10 Symbols in The Frog King

Home essentially represents a home (My home is my castle.) In this case, it is an emphasized home. The princess is safe here. She enjoys maximum protection, her wishes are served by others, and she gives nothing in return. Yet it's clear from the very beginning this is not enough for here (anymore). She has to leave the castle to play with her ball and in the end, she'll leave it to start a new life in another castle.

Depending on the version, the princess plays at fountain or well. In both cases, water represents calmness, peace, but due to its fluidity and ability to change, also suggests a change. Fountains and wells are also closely associated with affluence. Only nobility had fountains on their property and everybody who has a well owns a source of water as a necessary condition for life.

In The Frog King by Brothers Grimm we soon find out the time of carefree pleasures is about to end for the princess. But there will be time for other, more adult pleasures which are also represented by a fountain. She will lose her ball (end her childhood) and enter the world of adults (with promises to be kept).

A frog represents a change, a transformation, what is the main theme of this fairy tale. An unattractive animal turns into a handsome prince. The strange creature turns into a lifelong companion. 

Another popular association of the frogs is fertility. Frogs suggest new life since Egyptians noticed frogs coming with the floods of Nile. In the fairy tale The Sleeping Beaaty a frog is used as a messenger of the soon-to-be-born princess. Symbolism of frogs is versatile and powerful.

All the material goods the princess offers to the frog in exchange for the ball represent exactly that - the material goods. She is willing to part with everything just to get back in her irresponsible child state again. When she gets the ball she immediately proved she is still irresponsible and her word has no value.

But the frog is persistent. It doesn't care for the stuff she offers. The frog wants more - a companion as a support in the climb on the social ladder. Eating, playing, and sleeping with the princess means only one thing. It means belonging to her world. When the princess brokes her promise, the frog persists. A given word is a given word. And eventually, the frog wins.

A wall means a limitation, an obstacle. When the princess throws the frog against the wall (not in all versions!), she symbolically shows her dissatisfaction with the present situation. She is limited in her home, being commanded by her father, so she must destroy the walls of her room, her prison, to get a chance to find her new home.

She also shows her discontent with the frog. Despite her promise, it's not a suitable companion to her. The princess needs somebody of her rank and by the transformation of the frog into a prince she gets exactly that.

The kiss became a part of the story later, after more violent reactions of the princess who wasn't very happy with the frog sleeping in her bed. Remember? She trashed the intruder against the wall! In some versions, she even beheaded it or burn its skin (as we found in the myth about Eros and Psyche, also retold in Beauty and the Beast)!

Kiss is very likely a part of the cultivation of a fairy tale as a literary genre aiming at a wider (and younger, more sensible) audience. A kiss can mean many things (thanks to Juda it also became a symbol of treason) bt n this case it suggests the union and harmony of two people. A kiss is a sign of affection and an introduction to an even more intimate relationship. Remember what happened after the kiss in Sleeping Beauty? Nothing less than marriage!

The iron of the bands around faithful Henry, the prince's servant, represents power, stability. Despite the magic threatening to destroy the prince's social status his servant never lost his loyalty.

Iron traditionally represents confidence, courage, dependence, honor, and protection. In magic iron works against bad luck (think about horseshoes) and is considered as a powerful protecting element due to its hardness and resistance. It even turns red (shows anger) when it's warmed to soften.

All used images are in Public Domain:

https://topillustrations.wordpress.com/2018/11/21/frog-king-in-pictures-illustrations-and-drawings/

https://vintageillustrators.weebly.com/frog-prince.html

https://childrensandhouseholdtales.wordpress.com/2020/07/06/grimms-fairy-tales-illustrated-by-johnny-gruelle/

https://richard-andre.jimdosite.com/other-books/