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| Franz Jüttner (1865–1925): Illustration from Schneewittchen, Scholz' Künstler-Bilderbücher, Mainz 1910 |
An article exploring Snow White as an allegory of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the context of a poem titled 'Snow White' which follows.
The Immaculate Virgin Mary is the true Snow White since She is as “pure as the driven snow; [and] her blessings and
graces, [are as] numerous and varied as
falling snowflakes.” I have always been intrigued by the character of Snow
White, and the fairy tale has long resided in my imagination. The true reason
for this is because Our Lady is the archetype of all women whose greatness,
beauty and purity transcends comprehensibility, and so all idealistic portraits
and figures of women, in art, literature, the collective cultural imagination, and
above all in Salvation History, are as sacramentals, as icons as it were, of
Mary Herself – each providing a unique glimpse into the person of our Lady.
Though indeed, the primacy of biblical feminine icons must be emphasised – as these, belonging to Public Revelation, provide the clearest portrait of Mary, and serve as morsels providing the greatest depth of insight into Her. Still, this does not mean we ought to neglect and throw away the plethora of feminine characters which have occupied history, or have been molded in the imaginations of mankind throughout the ages, since these speak in diverse ways of Our Lady – even if at times certain negative aspects need to be polished and done away with – for only the positive, good and noble traits of these women bear witness to Mary the Most Blessed of All Women.
Though indeed, the primacy of biblical feminine icons must be emphasised – as these, belonging to Public Revelation, provide the clearest portrait of Mary, and serve as morsels providing the greatest depth of insight into Her. Still, this does not mean we ought to neglect and throw away the plethora of feminine characters which have occupied history, or have been molded in the imaginations of mankind throughout the ages, since these speak in diverse ways of Our Lady – even if at times certain negative aspects need to be polished and done away with – for only the positive, good and noble traits of these women bear witness to Mary the Most Blessed of All Women.
To appropriate and recognise Our Lady in
these historical and mythical feminine icons, is part of a process to see the
Face of God in all things, and testifies to the fact that all these feminine
icons are so prominent and/or have been crafted, as a temporal response to the
inner yearning that beats within the heart of every human being to be one in
union with Mary the Mother of God, as was Joseph and as was Christ. Every heart
longs for Mary, since this is indistinguishable from the thirst for God
inherent in every man. Why? For God is so united to Mary in an indivisible bond
of grace, that one cannot be one with God unless one is one with Mary, and vice
versa.
Pagan peoples have fashioned women deities and have lauded them across the millennia, yet this has been out of a misguided expression of a holy desire for union with Mary, and of that innate knowledge of Her within each heart, which has been repressed through original and personal sin. Plagued with concupiscence, men so often objectify women, and women often objectify themselves, reducing themselves to totalities to be used and adored in their own right – yet all of this, among other things, is simply a misguided expression of a desire to reverence and devote oneself to the Blessed Virgin.
In regards to feminine icons of our Lady in literature, art, and folk tales – these are often imperfect representations of our Lady, yet they’re generally not misguided, but rather, are usually the result of creative bursts or moldings over time, that unintentionally reveal the feminine ideal as it exists not so much in the mind of man, but in the Mind of God. An ideal which is enfleshed in Mary the quasi-incarnation of the Holy Spirit (quasi meaning not-the-incarnation of the Holy Spirit, but after Jesus, the closest human person who manifests the Divine Personhood of the Holy Spirit).
Snow White is
among the feminine icons present within the Western imagination – gathered from
an existent German fairytale, and published in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm. The
birth of Snow White comes about as an unexpected fulfilment to a thought her
mother had, whereupon pricking her finger with a sewing needle by the window,
she saw three drops of blood fall upon the snow, whereat “she thought to
herself, ‘would that I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as
black as the wood of the window-frame.’ [And] soon after that she had a little
daughter, who was as white as snow, as red as blood, and her hair was as black
as ebony; and therefore she was called little Snow White.” This itself can be
interpreted allegorically, as referring to how from all eternity God’s first
thought ‘outside’ of Himself was of Mary in connection with the snow, the Fiat
of Creation; the blood, the Fiat of Redemption, and ebony, the Fiat of Sanctification.
In expected fulfillment, She was conceived and born as Snow White – predestined
to be Immaculate – “as white as snow” (Ps 51:7) – in body and in soul.
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| The Dwarfs Warn Snow White |
There are varying
versions of the tale, and within this poem a snapshot of the tale is taken,
along with an alternative take, partly as a result of explicitly writing it to
serve as an allegory of Our Lady in general, and particularly, yet not
exclusively, of Our Lady and the role She takes within the individual life of
the soul. The poem is ultimately a narrative that explores the soul in relation
to Mary, in a true devotion, involving the interplay of the human will, and the
Divine Will – and the state of living in It. Yet it also speaks of the drama of
sanctification as it plays out in the historic, universal, and particular
sense. In the following poem Snow White represents Our Lady; the seven dwarfs
the fecundity of Our Lady in general, the seven heavenly virtues possessed by
Our Lady and by the soul who claims Hers as her own, as well as the Seven Gifts
of the Holy Spirit; the evil Queen step-mother represents the human will and
the false-self – the greatest enemy of the soul; and the prince the soul’s true
self in Christ. On another level, Snow White can also represent the soul in her
aspect in, with, and through Mary, and the wicked Queen a wicked soul. Without
wanting to go into too much detail, certain aspects, due to the manner in which
they could be misunderstood ought to be briefly explained.
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| The Queen-Witch, Disney |
The poisoned
apple that the Queen, who is a witch, offers to Snow White, alludes to how Our
Lady took on and suffered the consequences of the Fall and sin itself,
throughout Her life, yet namely at Calvary. In the poem, and in the original,
the apple does not go down into Snow White’s stomach, but is lodged in her
throat. In a spiritual sense, Eve choked and died when she ate the forbidden
fruit in the Garden of Eden – that is, her soul died to grace and the sanctity
of the Divine Will. Now Mary, was undefiled, without original and personal sin,
and yet, She the Innocent and Spotless One – She who is Snow White – in,
with and through Her Son freely took on what Paul calls the wages of sin –
death. This death she took upon Herself at Calvary, yet not a physical death,
nor the same kind of spiritual death suffered by Eve (a death of sin), but a
spiritual death that involved total self-nullification and kenosis
(self-emptying) – a death of love.
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| Snow White, llewllaw |
Hence Snow White’s death, the result of
biting into the poisoned apple offered by the Queen, allegorically represents Mary’s
willingness, not ignorance and naivety, to take upon Herself the evils of our
sinful condition and the punishment due to our sins, which the human will
offered Her on Mt. Calvary. This is a reparative co-redemptive act carried out
by the New Eve, to remedy the Fall of the first Eve. Snow White’s resultant
death, thus represents Mary’s mystical death beneath the Cross. The fact Snow
White is laid to rest on a hill, is indicative of this. The fact the apple does
not enter Snow White’s stomach represents how Mary suffered and died for us,
with Christ, without it reaching her stomach – that is, without being tainted
by sin. In contrast the poisoned apple descends into the stomach of the wicked
Queen, and is really a parallel symbiotic occurrence and result of Snow White’s
coming back to life. Thus we can understand how Mary’s coming to life in the
soul, through a true devotion, brings about a death to the soul’s human will (in a non-ontological sense of course), and
brings about that restoration of her soul, which is her land, into the kingdom of the
Divine Will, in the unitive bliss of intimacy as between two spouses. Just as the land flourished under the Queenship of the newly wed Snow White - but now, chronologically, we're getting ahead of ourselves!
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| Snow White Speaks to a Little Bird, Disney |
The kiss of the
prince might be said to refer to the fiat (the ‘yes’) of the soul, through
which Mary is born again in the soul. This fiat must be constant, and in turn,
Mary will rise exponentially triumphant within the soul, bringing with Her the
whole forest – the seven dwarfs of the Gifts of the Spirit and Her Virtues, and
the creatures of Her sacred acts. Such a soul participates in the Festivity
which is God’s Will – a festival which is embodied in the Mystery of the
Resurrection and Ascension – and hence, in Mary’s Assumption.
The dancing mentioned
in two places, and the allusion to rolling and round motions speaks of the
rounds of Mary – the acts Mary made during Her life in union with the life and works of the Trinity – with which the soul
participates, along with the rounds of the soul herself – of course, being
united to Mary’s rounds and which are only able to be carried out by virtue of Mary's rounds. By means of these rounds, carried out before the soul
has entered the permanent and lofty state of the Supreme Fiat, she is disposed
to abide permanently in It.
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| Snow White in the Coffin, and the Prince |
Yet to live in God’s Will the soul must be willing
to eat the poisoned fruit of her own will, which is the same as the call from
our Lord to drink the bitter cup (Mt 20:22). The naivety of Snow White in
biting from the apple alludes to how Mary’s focus was not on saying “no” to the
human will, but on saying “yes” to the Divine Will – to such a point that there
is a forgetfulness, holy indifference and a certain blasé quality that manifests
in paying no heed to the human will, since there is a total mesmerisation on,
and immersion in, the Divine Will. Every time the soul fuses herself with Mary,
and expresses her own fiat, she is at once 'biting' her will (perhaps we might say,
to the point that time after time, bite after bite, there is ‘nothing’ – in a figurative,
non-ontological sense – left of this apple of her will) and thus dying to her
false-self and will, grace rises her again and again in newness and fecundity of
life in the sanctity of God's Will, until she comes to live in It. Leaving forever the coffin of her self-will. This
high estate of living in God’s Will, which involves perfect union with Mary, is
ultimately symbolized in the poem by the inhabiting of the kingdom, its
flourishing, and the wedding that takes place in the castle between Snow White
and the prince.
***
Snow White, Snow White,
So comely fair,
None possess
Thy beauty rare,
None, princess,
To thee compare.
She runs through the forest
with skips and hums,
Her enchanting voice
singing, cheeks blushing plums.
All the meek creatures of
the woods come forth,
To play and dance, ‘round
May Pole and her dwarf,
Named Soliday, her favourite
of all,
Yet Lunday, Martday, Merday,
eq’lly small,
And Joveday, Venday,
Saturday alike,
Clap and sing with birds and
deer whilst Snow White
Holds a hare by paws, in
ringing motion –
As all faces smile in sweet
devotion.
Snow White, Snow White,
So comely fair,
Thy pale cheeks
Blush in morn’s air,
As dancest
Thou with white hare.
On left shoulder hers hangs
a basket weaved,
Filled to the brim with
blackberries retrieved,
Elderb’rries, strawb’rries,
boysenberries too,
And even a dozen mushrooms
with hue
So white, yet less bright
indeed than her glow
Fair skin – that’s whiter
than the softest snow.
She twirls – the delight of
all living things –
Causing her ebony black
hair, like wings,
To touch the sky, brushing
fronds of willow
In glide ascent that makes
its dryad show.
Snow White, Snow White,
So comely fair,
Lovely, long,
Silk black hair,
Causes all
At thee to stare.
From a distance walks the
false Queen, a witch,
Who heard the pipes of
dwarfs, and chorus pitch,
Masked as haggard peddler –
lusting for death
Of she whose blood red lips
leak sweetest breath.
In hand she holds an apple –
fine to eye
But poisoned on the inside,
to make die
The cause of her envy, since
spake to she
Mirror on wall: “Snow
White’s more fair than thee.”
So up she went to the now
resting girl
And offered her apple as
though a pearl.
Snow White, Snow White,
So comely fair,
That she-wolf
Doth cruelly dare,
To harm thee
With sweetful snare.
In her innocence dear Snow
White took bite
And at once blood ran cold,
and slumped to right.
With glee her step-mother
changed to normal,
Making flight on broom,
whilst woods were mournful.
When the sun was nearly set,
each dwarf,
All seven, raised her up,
and on heads, north,
They carried her – silently,
nature still.
Betwixt the seven mounts on
a green hill
They laid her down to rest,
fashioning glass
Coffin, s’that all in beauty
hers could bask.
Snow White, Snow White,
So comely fair,
All sorrow
Cannot compare:
What a loss! –
O living prayer.
On third day, riding horse,
there comes a prince
Whom chasing bear with
hunter’s bow did wince,
Since there, dead, by fate
not chance, graced Snow White
He saw whose sight in heart
lit chaste delight.
Dismounting horse, he walked
towards her bed,
Where she lay as though fast
asleep, not dead.
For three whole hours he sat
beside her,
Gazing in love, when from
his eye fell tear
That splashing unto glass
split it in two,
Causing dwarfs to wake from
sleep with knifes drew.
Snow White, Snow White,
So comely fair,
Asleepest
Thou layest there,
The object
Of princely care.
Lunday was about to yell,
and Merday
To strike, but prince’s love
did them allay;
And so from behind a rock
they all peeped,
As now, without a veil
divide, leaped
The prince’s heart, who
leaning in did kiss
With peck, Snow White’s rose
lips, tasting bliss –
O Fruit of life! whereat as
he withdrew
Her body stirred, and gave a
cough that threw
Poisoned apple into clouds,
clearing throat
Wherein it lodged, thus
stomach ne’er was smote.
Snow White, Snow White,
So comely fair,
Thou wert dead
In coffin square,
‘Till prince kissed
Thee on lips bare.
The maiden’s face returned
to rest asleep,
As dumbstruck frozen, all
stared in awe deep;
‘Till the meekest smile that
ever was grew
Upon her lunar face; as eyes
her blue
Did ope’ and head did raise
aloft from grave.
The prince, beside himself,
did lift from nave
Snow White upon his
shoulder, spinning ‘round,
And ‘round, midst joyful
laughter, whilst on ground
Four dwarfs rolled with joy;
bouncing the rest
‘Round spinning pair, and
soon all woods joined fest!
Snow White, Snow White,
So comely fair,
Thou indeed
Art sacred flair,
Whose life doth
To all, life share.
Meanwhile the evil queen was
poised in pride,
Standing erect, certain Snow
White had died.
Then she spoke: “Mirror,
mirror, on the wall,
Who in the land is fairest
of them all?”
“In past you’ve twisted my
words to suit thee,
But know for sure, her
hair’s black as ebn’y,
Her lips as red as blood,
and skin like snow –
Ah, Snow White, is the
fairest, thou shouldst know!”
At this, queen ran to
window, screaming loud,
As apple piece in mouth-oped
fell from cloud.
Snow White, Snow White,
So comely fair,
In whole land
Thou art most fair,
Since beauty
Thine, none doth wear.
Involunt’ry bite, no bite at
all, but
Missing teeth, went straight
down her pipe to gut;
And at that, that was that –
she died right then,
Her limp corpse toppled,
falling as did Gwen
For Lancelot; and as blood
seeped from neck
‘Twas snapped, a crow her
eyes did eat and peck
As pack of mutts lapped pool
of blood. A dove
Brought this glad news to
prince and May in love,
Glad, since queen’s death
meant exile’s end, so wend
She home, in castle wed, and
land anew flourishéd.
Snow White, Snow White,
So comely fair,
Now thou sits
In royal chair,
At king’s side
As one most fair.
24th June, 2016.
