel reaches the age of puberty, (at age 12), the witch confines her to a tower in the forest. The forest is a symbol of transformation, a place where Rapunzel must discover her growing maturity. The tower may be similar to the idea of the attic: a metaphor for the mind and some part of her life yet to be explored, as well as being a phallic symbol. It has no doors or stairs, only a single high window.
The window is her only entryway to begin her rite of passage, but at this point in her life she has no means to access it on her own. Once another few years have passed, (placing Rapunzel’s age now at that of a young woman), the prince is introduced. He is a symbol of a possible reward for Rapunzel should she successfully complete her journey, a vague ideal represented in royalty for which to strive. However, he is also just a young man who must complete his own rite of passage before he and Rapunzel may be united.
The fact that he is first drawn to her voice rather than her appearance seems to suggest an attraction more to who she is rather than anything physical. Her “voice” may be symbolic of Rapunzel’s thoughts and personality. However, the first time the prince finds Rapunzel, he is obviously unprepared to proceed into this facet of his life. He searches for a door through which to reach her but is unsuccessful, symbolic of his failure to complete his rite of passage at this time. However, after some time passes, he discovers the means to reach her, and it becomes obvious that they need each other in order to proceed to the next level of their lives. The window here is almost an inverse of the door archetype for Rapunzel, as she cannot leave and the prince must come through it to reach her.
It interesting that the great transformations in Rapunzel’s life all seem to take place after day has ended, at nightfall or dusk. There is no specific mention of it, but one may speculate that the moon is present, acting as an active agent of transformation when the prince visits her, as well as earlier when her father had been stealing the rapunzel lettuce. The prince greatly frightens Rapunzel, because she has never seen a man before. This is obviously metaphorical, since it would be almost impossible in real life to shelter a girl that completely. The phrase is meant in a more intimate sense, as the girl’s first sexual encounter. The prince calms her fears, and his offer is obviously accepted, as she bears twins not long afterward.
Rapunzel has given herself over to the transformation, thus rebelling against the witch’s tight control over her. There is a lack of communication between the mother figure and the girl as Rapunzel, for quite some time, hides her relationship with the prince from the witch and secretly plans her escape. Rapunzel does not feel enough in control of her life to tell the witch right away; yet she seems to want to share her growing sense of maturity with the woman, since she lets slip the knowledge that the prince has visited her. It seems here that while the girl wishes to gain independence, she would rather not lose the mother figure in her life entirely. However, at the discovery, the witch is furious. She feels betrayed, (specifically that Rapunzel deceived her, suggesting she is upset that the girl hid this from her, more than over the deed itself). She cuts Rapunzel’s hair, effectively severing the ties that had connected them while the girl was living in the tower under the witch’s care, and casts her from the tower into a desert place. Here Rapunzel must live in isolation for some time, effectively forced to explore her new maturity (and motherhood) on her own until the prince completes his journey.
Unfortunately, it is not enough for the witch to cast out Rapunzel; she wants to punish the one who took her child away from her. When the prince comes to get Rapunzel he finds himself too late, and for his failure in this task, he is forced to live on roots and berries for the next few years. This inverse of the food archetype is symbolic of his failure to complete transformation. He has thrown himself from the tower window, seeming to rush hastily through the entryway to begin his final rite of passage. He seems to be a little behind Rapunzel, although this is accurate in that girls tend to mature more quickly than boys do. In his haste he is blinded by brambles, and must wander through the forest for many years until he completes his transformation. He is unable to look anywhere but within, and needs to come to a sense of maturity within himself.
Eventually he finds Rapunzel by recognizing her voice, suggesting a new understanding between them, now that each has come into an understanding of themselves. She weeps, causing two tears to fall onto his eyes. The water acts as an agent of transformation to restore the prince’s sight, her compassion and his new maturity allowing them to proceed to a happy ending. They are rewarded with their return to his kingdom, and the undefined but assumed presence of comfort and happiness.
On the surface Rapunzel may appear to be only an entertaining story, but upon
closer inspection, there is the greater example of a lesson to be learned. Archetypes are used to present the wisdom in an attractive way, thus allowing
a less awkward method of teaching, as well as presenting it in a manner likely to be remembered. Thus the story is completed with success. The audience
leaves with a sense of something important having been shared with them, and hopefully, each will continue the storytelling tradition long after the teller
has gone.
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