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Jess Recce
Writing as a Discipline
31 October 2014
Original or Knock-Off: The Quest for Authenticity in Fairy Tales
When we think of fairy tales, we often recall the Brothers Grimm stories. Most people
remember reading the tales when they were younger, but the majority of us are unaware that
there are multiple versions of fairy tales. As readers, we usually assume that the real version of
a story is the one we are accustomed to, and anything different from that version is considered
inauthentic. Although there are several versions of Snow White, readers tend to associate the
Brothers Grimms Snow White with authenticity because of its early publishing date and its
similarities to the Disney version of Snow White. In contrast, readers often view Anne Sextons
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as a reproduction because of its later date of publication; in
addition, her portrayal of Snow White as a lifeless character is perceived as inauthentic because
it deviates from the traditional tale. However, we would interpret Snow White and Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs differently if we read both versions as authentic. By challenging
the belief that chronology and familiarity determine authenticity in the Snow White stories, I
argue that we would alter our views on Snow Whites agency.
Because Snow White was published prior to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,
readers typically believe that the Brothers Grimm tale is the original story. The Brothers Grimm
published Snow White in 1857 (83). This was more than a century before Sexton wrote Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1971 (96). Since the Grimm version was established prior to the
Sexton story, some people argue that Sextons work deviates from the authentic Snow White.
However, the claim that the Brothers Grimm tale is more authentic than Sextons rests upon the

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questionable assumption that the Brothers Grimm were the first to publish the Snow White tale.
Snow White originated as an oral narrative before either the Brothers Grimm or Sexton
published their stories. Marina Warner explains in her article, The Old Wives Tale, that the
collectors [who] have dominated the production and dissemination of wonderful popular
talesoften pass on womens stories (311). She argues that the female storytellers who
circulated these stories were the Grimm Brothers most inspiring and prolific sources (313).
Warners description of the oral nature of folktales discredits the idea that Snow White is the
authentic story because the Brothers Grimm ultimately collected and edited an earlier folktale
version of Snow White. Additionally, literary scholar Maria Tatar argues in Sex and Violence:
The Hard Core of Fairy Tales that the Grimms altered fairy tales to make them more suitable
for children. As they revised the tales, the Grimms no longer insisted on literal fidelity to oral
traditions and deliberately deleted references to sexuality and pregnancy in their publications
(Tatar 373). The Brothers alterations were an obvious departure from the ideas of the first oral
folktales. Much like Warners beliefs, Tatars analysis questions the idea that Snow White is
the original story. The Brothers Grimm were not the first to produce the Snow White fairy tale.
Therefore, the Grimms fairy tale should not be considered more chronologically authentic than
Sextons Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, because both stories deviate from the original
Snow White story, whatever it might have been.
Sextons Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is often deemed an inauthentic retelling of
Snow White because it is usually read in comparison to the Grimms Snow White. This is
likely a result of Sextons untraditional portrayal of Snow Whites agencyor lack thereof. If
readers accepted Sextons version of the story as an authentic version, they would likely be
surprised at some of the differences in the Brothers Grimm tale. In the Grimms Snow White,

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Snow White advocates for herself against the wicked queen. She argues with her disguised
stepmother when the woman appears at the dwarves home, telling the queen, Go away, I cant
let anyone in (Grimm 87). Snow White actively attempts to fight her wicked stepmother,
establishing her agency in opposition to the queen. In contrast, Sextons Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs depicts Snow Whites complete lack of agency. While the Brothers Grimm quite
literally give Snow White a voice in the form of dialogue, Sexton noticeably excludes any
dialogue and renders Snow White voiceless. Furthermore, Snow White is written as a
descriptive narrative while Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is crafted as a poem with short
stanzas and abrupt line breaks. Mirroring the abrupt and straightforward design of the poem,
Sextons Snow White does not struggle with her stepmother in this version of the tale. When the
woman comes to the dwarves door, Snow White is a dumb bunny that lets her in without an
argument (Sexton 99). In Sextons story, Snow White does not actshe just reacts.
Furthermore, Sexton describes Snow White as powerless Woman, explaining that she
held court, rolling her china-blue doll eyes open and shut and sometimes referring to her mirror
as women do (100). Snow Whites only actions are to move her eyes and admire her appearance.
Contrastingly, the Brothers Grimm depict Snow White as an active character. In their version,
Snow White invites her evil stepmother to her wedding. Rather than just rolling her eyes open
like Sextons character, the Grimms Snow White recognized her mother right away (89).
Sextons Snow White merely exists, while the Grimms Snow White demonstrates agency by
acknowledging her relationship with her stepmother. Additionally, Snow White is said to be
white as a bonefish in Sextons tale (96), but the Brothers Grimm illustrate that she is as
beautiful as the bright day (83). Snow White lacks vitality in Sextons tale, but she radiates
liveliness in the Grimms story. Ultimately, if readers believed Sextons version to be the

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original version of Snow White, it would be shocking that the Grimms give Snow White
autonomy and a voice. By reading Sextons Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as authentic
and the Grimms Snow White as an alteration, we can better appreciate how Snow Whites
agency changes in each version of the story.
Furthermore, we tend to designate Snow White as authentic because it is more familiar
to us than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This familiarity with the Grimm Brothers story
is largely a result of Disneys influence on fairy tales; however, familiarity with the tale does not
imply that Snow White is more authentic than other versions. Many children are exposed to
the Walt Disney version of fairy tales in their youth, but most parents neglect to share alternate
versions of the story with their children. In his article Breaking the Disney Spell, Jack Zipes
argues that Disney holds a cultural stranglehold on the fairy tale that influences how society
perceives the tales (333). By animating Snow White, Disney made the story accessible to a large
audience for mass viewing. But, the story Disney told differed from the version that the Brothers
Grimm published more than a century earlier. For example, in the Brothers Grimm tale, Snow
White does not befriend forest creatures, nor do they talk or interact with her. In contrast,
Disneys Snow White anthropomorphizes the animal creatures and even depicts the animals as
Snow Whites protectors (Zipes 347). We tend to think that we obey chronology when
determining the authenticity of tales, but we actually attribute authenticity to the story we
consider familiar. The Disney movie is deemed authentic primarily because it is well known, not
because it was released prior to the Brothers Grimm or Sexton tale.
Our obsession with authenticity and desire to determine the original Snow White leads us
to associate the Disney move with the Brothers Grimm fairy tale when, in fact, the gender roles
in these variants are very different. Zipes also argues that Disney cast a spell over this German

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tale and transformed it into something peculiarly American (347). Though Disney admits that
his adaptation of the movie is based on the Brothers tale, he changes the story (347). Disney
alters the Brothers Grimms Snow White to give Snow White considerably less agency. For
example, the Grimms Snow White is focus of the fairy tale; there is no mention of the prince
until the end of the story, when he decides to transport Snow White, in her glass casket, to his
fathers home (89). In the Disney movie, the prince appears in the beginning of the film and
sings a song declaring his love for Snow White (348). The Brothers Grimm frame their narrative
around Snow White. In contrast, Disney frames the narrative around the prince, ensuring that the
movie both begins and ends with the prince instead of Snow White.
In addition, Disneys Snow White assumes the role of housekeeper and cleans the
dwarves home in hopes that they will let her stay with them (Zipes 349). The movie focuses on
Snow Whites domestic duties and her caring nature towards the dwarves. In contrast, the
dwarves in Snow White allow her to stay with them, but stipulate that she must keep house
for [them], cook, make the beds, wash, sew, knit, and keep everything neat and tidy (85). In the
Brothers Grimm version, the dwarves explicitly ask Snow White to perform these duties.
Contrastingly, Snow White volunteers to do the housework in the Disney movie and cares for the
dwarves naturally. In the movie, she is not asked to do dutiesshe wants to do them. The
different depictions of Snow Whites agency in the movie and the written tale challenge the
claim that the Disney movie is authentic. Thus, the movie and written version of Snow White
portray very different gender roles and consequently refute the idea that Disneys movie is the
authentic story, as well as the belief that Disneys movie and the Grimm Brothers tale are
similar.
Though we tend to designate the Brothers Grimm Snow White as original because it is

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older and more well-known than Sextons Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, we should not
assume that altering a fairy tale that is published after another work somehow makes one version
less authentic than another. Modern twists on fairy tales do not necessarily ruin the
authenticityor the validityof the work. When readers encounter the Grimms and Sextons
tales, they automatically assume that Sextons Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs departs from
the original version rather than viewing the tale as an extension of the Snow White story. In
Introduction: Rhizome, philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari explain that the
rhizome connects any point to any other point, and its traits are not necessarily linked to traits of
the same nature (1). The rhizome does not have a clear end or beginning; each branch is an
offshoot from another. Adopting a rhizomatic view of literature challenges the idea of
authenticity. A rhizomatic approach dictates that the different Snow White variations are
understood as detachable, connectable, reversible, [and] modifiable (Deleuze and Guattari 1).
Instead of viewing Snow White as the authentic tale and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
as a variation, a rhizomatic understanding calls for reading each version as an extension of other
stories. This challenges the notion that the Brothers Grimm story is the only authentic version of
the story because of its chronology or familiarity. Consequently, Sextons Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs should also be considered authentic because it is part of the interconnected
collection of Snow White tales.
The quest for authenticity in fairy tales ultimately influences how readers interpret the
stories. Many people view chronology and familiarity as the standards by which stories are
deemed authentic; however, our readings of later versions of the tales are ultimately influenced
by the assumptions that we made reading earlier versions of the story. Ultimately, if fairy tales
were published in a different order or if readers were more familiar with one version than another,

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our ideas of authenticity would likely be altered. Although Snow White was established more
than a century prior to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and is better known, this does not
mean that the Grimms version is more valid than the more recent Sexton publication. Our idea of
authenticity is probably based on external factors rather than the validity of the tales themselves
and can make us overlook the unique messageand importancethat each fairy tale can hold.

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Works Cited
Deleuze, Gilles and Felix Guattari. Introduction: Rhizome. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism
and Schizophrenia. By Deleuze and Guattari. Trans. Brian Massumi. Minneapolis: U of
Minnesota, 1987. 3-28. Class handout, English 185, Fall 2014.
Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm. "Snow White." 1857. The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts,
Criticism. Trans. Maria Tatar. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. 83-89. Print.
Sexton, Anne. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." 1971. The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts,
Criticism. Ed. Maria Tatar. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. 96-100. Print.
Tatar, Maria. "Sex and Violence: The Hard Core of Fairy Tales." 1987. The Classic Fairy Tales.
Ed. Maria Tatar. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. 364-73. Print.
Warner, Marina. "The Old Wives' Tale." 1994. The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts, Criticism. Ed.
Maria Tatar. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. 309-17. Print
Zipes, Jack. "Breaking the Disney Spell." 1995. The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. Maria Tatar. New
York: W.W. Norton, 1999. 332-52. Print.