Household Tales · Chapter
Rapunzel explained
A childless couple's longing for a child leads the husband to steal rampion from an enchantress's garden.
What happens
A childless couple's longing for a child leads the husband to steal rampion from an enchantress's garden. The enchantress bargains for their newborn daughter, whom she names Rapunzel. At twelve, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower with no door, accessible only by her long hair. A prince hears her singing, discovers the enchantress's method, and climbs up to meet her. They fall in love and plan her escape, but Rapunzel accidentally reveals the prince's visits. The enchantress cuts Rapunzel's hair, banishes her to a desert, and tricks the prince into climbing to her, then blinds him with thorns when he jumps. Years later, the blind prince wanders into the desert where Rapunzel now lives with their twins. Her tears restore his sight, and they return to his kingdom to live happily.
Themes in this chapter
Promises and Their Consequences
The husband's promise to give up his child to the enchantress sets the entire story in motion, leading to Rapunzel's imprisonment and later suffering.
Transformation and Redemption
Rapunzel and the prince both endure hardship and loss, but are ultimately reunited and healed, symbolizing redemption through love and suffering.
Jealousy and Envy
The enchantress's possessive jealousy over Rapunzel's affection for the prince leads her to cruelly separate them.
Characters to notice
- Rapunzel
The beautiful child taken by the enchantress, imprisoned in a tower, and later banished to a desert after her secret visits with the prince are discovered.
- the princess
The enchantress (Dame Gothel) who locks Rapunzel in a tower, cuts her hair, and blinds the prince.
- the young King
The prince who hears Rapunzel's song, climbs her hair, and later becomes blind after jumping from the tower.
- the servant
The husband who steals rampion for his wife and agrees to give up their child.
Key passages
“There were once a man and a woman who had long in vain wished for a child. At length the woman hoped that God was about to grant her desire.”
A childless couple finally conceived after years of hoping.
Sets up the initial longing that leads to the bargain with the enchantress.
“Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, fine as spun gold, and when she heard the voice of the enchantress she unfastened her braided tresses, wound them round one of the hooks of the window above, and then the hair fell twenty ells down, and the enchantress climbed up by it.”
Rapunzel's golden hair was used as a rope for the enchantress to enter the tower.
Key magical element enabling both imprisonment and the prince's visits.
“Two of her tears wetted his eyes and they grew clear again, and he could see with them as before.”
Rapunzel's tears miraculously restored the prince's sight.
Climactic healing moment symbolizing love's power to overcome suffering.