Snow White Gothic

As she was born, she bore death. The child came in the recesses of a dull and barren winter, on a night that had been so cold that it felt hollow, like a jagged hole bitten out of the earth. The queen mother had died just hours after the birth—a fever, so they claimed, no doubt brought on by the miserable chill of the season. The sickness quickly spread to the other wet-nurses and servants—she passed from hand to hand in a succession of fleeting maternity, leaving her swaddled in mourning clothes. They preferred to keep the child covered, for even a fleeting glance of her chilled milk-white skin and blood stained lips created a deathly shiver.
The child was hungry too, it was said; what stores of food the kingdom retained were never enough,
I was intrigued by how these stories that we now tell to children in simplified, cute versions were once incredibly violent and dark, and I wanted to use the style of the Gothic to revitalize these elements in a new rendition of the story. The presence of dark, creepy settings (instances of pathetic fallacy) in the “barren” castle and untamed wilds respectively are definite Gothic elements, as is the inclusion of supernatural beings to create a heightened sense of terror in the audience. One of the most prominent Gothic elements that I used throughout the story is the idea of the “uncanny”—that the princess’s appearance, thought to be beautiful in its individual elements, is considered “a stroke away from beautiful”; when these elements are placed together, the contrast between them is far too unsettling. The feeling of the uncanny caused by the princess is further augmented by the association of her physical features with death and decay, causing them to further recoil from her, rejecting her from society and casting her out into the “wilds.” This rejection of a monster due to its uncanny physical appearance and association with death is similar to Frankenstein, a paramount Gothic work. “Rumors” and “whispers” mentioned throughout the story are references to the effects of folklore and legends about supernatural creatures, and factor into both Dracula and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Additionally prevalent is the theme of maternal relationships and rejected creations. Much of the “Female Gothic” (Gothic novels written for any by women) related to the struggles of women’s condition in society and as mothers. The story emphasizes how the princess is limited by her condition as a woman, and is thought less of because she lacks the “femininity” and “softness” expected of her. It is for these reasons that she decides to prey on the men of the forest and