Mother Gothel is actually evil. She doesn't love Rapunzel because, essentially, she doesn't love anybody except herself. She has a good reason to kidnap Rapunzel and to keep her imprisoned. She wishes to be forever young; and for that she needs the magical power of Rapunzel's hair.
Rapunzel receives “disfigurement and banishment” and exile, as “punishment for her sexual recklessness” (Cashdan 159). Cashdan believes her and the prince's sufferings illustrate “the seriousness with which premature sex is treated in fairy tales” (159).
The act of Dame Gothel locking her away in a door-less tower in the middle of the forest could be considered her wanting to protect Rapunzel from the dangers of the world, while some versions focus on the themes of Rapunzel being trapped against her will and persecuted by the evil witch.
The story by the Brothers Grimm begins with a mother's craving for rampion, a leafy green vegetable. This craving leads to her giving up her baby to Dame Gothel. Dame Gothel names the child Rapunzel, but as the child ages, Gothel realizes how beautiful Rapunzel is and hides her in a tall tower to protect her.
Schulz renamed the main character Rapunzel after the rampion, which is a leafy green used for salads that Rapunzel's parents eat out of the witch's garden. As punishment for stealing from her, the witch kidnaps Rapunzel and raises her as her own, but locks her away in a tower.
We Became Disney Princess! Types of Princesses in One School
Did the witch really love Rapunzel?
Donna Murphy believed that Gothel did really love Rapunzel in her own way. "I also think there is this thread of a kind of love that she does have for Rapunzel. It's not what she set out.
Rapunzel's real story is said to have been loosely based on a true story about a woman, Saint Barbara, in Italy around the 3rd century. The story of Barbara was that she was so beautiful that her father felt he had to lock her in a tower to protect her.
Although she did take care of her when growing up and did gain her affection through treats, birthday gifts and pretense of motherly love, she spent eighteen years subtly but viciously abusing Rapunzel, verbally and emotionally, to destroy her self-esteem and make her completely dependent and vulnerable on her.
Rapunzel was eventually freed from Gothel by her lover Eugene Fitzherbert as Pascal and threw Gothel out of the tower and destroyed Rapunzels powers that kept Gothel alive. It is unknown of the fall from the tower killed her or that she turned to dust because of Rapunzels hair being cut off first.
Though this could be attributed to her wishing for Rapunzel never to leave her, Gothel seems to be a misanthrope and has true hatred for people because they took away the magic flower she wanted all to herself, even though it could help the sickness of others.
Rapunzel Has Two Daughters Named Anastasia And Drizella
Rapunzel Tremaine has two daughters before she goes into the tower, and she devotes all her energy to them. Tying in with the Cinderella side of her character, the two girls are known as Anastasia and Drizella, the names Disney chose for Cinderella's stepsisters.
According to the Brothers Grimm, Princess Rapunzel is named after the cultivated vegetable of the same name, growing in a witch's garden. The wording of the story suggested to me that the Grimms' contemporaries would be familiar with the plant as a vegetable, that it wasn't a fantastical invented thing.
There has also been the suggestion that the story of Snow White originated from the real-life story of a countess and her alleged lover, Philip II of Spain. The countess, named Margarete von Waldeck (1553 – 1554) was supposedly poisoned at a young age, as politics were more important than real love at the time.
Gothel wasn't a good parent and was capable of awful things. She was selfish, cunning, and smart, which made her a great Disney villain. Audiences know that Gothel is bad news, but in certain ways, she's still an underrated Disney villain.
The Takeaway: Sometimes, standing up to what you believe in is hard, takes courage and may go against popular opinion. But, it's important to identify your core values and beliefs to be able to stay true to them in a world that will frequently challenge them.
After Mother Gothel stabbed Flynn Rider (who was actually named Eugene Fitzherbert), Rapunzel made a deal with her mother to save his life. She promised that she would go with Gothel anywhere she wanted and wouldn't try to escape, so long as Rapunzel was allowed to heal his wounds.
Gothel is the only person to have seen the creation of the mystical Sundrop Flower and unlocked its healing incantation. She also kept a diary of sorts, in the form of magic mirrors which were in a secret lab of hers, while she further researched the Sundrop Flower's magic of healing and longevity.
Once Rapunzel disobeys her and begins to fight back, Mother Gothel becomes overtly violent, more abusive and dangerous. Mother Gothel consistently puts Rapunzel down in underhanded ways. In her brilliantly written villain song “Mother Knows Best”, she insults her “adopted daughter” incessantly.
Why did Mother Gothel keep Rapunzel her real birthday?
The villain took every precaution to ensure that her abducted daughter wouldn't be discovered by anyone, including keeping her entirely confined to a tower for 18 long years. It would have been the least of her deceptions to tell Rapunzel that she was born on a different day.
Queen Ariana is the Queen of Corona, the birth mother of Princess Rapunzel and a secondary character in the Disney Channel animated series, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure.
Gothel fatally stabs Flynn upon his arrival and attempts to leave with Rapunzel, who offers to go willingly with her if she can heal Flynn. Gothel reluctantly releases her. However, Flynn unexpectedly cuts Rapunzel's hair, causing it to lose its magic and turn brown.
Summary. The original story of The Little Mermaid is much darker than the Disney version, featuring gruesome elements that wouldn't fit well in a family-friendly film.
What is the dark and original story of Cinderella?
But do you know what the original story was like? If you thought the story started the same as Disney made it, then you are right! Cinderella's mother dies and then her father marries her evil stepmother, adding her and Cinderella's evil stepsisters to the family. Lucky for Cinderella, her father doesn't die.
