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Ethan Song
McClure, Gregory John
Writing 39B: Rhetorical of Horror
October 24, 2016

Snow, Glass, Apples: Re-interoperation of Feminism and sexist prejudices

Inasmuch as there may be numerous variations of the same tale

developed over time, these narratives are resistant to societal change.
They thus depict some historical aspects and concepts of a particular
time. As one of the earliest fairy tales, Snow White is a typical
stereotype that always represents as pure which is same like white as
snow and clean, red as blood and bloodiness. In the story, Snow, Glass,
Apples, Neil Gaiman alter the roles of villainess and heroine for Snow
White and the Queen by giving Snow White as a child vampire. Snow,
Glass, and Apples maintain the norms of the historical times depicting
women as storytellers through whom the audience understands other
characters but challenges the traditional set-up by presenting the evil
character as a heroine. Relating to Criterion of Horror, by Nol Carroll,
Gaiman successfully applied the horror conventions to subvert
audiences exceptions and to enhance his horror theme. In the
presented essay, I will focus on how Neil Gaiman break audiences

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stereotype of feminism by applying horror conventions to subvert

audiences expectations.
Gaiman goes against tradition and introduces the concept where
the sexist way of viewing females where beauty goes hand in hand
with power is negated. Unlike the traditional fairy tales where female
beauty is glorified Gaiman retains a neutral description of female
physical beauty (Bachhilega 127). He instead focuses on describing the
personality of the male characters to bring out their nature. The ideal
of female beauty is the tradition of most fairy tales (Baker-Sperry and
Grauerholz 713). Baker-Sperry and Grauerholz are true that most fairy
tales shape female beauty image to audiences and thus create and
enhance audiences exceptions. However, this is replaced with
descriptions of the male characters. For instance, the eye of scrutiny is
especially placed on the male angel whose bad characters are
illuminated through this technique. The Queen also glorifies the King to
bring out his positive aspects. She says his beard so red, his hair so
gold, his eyes the blue of a summer sky, his skin tanned the gentle
brown of ripe wheat" (Gaiman 371-372). This is against the patriarchal
undertones evident in other fairy tales as described by (Baker-Sperry
and Grauerholz 713).
Gaiman has successfully applied subversion which goes against the traditional
historical perspectives. For instance, the idea that Snow White is passive and is clouded

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by the introduction of taboo topics like necrophilia and incest. Through this controversial
view of the traditions at that time, the pure and passive nature of the prince and Snow
White remains questionable. Through this negation of the quiet and passive nature of
females that was evident during that historical time, the males are cast in lesser roles
which further silences the patriarchal tradition. Even the mirror no longer has a voice
simply as a way of minimizing the roles of males in that society conceived by Gaiman.
Strengthening the female agency allows the audience to understand the roles of the
Queen and Snow White.
In order to form a powerful contrast to the Snow White, Gaiman subvert
audiences regular expectation by shaping an independent image to the queen. Considered
a story teller, Gaiman choice the voice from the queens perspective to tell the story to
audiences. In Once Upon a Time She Kissed the Girl: A Feminist Reading of Two Fairy
Tales by Neil Gaiman, Sanne Prsson, Gaimans choice of narrator in Snow, Glass,
Apples can be said to be significant from a feminist perspective, since he has disregarded
the typical male voice (Prsson 4) It is true that Gaiman make a smart choice of using
the queen as the narrator. Furthermore, audiences have to listen the story from the queens
perspective and it lead to a consequence: audiences will enter the queens standpoint to
feel the story in the narrative of the queens world. Therefore, the queen become an
authoritative role in the story. By this, Gaiman can easily go into audiences heart to
control and subvert their expectation. I do not know what manner of thing she is. None
of us do. She killed her mother in the birthing, but thats never enough to account for it
(Gaiman 1). As a story teller, Gaiman first used the queens voice to set up the status of

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the characters in the story: the Snow White as a cold-blooded vampire and the Queen is
the character who against her and save her country. I will not scream. I will not give
them that satisfaction. They will have my body, but my soul and my story are my
own, and will die with me (Gaiman 3). Afterward, Gaiman used the queens
mental activity to seek audiences sympathy and build a heroine image: she will
not give up to protect his country and even her die.
Suspense and the use of foil as a literary device are evident in the connection and
contrast between good and evil and leaving the audience to judge the character of the
Queen. By giving audiences a standpoint of the queen, audiences can can judge between
the queen and Snow White for themselves. In order to shape a heroine image to the
queen, Gaiman applies foil in the vampire Snow White to set off the heroine, while
subvert and enhance to audiences expectations of the pure Snow White. For instance, in
the process of trying to seek for sympathy, the Queen depicts herself as good while Snow
White is evil. Gaiman uses foil to show the contrast between the Queen and Snow White,
and also among the different characters. In the end, the author does not make it clear who
the real villain is, and this judgment is left to the audience. However, the villain is already
clear enough for audiences to judge in the story.
Snow, Glass Apples was written at a time when the thin line separating
wickedness and good was blurred simply as a way of maintaining the moral standard of
the society during those historic times. In her justification, the Queen presents her actions
as the only way of saving the kingdom from evil Snow White. In the preceding fairy tale,
Snow White, female characters were either the paragons of purity and beauty or the

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complete ensemble of wickedness. However, in a bid to maintain the moral situation of

the historical times, Gaiman presents the characters as being in a gray area, and this
overthrows the previous conception of angels versus monsters in fairy tales. The
patriarchal archetypes have been done away with simply as a way of presenting the
society as one having a moral standing. However, even while doing this, Gaiman leaves
the audience guessing whether they should trust the Queen or Snow White, thus the
existence of suspense was the integral part of the story.
While undermining the necessity of female beauty, Gaiman introduces the
concept of pop psychology as it was coming up during that historical time. The rivalry
between Snow White and the Queen seems to take a different turn as Oedipal conflicts
are evident. Pop psychology had started entering literature as the field of psychology was
growing when Gaiman was conceiving this story. Whether the author was conscious of
the concept or not, pop psychology is evident as mother and daughter are still in
competition (Joosen 60). The Queen describes the body of the king when Snow White
left him saying There were scars on my love, her father's thighs, and on his ballockpouch, and on his male member, when he died" (Gaiman 374). Oedipal complexes
proceed further when there is a repeat in the references to age difference between the
Queen and Snow White (Slabbert 78). Severally, Gaiman paints the Queen as old while
Snow White is a virile and beautiful but evil young lass. Through pop psychology,
Gaiman successfully brings out the theme of sexualizing to further portray the evil nature
of the women in the text. He also employs the use of description and objectification of
males as literary devices to drive this point home. Gaiman goes against the traditional

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norm where women were viewed only as sexual objects, to the ability of the females to
sexualize the men. The two women were simply fighting for one man. The Queen also
directly describes the king from a sexual point of view saying, I would go to him, and
pleasure him, and take my pleasure with him" (Gaiman 372). The king is just an object of
her sexual pleasure as she only uses his physical attributes to describe him. Furthermore,
the Queen attempts to conquer the prince using her sexuality (Joosen 82). This is evident
through the description offered by Gaiman. The use of description to bring out the theme
of sexuality helps the audience get a first hand experience of the existence of oedipal
conflicts and the need for power as depicted by the Queen.
Gaiman still maintains the fact that the female character is still enchained to the
power of males as evident in the traditional and historical perspectives of that time. As
explained by Bacchilega, the ending of fairy tales leaves one questioning and affirming as
evident in Gaimans tale (Bacchilega 22). At the ending, it is evident that the Queen was
telling her story using her perspective but also from inside a kiln. When considered from
the historical perspectives, the Queen is punished for behaving in a manner that is not
expected of females at that time. In Gender Myths in Neil Gaimans American Gods,
Morgan R. Muller, Gaimans queen, similar to Laura in American Gods, defies all
traditional expected gender roles with her independent, confident, and authoritative role
in the story. The power of the story lies in Gaimans critique of the patriarchal system of
power that controls the characters of the original fairytale(Muller). It is true that in the
queens standpoint, her only witnesses are the audience who cannot speak for her, and
thus patriarchy prevails.

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Works Cited

Gaiman, Neil. Snow, Glass, Apples. DreamHaven, 1994. Print.

Sanne Prsson, Once Upon a Time She Kissed the Girl: A Feminist Reading of Two
Fairy Tales by Neil Gaiman. Centre for Languages and Literature Lund University, 2016.
Bachhilega, Christina. P3ostmodern Fairy Tales: Gender and Narrative Strategies.
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997. Print
Baker-Sperry, Lori and Liz Grauerholz. The Pervasiveness and Persistence of the
Feminine Beauty Ideal in Children's Fairy Tales. Gender and Society, vol. 17, no. 5,
2003, pp. 711-726. Print.
Joosen, Vanessa. Critical and Creative Perspectives on Fairy Tales: An Intertextual
Dialogue between Fairy-Tale Scholarship and Postmodern Retellings. Wayne State
University Press, 2011. Print.
Slabbert, Mathilda. Inventions and Transformations: Imagining New Worlds in the
Stories of Neil Gaiman. In Susan Reddington Bobby (ed.) Fairy Tales Reimagined:
Essays on New Retellings, 2009, pp. 68-85. Jefferson: McFarland. Print.
Morgan R. Muller, Gender Myths in Neil Gaimans American Gods.