2019/20 SEASON INVERTIGO DANCE THEATRE: FORMULAE & FAIRY TALES
HANDOUT 6: SYMBOLISM IN SNOW WHITE Symbolism in Snow White: Colors: White, Red, Black No Mother The Poison Apple The Significance of Seven The Names of the Dwarfs The Seven Deadly Sins The Seven Holy Virtues Resurrection The Work Ethic Colors: Skin as white as snow Lips as red as blood Hair as black as ebony These colors provide a direct indication that Snow White is a “coming of age” story. White represents innocence (birth) Red represents life and passion Black represents death. No Mother: The absence of a mother in The absence of the birth mother makes it possible for storytellers to introduce the role of the evil stepmother. The evil stepmother is a common element of many fairy tales: Snow White, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel. The lack of a mother at all is also common, because if a mother were present, the series of events would not unfold as they do in stories where there is no maternal influence. This element of storytelling aims to engage the readers sympathy and it does that very well. The poison apple: This would seem to point all the way back to the biblical reference of the apple which was offered to Eve by the serpent (evil/Satan). The evil queen offers Snow White the apple in much the same way. Snow White knows she should not be speaking to strangers, but she does it anyway and she pays for that mistake by falling under the spell. The significance of seven: The number seven was used many times in the Bible for signifying perfection. The book of Revelation contains numerous groups of sevens such as angels, churches, trumpets, crowns, mountains, stars, and kings. It is one of the most significant numbers in Christianity in the sense that “God created the world in seven days”, or rather he created the world in six days and on the seventh he rested. The names of the dwarfs: The names of the seven dwarfs are: Dopey, Grumpy, Doc, Happy, Bashful, Sneezy and Sleepy. These names are more aptly “the seven moods of man” rather than sins.
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