Starting with snow white

Snow White
most persistently recollected in a reader’s and future artist’s 
imagination.
In contrast to the Grimm’s emphatically defined beauty, figured in terms of sharp 
contrasts in color more clearly depicted for the imaginative eye, Basile’s “Young Slave,” 
Lisa, is imagined first as “a beauteous woman-child, her face like a moon in her 
fourteenth night,” later a “charming creature,” and finally “as beautiful as a goddess” 
(Basile 206, 208, 210). That Lisa is beautiful is clear, but what beautiful means or looks 
like, is left to the reader’s imagination. While this might not appear problematic, the lack 
of specificity and consistency between descriptions of beauty makes the young beauty 
herself forgettable in a way that Grimms’ details do not allow. 
Similarly, in Musäus’ “Richilda,” vague descriptions of Blanca’s appearance 
emphasize instead her angelic quality, finding her “beautiful as one of the Graces, full of 
softness and innocence, the most lovely of female angels” in the first description of her 
physical beauty (42). When further concrete physical characteristics are named, the 
young heroine is either dying or returning to life, again drawing her nearer to that angelic 
representation. After the first murderous attempt, “her rosy cheeks grew pale, every limb 
of her delicate frame quivered, […] her fair eyes became dim (“Richilda” 46). After the 
third attempt, Blanca “closed her azure eyes,” and later when her “prince” or knight 

---

56
encountered her, “Godfrey was charmed at the sight of the beautiful alabaster statue 
through the glass window in the coffin” (“Richilda” 54, 61). Once she awakens, her 
“pale cheeks were tinged with a gentle red, the withered lips began to glow again” 
(“Richilda” 55). Although these scant descriptions of Blanca’s physical beauty leave 
ample room for the imagination, there are enough markers to hint at the coloring which 
the Grimms later embellish, beyond the “gentle red” of “rosy cheeks” and “alabaster” 
skin (“Richilda” 55, 46, 61). The angelic nature of this figure, as well, might have lent to 
the Grimms’ later moralizing depiction of the image of goodness or innocence set in 
opposition to evil or darkness. Through these details, one can detect the Grimms’ 
potential folkloric borrowing and refiguring of Musäus’ version (and potentially others) 
according their own artistry. Still, as with Basile’s version, there are no resonant 
characteristics of Blanca’s beauty. She is angelic, but otherwise indistinct and 
unmemorable. The beauty of the Grimms’ young heroine, on the other hand is colored 
and shaped so as not be forgotten. 
Other formal elements of the Grimms’ tale similarly illustrate such creative, yet 
meaningful alterations, lending to ease of repetition. Hilda Ellis Davidson and Anna 
Chaudhri argue: “Rhythms and patterns are established, for example the use of the 
number three, the balance between the number of adversaries and helpers, the use of 
stock phrases and characters. These devices all ensure ease of transmission, whether in 
writing or by word of mouth” (2-3). Such patterning utilized in the Grimms’ 
“Sneewittchen” then is significant to the tale’s continuation. Therefore, along with the 
emphasis on color, the Grimms’ meaningfully employed the number three. Snow White 

---

57
herself is manifested through three colors and by means of her mother’s wish when she 
“pricked her finger with a needle” and “
Three
drops of blood fell onto the snow” (Grimm 
249; emphasis added). The beauty of the colors together, represented first through the 
“blood,” “snow,” and “ebony frame” form the part natural, part man-made, pure and 
perfect beauty of Snow White (Grimm 249). The dark mother or “wicked stepmother” 
then tempts and apparently murders Snow White 
three
times (Grimm 260). A strand of 
Christianity runs through the tale by means of this number and those tests of the pure, 
innocent beauty. The use of three, particularly in the case of the queen’s villainy was 
emphasized in earlier versions, including “Richilda.”

However, its repeated usage 
throughout the Grimms’ tale promotes retelling, as it embeds the detail into the listener’s 
imagination. Tying this repetition to Christian themes also generates a relatable feature 
for a reader.
25
By framing the tale in structures that are easily recognizable and retold, 
the tale once again secures the means to extend its own longevity.
Importantly though, the tale’s continuity is as much tied to the details that are 
present as those which are absent. The tales that the Grimms produced were timeless, 
literally holding themselves apart from any particular time. Rather than beginning with a 
set time frame or locale, they often began with mention of a season or the key (though 
nameless) figures of the tale, referenced only by occupation. The Grimms begin their 
25
Although I have emphasized the Christian symbolism of the number three, it is useful to recognize that 
this number held spiritual significance in ancient Babylon and Egypt, as well as Greek, Nordic, Roman, 
Celtic, Hindu, and even Islamic traditions. [See “Number symbolism” in 
Britannica Academic
and 
“Interpretation of Numbers” in the 
Encyclopedia of Religion.
] Further, in German folklore, superstitions 
regarding protection centered around the number three (
Britannica Academic
).

While the Grimms may or 
may not have devised Snow White’s coloring with these protective aims in mind, the spiritual significance 
of the number three across cultures and traditions likely contributed to the tale’s persistence in equal 
measure to its earlier mentioned usage as a property of storytelling. 

---

58
Snow White
tale, “Once upon a time in the middle of winter, when snowflakes the size of 
feathers were falling from the sky” (Grimm 249). Outside of the seasonal individuation, 
this tale could happen at almost any time, in almost any place. According to Donald 
Haase, another “absence” to consider is that “of an identifiable narrator” (“Response” 
238). This, as well, presents the reader with a role in “the re-creative process,” wherein 
he/she is “made responsible for concretizing the characterizations, settings, motivations, 
and valuations that the text itself 
has not
specified” (238; emphasis added). By using 
significant absences to enable the readerly re-creation of a tale, the Grimms composed an 
adapted tale (from oral and literary precursors) that was likewise readily adaptable for 
future generations and audiences.
One might contend that the Grimms’ placelessness is not unlike Basile’s “In days 
of yore and in times long gone before…” that begins “The Young Slave” (Basile 206).
However, the difference lies in Basile’s positioning of these figures with individual 
names. Although these characters are by no means fully fleshed out, they are