1. RAPUNZEL,
RAPUNZEL
By Maddie O’Connor

2. LET DOWN YOUR SWEET HAIR
 We all know the story of Rapunzel, or are at least
vaguely familiar with it. A girl with blonde hair is
locked in a tower and lets it down to help her prince
climb up, only to eventually run away with him to
escape the witch who holds her captive. They live
happily ever after: the end. That is the main
storyline.
 Not every story is of a girl named Rapunzel,
though, there are other variations of which The
Brother’s Grimm wrote Rapunzel from.

3. THE BROTHERS GRIMM
 The Brothers Grimm were actually
two German men, Jacob and
Wilhelm, who were academics,
linguists, cultural researchers, and
authors who collected folklore and
published several collections of it.
Rapunzel was first published in
1812 as part of Children’s and
Household Tales. The Grimm
Brothers’ story is an adaptation of
the fairytale Persinette by
Charlotee-Rose de Caumont de La
Force which was originally
published in 1682, but the tale can
be traced back to “Petrosinella”, a
similar story written by Gimbattista
Basile in 1634.

4. PETROSINELLA
 Petrosinella was written by Gimbattista Basile in
1634. Basile’s original story is more logical than the
Brothers tweaked version, as a pregnant woman
steals parsley from her ogress neighbor, and
promises the ogress that she will raise Petrosinella
until she is seven, and then will hand her over. The
ogress locks her in a tower with now doors or
stairs, and cannot escape because the ogress
places a spell over her. Petrosinella finds out how
to break the spell, makes a rope ladder with the
help of a prince, and the two of them run away
together.

5. PERSINETTE  Persinette was written by
Madam de La Force. Madame
de La Force’s adaptation is
even more logical than the
latter. Persinette was placed in
the tower to keep her safe from
the lustful eyes of men, but
was raised in luxurious
isolation and the sorceress was
not truly wicked. Persinette
breaks out of the tower to find
true love. The trysts with her
lover are found to when she
shows signs of pregnancy and
her hair is hacked off, she is
banished to a desert place, and
the Godmother hangs the
braids out the window to lure
the prince into the tower. The
prince is told by the sorceress
that she has been banished
and he eventually finds her in
the desert with her twin
children.

6. THE BROTHERS GRIMM’S RAPUNZEL
 Grimm’s adaptation for children is thought to come from a
translation into German by J.C.F. Schulz because he changed
the recurring parsley, which was being stolen, into rapunzel. They
would not allow any mention of a pregnancy, so Rapunzel is
found out through what would seem to be her own stupidity, and
says something to her “Godmother” that makes her mad, and she
cuts off Rapunzel’s hair. She gives birth to twins in the desert
and her prince comes to find her, after traipsing to the tower and
finding that the witch has cut off her hair and taken her to the
desert.
 Through the translations, it came into play that her
exaggerated hair became the centerpiece of the story. In every
version mentioned in this paper, there is commonness that the
hair is a source of some ownership for the wicked witch, fairy, or
ogress, and they use her hair to get to and fro the tower. The
symbolism behind her hair—Rapunzel being the only one to use
it, as it lets her down from the tower and protects her from the
outside world, and draws in her true love—explains why
Rapunzel cannot just cut it off and use it to escape.

7. VERSION APPROPRIATE FOR KIDS
TODAY?
 After reading the Brothers Grimm version, I deemed
it worthy of older children’s eyes and minds only,
especially after the release of Disney’s Tangled in
2010. As a kid at heart, I personally love Disney’s
adaptation, though I appreciate the original stories
from which it originated. Not to mention, this movie
was huge amongst little kids, and it still is. When I
helped in Ms. Blonde’s class at White Pigeon
Central Elementary for Experiential Learning my
senior year, there was tangled stuff all over the
place!

8. FINALLY TO TANGLED
 Even though Tangled is farfetched, the
Brothers’ version is even way more out
there. Why I think that Disney’s version is
better though is because of the
characters and the story they created. I
love how Rapunzel is sort of innocent, yet
head strong, and how she has her little
sidekick Pascal. And I love how Flynn
turns out to be a good guy, not just a theif
who is wanted.
 If I would have had to write this paper in
2010 before Disney released their
version, I would have probably said that it
would be appropriate for children in
today’s society. With the release of
Tangled and its popularity, though, I’ve
got to say that I’m with Rapunzel, Flynn,
Pascal, and Maximus.

9. THE STORYLINE OF TANGLED, IF
YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW
 The story goes like this: a queen is ill during pregnancy and the
King’s subjects search for a legendary flower, that is keeping an
old woman named Gothel young, so the queen will be cured from
her sickness. When she gives birth to her daughter, who they
name Rapunzel, they find that her hair has the same abilities of
the flower. Gothel wants her hair and, because once it is cut it
turns brown and remains useless, Gothel kidnaps Rapunzel and
locks her in a tower. On Rapunzel’s birthday every year, her
parents release sky lanterns in hopes that the lights will guide her
home. Flynn Rider steals the tiara of the lost princess, only to be
knocked unconscious by Rapunzel. Rapunzel shows Gothel her
captive and she is furious, saying that she’ll never leave the
tower. Eventually, though, Rapunzel leaves with Flynn so she can
go to the kingdom. They go on a long ride, and end up falling in
love. Gothel attempts to kill Flynn and Rapunzel tries to heal him
with her magical hair powers but Flynn cuts it off before Gothel
can get to her. And like the usual Disney stories, they live happily
ever after: the end.

10. THIS IS NOT 2010
 If I would have had to
write this paper in 2010
before Disney released
their version, I would
have probably said that it
would be appropriate for
children in today’s
society. With the release
of Tangled and its
popularity, though, I’ve
got to say that I’m with
Rapunzel, Flynn, Pascal,
and Maximus.