A New Perspective
A New Perspective
The Story through the eyes of Magic Mirror
Belonging to the Queen of a prosperous kingdom, I am a mirror imbued with magical properties. Ever since I came to senses, I have known the power of my magical abilities. I have the right answer for every question of my master. Unfortunately, I was not possessed by someone wise who could understand my significance and employ me judiciously. The Queen who owns me had nothing to do with the real beauty of life but her fair skin and external facade. Ever since she became my owner, she chose to summon me to answer the same futile question- “Magic mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in that land?” (Jacob Grimm & Wilhelm Grimm,1857). And I am bound to tell the truth; it’s not a blessing but curse to me that I have to tell the truth no matter what the consequences can be. So, I told her every time, “My Queen, you are the fairest in that land.” But after all these years with the Queen, I wish I could embellish the dressing table of a person who seeks inner beauty, wisdom and morality. Today, my fair Queen, my owner angrily threw me on floor and walked away in distaste, unknowingly towards her own death. Why did she do so with me? Well, to answer that, I shall have to tell you the tale from the very beginning of my Queen’s entry to this kingdom.
My Queen, my fair lady was undoubtedly a woman of extreme external beauty. Her white, porcelain skin and beautiful face made her proud enough to be blind in vanity. She became the second wife of a great King when she grew up. Needless to say, she carried me to her new palace as well. But, something offended my Queen beyond repair in this new land, new kingdom. The first wife of our King dies after giving birth to an angelic daughter who was christened as Snow White for she was definitely the most beautiful, fairest and elegant. Now, as my Queen asked me her same question, I was bound to tell the foolish lady about the truth, “My Queen, you are the fairest here so true. But Snow White is a thousand time more beautiful than you.” My answer left her infuriated. Her vanity immediately turned into barbarity. She ordered a hunter to kill Snow White and bring her lungs and liver to ensure that she was dead. But the hunter let Snow White run away. He killed a young boar, brought its lungs and liver to the Queen. Rejoiced, the cruel Queen cooked and ate the meat thinking that she was again the fairest in this land. Snow White escaped through the forest and discovered a small cottage where seven little dwarfs lived. When the dwarfs found her sleeping on their beds, they were amazed. But when she woke up, introduced herself and told her piteous story, the kind dwarfs let her live with them. In return, Snow White promised to keep the house, cook food and take care of them.
The proud Queen, who was in illusion of her victory, once again asked me her favourite question. Oh how desperately I wanted to tell a lie that Snow White was dead. I would have been proud of lying for the well-being of the innocent princess. But, I was bound. With a broken heart and fear, I told the wicked woman, “My Queen, you are the fairest here so true. But Snow White beyond the mountains at the seven Dwarfs is thousand times more beautiful than you.” Enraged my answer, she banged me on table. Gnashing her teeth, she set out to kill Snow White.
In disguise of an old woman, she fooled Snow White and made her eat a poisoned apple. Almost victorious, the barbaric Queen returned to her palace. But God helped the innocent princess again. The unconscious Snow White seemed dead to the dwarfs. Lamenting her death, they put her in a glass coffin box and carried her to the top of a hill. A Prince soon met the dwarfs there, beheld the unconscious Snow White in glass coffin and fell for her. He saved her life and she agreed to marry him. The invitation of Snow White’s wedding yesterday reached our great King and unworthy Queen. Unaware that the bride was Snow White, they agreed to attend.
Let me welcome you to the present time now. Today the Queen again asked me the same question. And I gladly told her the truth as I know that Snow White is safe with her Prince, “You, my Queen, are fair so true. But the young Queen is a thousand times fairer than you”. The foolish Queen who can go beyond every limit of barbarity, she fumed in the heat of defeat. She threw me to floor and left to attend the wedding to kill Snow White. She does not know that this time, it’s her death awaiting her at the wedding. She shall be recognised for all her sins and
crimes. She shall be punished to death. And that is what she deserves!
I now wish that get a master wise enough to make the judicious use of my magical powers. I wish I get owned by Snow White so that I can tell her every day that she is the most beautiful in the whole world, not because of her skin but heart.
Analysis
The purpose of rewriting this story
The purpose of writing this story is to explain it through the perspective of the magical mirror which has such powers and was yet trapped in the possession of a wicked Queen. There has been an earnest endeavour throughout the story to tell that the real beauty does not depend on face,
body and skin but the goodness of behaviour and thoughts. In this version, the magical mirror is showed to have no respect for the wicked Queen or her fair skin.
The differences from original story
The story has been shortened a bit by removing unnecessary details. But it does not hamper the message this fairy tale is expected to convey. The two failed attempts by Queen to kill Snow White have been eliminated. The description of how Prince convinced the dwarfs to let him take the coffin and the dislodgment of apple from Snow White’s throat has been removed as well. Instead, there is a lot of emphasis on the feelings of the mirror, the way it considered its lady Queen to be foolish, barbaric and unworthy of respect. The main difference is in the perspective.
Elements of interpretation
The story has been narrated in the first person from the perspective of the mirror. So, all those unneeded incidents which were either before the mirror’s introduction in story or not relevant to the moral conveyed by the story have been eliminated.
Personal point of view
I chose to narrate the story with some rhetorical elements and additions to story with one goal- to illuminate the importance of beautiful nature and not beautiful appearance of a person. The mirror knew the wicked Queen very well and hence, it has rhetorically criticised the false beauty, pride and brutality of the Queen. It has several times expressed that it preferred ‘telling a lie’ to save the life of Snow White and let her live in peace. Rhetorically, the obligation of the magic mirror to give a truthful reply to the Queen has been called as a curse rather than blessing. The mirror has basically expressed itself to exemplify two ideas: ‘Beauty is from within’ and ‘A lie to save an innocent life is better than telling the truth’
References of the story
‘LITTLE SNOW-WHITE.’Grimm's Household Tales, Volume 1/Little Snow-White.
Jacob Grimm & Wilhelm Grimm: Kinder- und Hausmärchen; Band 1, 7. Ausgabe (children's and households fairy tales, volume 1, 7th edition). Dietrich, Göttingen 1857, page 264–273.
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Retrieved from Web on 27 Feb 2013 http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Tales/SnowWhite.html
