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Rebecca Anzueto
Professor Lewis
Eng. 114B
February 27, 2015
The Evolution of Snow White
From psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud’s theory in Grimm’s story of “Snow White and the
Seven Dwarves” is existent within the characters. The fairy tale by the Grimm Brothers has an
interesting interpretation of Freud Sigmund’s theories of psychoanalysis. The fairy tale really
gives a meaning to the stages of Freud’s three parts to the physic apparatus: Id, ego, and
superego. Freud’s theory of the Id, ego, and superego are present throughout the story of “Snow
White and the Seven Dwarves” in the characters of snow white, the queen, the dwarves and
huntsman.
The story is about a Queen that wished for a daughter as white as snow. One day her wish
came true and she gave birth to a daughter with skin as white as snow, lips red as blood and hair
black as ebony. Unfortunately the queen died after giving birth to Snow White. The king married
a new woman who was beautiful but had proud and cruel intentions. She owned a mirror and she
would ask the mirror daily, “who is the fairest of all?”. The mirror would always respond with
“Thou Queen, art the fairest of all.” Until one day the mirror answered that Snow White was in
fact more beautiful than her. The Queen grew with jealousy and ordered the huntsman to kill
Snow White and bring back her heart. The Queen ate the heart thinking it was snow White’s as a
form of justification for her death. The huntsman was unable to kill Snow white and let her free
instead. Snow White then ran to the forest and met seven dwarves, where she lived happily ever
after.
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Two of Freud’s theories in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” are the theories of
personality such as the Id, ego, and superego and the theory of the unconscious and conscious
levels. Freud’s Psycho Developmental theory of the Id, ego, and superego, is a process of
development that happens as we grow. In the Id stage we are more vulnerable; the Id, is the
unconscious part in our psyche that does everything it is asked to do based off of our natural
instincts. The Id usually plays a main role in newborns until they grow and develop an ego and
superego. An ego is still part of the Id except it has been modified to fit the world and what it
has been taught. It usually seeks out pleasure and avoids pain. The superego incorporates morals
from society itself, ideas and views that are learned and taught to us from parents and other
people. The superego usually develops around the ages of 3 to 5; by that time we have all three
parts developed. The superego’s job is to control the id’s impulses, to prevent faults that can lead
to fatal consequences. All three parts are needed to balance each other out, the Id can not
function properly without the superego, and the ego can not balance it self out without the
superego. All parts of Freud’s theory of the psychic apparatus need each other in order to create
the individual or unique personalities we all have.
Snow White helps children suppress gender roles and find their personality, and traits that
define them. The story of Snow White teaches children to understand that jealousy can be
towards a parent or a parent to a child, but this is all associated to the ego. It helps children
understand that we are all human and it is okay to feel these feelings as long as we know or learn
how to control them. Snow White represents the ego in the story, she is more conscious about
her actions and how the world perceives her. She has no feelings of anger and revenge towards
her stepmother even though they are felt towards her. This shows a fully developed ego, a person
with a mature ego is better at blocking anything negative or just accepting it for what it is. These
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are forms of blocking and overcoming frustrations that the ego is trained to do in order to stay in
a positive and radiant energy field that results to happiness. This is why Snow White agrees to
serve the seven dwarves, and why she sings and talks to animals outside the forest; she simply
just accepts things for what they are and has a positive outlook on certain situations. Overall
Snow White shows innocence, the ideal image of a woman. She also refuses to show anger, and
instead chooses compassion and happiness, just like the ego plans to seek out pleasure and avoid
pain.
The Queen represents the Id; she has an uncontrollable urge, filled with jealousy and
wants to kill snow white. In the story the Queen orders the huntsman to kill Snow White and
bring back her heart. Instead the huntsman let Snow White free and brings the Queen back the
heart of a wild boar instead of Snow White’s. The Queen assumed she had eaten Snow White’s
heart, but instead ate the heart of a wild boar and that Snow White remained alive. Unlike Snow
White the queen is quite the opposite she shows signs of rivalry. She channels her personal
frustrations of not being beautiful compared to snow white, in a form of rage and frustration, this
causes her to act out on Snow White by wanting her killed. The queen is unable to cope with the
truth and block those feelings that cause her to do such horrible actions. This is what the Id does,
since it still has not learned how to control feelings and emotions it acts out on them. The Queen
also displays an unconscious persona. A perception from her reality where she asks the mirror if
she is beautiful, she expects a yes, because that is the reality and truth in her own world she has
built. In an unconscious level she expects everyone to see her as a beautiful person, but in realty
it is not what other people see, or at least the mirror in the story does not. The mirror represents
the conscious level when Snow White grows to become a beautiful soul and recognizes it as
truth. The mirror sees what is, not what could be. The mirror represents reality and the Queen
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represents an imaginary persona of ones self image. Once the ego outgrows the id a balance is
established in the person and the control of their actions.
The Huntsman, who shows remorse and pity on Snow White, decides to set her free, this
represents the superego in the story. The superego works against the Id, when the Id, being the
step mother, sends the Huntsman, being the superego, to kill Snow White the man decides to
give her a second chance and lets her go. The Huntsman feels sorry for Snow White putting him
self in her shoes, the action of the superego would be to let her go, in order to prevent the Queen
from getting into trouble. This is what happens to people in real life as well, when a person is
about to do something wrong that comes with dire consequences, a little voice inside their head
usually tells them not to do it. That little voice is the superego that prevents the person from
doing evil and harm. The dwarves in the story also represent the superego, when Snow White
takes refuge in the home of the seven dwarves. The dwarves get excited when they see Snow
White in their home, and tell her that she could stay as long as she serves them and cooks for
them. In return they offer their protection, the ideal superego always looks out for the ego. The
superego is known to act on the ego, and that is exactly what the dwarves (the superego) are
doing to snow white (the ego). The dwarves are overprotective of Snow White, but that is there
job as the superego in the story. Just the super ego in a person looks out for the ego and prevents
the id from making mistakes. Overall balance is created between the superego and ego.
Fairy tales give a deeper meaning, understanding, and interpretation of what makes a
person an individual. They help adults and children reexamine their thoughts and feelings.
Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis provides us with a better understanding of how a person grows
from one stage to another, and the differences between them. Freud’s theory of a person’s
personality of the Id, Ego, and Superego, teaches us the balance between all three. Like the
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superego controlling the Id to keep the person out of trouble. Grimm’s version of “Snow White
and the Seven Dwarves” has a deeper meaning then most perceive, it shows a level of conscious
and unconscious reality that exists between the Queen and the mirror. The development of an
individual’s personality that exists throughout all three characters; Snow White, the Queen, and
the Huntsman, and how they work together in a psychological process. Grimm’s version has a
deeper meaning that can be found with careful analyses; it shows us the road to finding our
identity, and the balance between the parts of the psychic that make up our personality.
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Works Cited
Grimm, Jacob Ludwig and Wilhelm Carl Grimm. (1812). Snow White and The Seven Dwarves.
Retrieved from <http://pinkmonkey.com/dl/library1/story158.pdf>