Today we will be looking at the fairy tale of Rapunzel from a psychoanalytical perspective. We will be exploring some of the key themes in the story and how they might relate to real life experiences.
What Is Rapunzel About?
Rapunzel is a classic fairy tale that has been retold countless times. The basic story goes like this: A couple are expecting a baby. And behind their house is this awesome garden that is filled with glorious rapunzel, (this is kind of like spinach and the roots taste like radish).
The wife falls in love with this plant for some reason and NEEDS it. She sends her husband down into the garden to steal the lovely vegetable which haunts her brain.
Anyway, once there, he runs into a witch.
The witch says “You can take all of this rapunzel, but in exchange, I simply want your newborn baby.”
Because the husband is such a woosy, and fearing for his life, and because he feels his wife cannot live without that plant, (thus jeopardizing the life of the baby), he says yes in the moment.
So he gets the plant – but NOW the witch is coming. And come, she does. She takes the baby in the still of the night and locks her away in a tower.
Talk about being raised by wolves!
Little “Rapunzel”’s only company is a talking chameleon, apparently, if you saw “Tangled”.
And maybe music. Because she sings. Out into the forest from high up in her tower.
Well one day, a young prince happens to hear her singing and is entranced by her voice. Think “Taylor Swift” singing “I’m the problem it’s me.”
He begins to visit her regularly, and by wooing her with his own version of songs – she eventually lets down her hair so that he can climb up to see her. (There is another version where he waits outside the tower, hiding in the woods, and watches the witch approach: “Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your hair”. When the witch leaves, he mimicks the sound of the witch’s voice: “Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your hair.”)
Anyway, before you know it, you know what happens. Hold onto your puritan ears. They start doing it. He’s a charming young Prince and she’s freaking Rapunzel. What do you expect? It’s like Han Solo meeting Princess Leah. They’re doing it every day after school when the mother is still at work!
And so one day Rapunzel says to the witch: “Mother, why is my waste growing outward so unexpectedly?”
Of course the mother loses it.
“You whore!” she shrieks.
This is probably the scene where Rapunzel sees the witch side of her mom for the first time, for real. The mother-witch cuts off Rapunzel’s hair, and plans a trap to destroy the prince.
So the next time the prince comes over, and says “Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your hair” – the witch pretends to be Rapunzel and lets down the cut golden hair.
But when he’s at the very top of the tower – she says “Gotcha” and cuts the hair – which causes the prince to fall from the tower and become blind. In some versions the witch cut his eyes out herself, and in others they were maimed in the fall from the tower on some roses down below.
Regardless, Rapunzel agrees to go with the witch to live in the wilderness (or the desert) FOREVER if she promises to give the prince his sight back.
The Prince is shattered. He roams around having lost his Rapunzel.
But, at his lowest of lows he retreats to the wilderness (or the desert) thinking this is just it. But lo! Guess who is there! The Prince and Rapunzel are finally reunited and live happily ever after.
Analysis
There are many different interpretations of this story, but some of the key themes include: abandonment, isolation, betrayal, and redemption. Let’s take a closer look at each of these themes and how they might relate to real life experiences.
Abandonment
One of the main themes in Rapunzel is abandonment. Rapunzel is abandoned by her parents at a young age and left in the care of a witch. This abandonment can symbolize feelings of being unwanted or unimportant. It can also lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness, as Rapunzel feels cut off from the rest of the world when she is locked away in the tower.
Isolation
Another theme in Rapunzel is isolation. As mentioned before, being locked away in a tower can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness. This isolation can be physical or emotional. If you have experienced isolation in your own life, you may feel like you are cut off from the rest of the world. If you have ever lived in a big city, you might know how it feels to have people everywhere and yet to strangely have no one to talk with.
Betrayal
The theme of betrayal is also present in Rapunzel’s story. The witch betrays Rapunzel’s trust by locking her away in the tower and cutting off her hair when she finds out about the prince visiting her. This betrayal can symbolize feeling betrayed by someone you thought was a friend or feeling like you cannot trust anyone. If you have experienced betrayal in your own life, it can be hard to trust people again – but it is important to remember that not everyone is bad and there are people who do care about you.
Redemption
Finally, the theme of redemption is present in Rapunzel’s story. After being betrayed by the witch, Rapunzel agrees to go with her into the desert or wilderness if she promises to give the prince his sight back. This act of kindness ultimately leads to them being reunited after many years. The theme of redemption can represent second chances or hope for the future.
Freud’s Interpretation
Sigmund Freud founded the psychoanalytic school of thought. He believed that stories like “Rapunzel” were expressions of hidden desires and wishes. Freud believed that the long hair symbolized Rapunzel’s coming sexual maturity and her desire to be sexually active. The Prince, according to Freud, is a symbol of Rapunzel’s libido – her repressed sexual urges. When he climbs up her hair to reach her, it is an expression of her hidden desires to have sex.
There are many different interpretations of this story, and in this short blog we’re not going to get too deep. However, according to Sigmund Freud, the Oedipus complex is a stage in development where children develop sexual feelings for their opposite-sex parent and feel rivalry towards their same-sex parent. This suggests that Rapunzel’s Story can be interpreted as a young girl’s journey through the Oedipus complex.
Rapunzel’s relationship with her devouring mother is one of the most important aspects of the story. In most versions of the tale, Rapunzel’s mother is very overprotective of her daughter and keeps her locked away from the outside world. This could be seen as an extension of the mother’s own Oedipal complex; she is trying to keep her daughter away from men because she herself is attracted to them.
The prince in the story can also be interpreted as an extension of the father figure. He is the one who rescues Rapunzel from her tower and helps her come into contact with the outside world. He represents the outside world that Rapunzel’s mother has been trying to keep her away from.
The climax of the story occurs when Rapunzel finally comes into contact with the outside world and realizes that there is more to life than what her mother has told her. This represents Rapunzel coming out of the Oedipal stage of development and beginning to individuate herself from her mother.
Carl Jung’s Interpretation
Carl Jung’s interpretation of “Rapunzel” is quite different from Freud’s. For Jung, the tower represented Rapunzel’s consciousness. He believed that the prince represented Rapunzel’s animus, which is the male aspect of her psyche. The long hair symbolized Rapunzel’s connection to the spiritual world. When the prince climbs up her hair to reach her, it is an expression of his desire to connect with her on a spiritual level.
Bruno Bettelheim’s Interpretation
Bruno Bettelheim was a psychoanalyst and educator who wrote “The Uses of Enchantment.” In this book, he analyzed several different fairy tales, including “Rapunzel.” Bettelheim believed that the tower represented Rapunzel’s isolation from the outside world. He believed that Rapunzel’s hair symbolized her sexual purity. When the prince climbs up her hair to reach her, it is an expression of his desire to possess her sexually.
Endings
Rapuzel’s fairy tale contains many elements that can relate closely to real-life experiences . The themes of abandonment, isolation, betrayal, and redemption are all present in both the story and in many people’s lives .
If you have experienced any of these things yourself, and if this story resonates with you, know that things may be difficult now, but there is always hope. Each of these characters, in their own way, are on the brink and on the edge, isolated in their own tower. But they keep trying until they run into someone who “gets them” and “sees them” for who they really are.
Kerry Heffelfinger is the co-founder of Sunflower Counseling in Missoula with his wife, Marie Pettit, LCPC. He and his wife created Sunflower together to help people get better counseling in their lives. With their team of therapists and client care coordinators they have helped thousands of families in Montana by getting people the counseling they need. Before this, Kerry ran Highwood Music where he taught 80 students in classes how to play classical piano and guitar. He graduated from UM with a Master’s in Education.
