Snow White as Christian Allegory?

I'm getting old. I can't remember anymore whether I've already read the things I think or if I'm making it up on my own. In any event, I was idly following Isabel around in a card shop the other day, when it struck me that the popular version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves could easily be read as a Christian allegory.

First, up -- the witch is Satan. It actually is not that far-fetched for medieval audiences to conceive of Lucifer as a woman, particularly a sorceress. For evidence, just look up the Tale of Sir Percivale in Malory. Percivale is almost seduced by a beautiful witch who turns out later to have been the devil in disguise.

In Snow White, our protagonist is sent into hiding because of the intense jealousy that the witch has for human heroine. The witch had been the fairest of them all (just as Lucifer had been the fairest of the angels), until Snow White shows up. This reads rather like Satan's jealousy that God will choose humanity over the angels.

Also keep in mind that Snow White is an image of purity and innocence -- like our first parents.
To destroy Snow White, the witch will give her poisoned fruit (a la the Tree of Knowledge) that causes her to sleep (death) until awakened by the loving kiss of Prince Charming (Christ) causing her to reawaken (the resurrection).

Fair enough. It's actually something of a classic narrative archetype. No big surprises there.

But what to do with those seven dwarves?

Well, there is that number seven...which could be a holy number...or it could stand for the seven deadly sins.

There might even be a taint of this meaning left in the Disney version. Consider the state of affairs for the Dwarves when Snow White arrives. The live in squalor and filth. They live in complete disorder with little more purpose in life than to plunder mines for wealth. The association between dwarves and mining is hardly new either -- it goes as far back as Scandinavian mythology. Dwarves are creatures of the earth--they represent physicality and physical nature. Thus, it is only appropriate that they each represent a physical vice. Indeed, even Disney conveys a certain element of this in the characterization of the Dwarves. Grumpy is practically a Spenserian figure for Wrath as Sleepy for Sloth. Dopey might not be a deadly sin, but he certainly embodies human ignorance while Sneezy stands for sickness. I'll readily concede that Bashful, Doc, and Happy disrupt my otherwise beautiful analysis, but I'm going to blame that on Disney. I'm sure I could turn Doc into Pride (he's got to be the smartest, right?), Bashful into Envy (he wants what he can't get because he's too shy), and Happy into Lust (he's always "happyn," nudge, nudge, wink, wink) if I really wanted to, but I don't think we need to go there.)

Snow White (purity) brings order and cleanliness to the Seven Dwarves. It's an allegory of the struggle between purity and vice, where purity wins out and even transforms vices into virtues.

Comments

[Zaman]

That was truly amazing. I recognised Star Wars,The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Lord of the Rings as Christian/ religious allegory but I never realised that Snow White could be seen as Christian allegory before but your analysis really works! Well done!