Snow White and Its Symbols

In the beginning, the queen makes a wish. She yearns for a child with skin white as snow, cheeks, red as blood, and hair, black as the frame through which she sees the drops of blood in the snow.

These three colors (apart from gold) are by far the most used in fairy tales and may in these case represent three stages of life: white for birth, red for life, and black for death. We can also see them as the three stages of being a woman: white for the girl, red for the adult woman, and black for the crone (old woman).

Less known is a fact that three colors are used later as well: when the evil queen brings decorative ribbons to Snow White. Yellow represents the soul, red stays for the body, and blue for the intellect.

None of the classic fairy tales use the fairy numbers three and seven so abundantly. Three is a divine number, representing heaven (Grimms were devoted Christians). Seven means perfection (made of heavenly three and earthly four) or completeness (seven days of the week, seven deadly sins, seven wonders of the world).

In the story number three is used as a pattern (three drops of blood), repetition (the evil queen repeatedly tries to kill Snow White), and escalation (three messages of the mirror).

Number seven is used as the symbol of abundance. It simply means 'a lot'. Yet seven dwarfs were not enough to guarantee a safe shelter for her. Some scholars see the dwarfs as symbols of seven deadly sins, mostly connected to the evil Queen. We can also apply their counterpart, the seven virtues, to Snow White.

Mirrors were in fairy tales often used as a symbol of wealth (Snow White comes from a rich environment, just like Bluebeard, for instance) and also represent the margin between the real and the imaginary world (all-knowing talking mirror clearly represents both, like the mirror in the sequel of Alice in Wonderland.

In earlier versions of Snow White huntsman has to bring liver and lung to the evil queen to prove the death of the girl. Numerous ancient cultures treated the liver as the seat of life and erotic desire. Some also believe the fate of one's person is written in the liver. Lungs, intertwined with breath, of course, represent life force.

Similarly, but not exactly the same, we should perceive the heart with the same role in later versions of the fairy tale. While it's a symbol of life, it also represents passion and love. Both emotions are absent at the evil queen who symbolically destroys them at her stepdaughter by eating the heart (this cannibalistic detail is lost in later variations).

Stay-laces represent Snow White's vanity. Despite warnings from the dwarfs, she could not resist the temptation of colorful accessories brought by the evil queen in disguise. So she is punished with death.

The comb is intertwined with hair, a symbol of feminity and fertility. The comb is able to control hair but Snow White is not able to control herself. So she dies again.

The poisonous apple is the most notorious symbol in Snow White. Apples are seen as a symbol of desire and, being closely associated with the goddess of love Venus made their way as the graphic representation of forbidden fruit in the Bible (the Bible originally mention only 'forbidden fruit', while the painters decided to portray it as an apple).

It's a symbol of beauty, hope, and sweetness, both characteristics the evil witch tries to take away from Snow White. Apple symbolizes feminity, another characteristic of young Snow White which is vanishing from the evil queen, as well. The apple kills Snow White for the third and seemingly final time.

A coffin is the last place where somebody rests. It is a clear sign of death but in this case, being made of glass means more. Glass is, like the mirror, a material that divides two worlds and a glass coffin can be seen as the place where a resurrection can happen. The theme of long sleep or resurrection is pretty popular in fairy tales (think about Sleeping Beauty or Little Red Riding Hood).

Indeed, the glass coffin offers one more chance to Snow White. Thanks to its transparency, her beauty is revealed to Mr. Right - the prince who became her husband, protector, and avenger. We should not be surprised that her body was in the coffin for three days, just like Jesus stayed dead before the resurrection.

An owl, a raven, and a dove joined the dwarfs in mourning. Owl stands for fortune and prosperity, raven for intelligence and prophecy (read more), and dove for spirituality and renewal. When birds came, the transformation of Snow White, this time for good, is implied.

If she wants to finally grow up and become able to confront her ultimate enemy, she needs all these characteristics. Or at least, she needs somebody who can compensate for her shortcomings. Yes, this is Mr. Right.

Shoes are traditionally a sign of maturity (think Cinderella who needs shoes to resist her family and find a husband). Kids in most cases didn't wear shoes. They were too expensive and short-lived for fast-growing feet. A certain level of responsibility came with a first pair of shoes.

In this fairy tale, the evil queen took responsibility for her wickedness by being forced to dance in hot iron shoes until he dies. Obviously, just death is not enough. Her actions demand extremely cruel death in public.

Shoes for the evil queen are made of iron. Iron is not only suitable for torturing because it could be warmed up to very high temperatures, but it's traditionally also metal associated with evicting evil spirits.

Shoes for the evil queen are made of iron. Iron is not only suitable for torturing because it could be warmed up to very high temperatures, but it's traditionally also metal associated with evicting evil spirits.

Image credits:

https://www.coroflot.com/p/7617029

https://steemit.com/snow/@tolovaj/is-snow-white-actually-a-conglomerate-of-other-fairy-tales

https://past-tense.mystrikingly.com/blog/snow-white-by-gertrud-caspari

https://thefairytales.substack.com/p/snow-white-illustrations