Top 10 Dark Origins of Classic Fairy Tales
#10: Beauty and the Beast
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Written by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in 1740, much of Beauty’s story would be familiar to audiences. It’s the Beast’s backstory, however, that’s decidedly different. The prince’s father died before he was born, and when a neighbouring kingdom invaded, his mother left him in the care of a capricious and powerful fairy while she went off to war. The fairy raised him . . . but then tried to seduce and marry him. When he refused, she turned him into a beast. Another twist is that Beauty’s real father turns out to be the Beast’s mother’s brother. In other words, Beauty and Beast are first cousins . . . So, a heartwarming story of abandonment, child abuse, and incest. Ah, tale as old as time.
#9: The Ugly Duckling
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The original glow-up story, this “duckling” is an inspiration to everyone who looks forward to growing up and flaunting their fine selves at their haters. In the original by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, however, his first flock never sees this transformation. He’s harassed and bullied so bad that he flees. A new flock he finds takes him in … but are soon massacred by hunters. An old woman adopts him, but her cat and hen are just as bad as his first flock. After a hard winter of isolation and neglect, he emerges from a frozen cave to find a flock of swans who finally accept him. There is a happy ending at least, but that’s still a lot for one little bird to handle.
#8: The Frog Prince
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In the modern versions, a frog helps a princess and in return she graciously gives him a kiss – transforming him into a handsome prince. In the tale written down by the Brothers Grimm, though, the princess is a spoiled brat. After she loses her golden ball, a frog offers to fetch it if she’ll be his close companion. She lies, and when she gets what she wants she runs away. When the frog shows up at the castle, she cries, complains, and finally hurls him against a wall. The impact turns him human, and (obviously concussed, we think) he decides to marry her. The only lesson the princess learns is that lying, using people, and attempted murder will win you a prince.
#7: Rapunzel
If you’re expecting a PG-13 story . . . think again! This tale went through several iterations in the 17th and 18 centuries, passing through French, Italian, and German hands, before coming to the Brothers Grimm. In the original versions, Rapunzel’s frisky times with the prince are revealed when it becomes obvious that she’s pregnant. As punishment, the fairy, or sorceress, cuts Rapunzel’s hair and banishes her to the desert. When the prince comes back for more hanky panky, he’s horrified to discover her captor there instead. His logical solution is to jump out the window. Having lost his eyesight in the fall, he wanders the wilderness for years, eating grass. There’s a happy ending eventually, but not before the prince and princess suffer a lot of hardship.
#6: The Little Mermaid
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The original Hans Christian Anderson version of this tale is just haunting. After saving a prince from drowning, the little mermaid goes to a Sea Witch who promises to make her human . . . in return for her voice AND tongue. The transformation feels like a sword is cutting her in two; every step she takes feels like walking on knives. For her trouble, the prince falls in love with someone else. Her sisters give her a knife, saying that washing her feet in his blood will restore her mermaid form. In Anderson’s original ending, she dies and becomes sea foam. In his revised version, she still dies but is given a chance to go to heaven by doing 300 years of good deeds. So, yay?
#5: The Goose Girl
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In this brutal tale, collected by the Brothers Grimm, a princess sets off to a neighboring country to marry a prince. On the way, her maid decides hereditary monarchy is for losers, and orders the princess to switch clothing and horses so that SHE can be in charge for once. The most easily swayed aristocrat in the world agrees. The princess ends up tending geese, but just to be sure she isn’t found out, the maid has the head of the princesses’ talking horse cut off. Eventually though, the switch is discovered. As punishment, the maid is stripped naked, shoved in a barrel lined with spikes, and rolled through town until she’s dead.
#4: Snow White
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The Disney version of Snow White is already pretty bleak when you think about it. But the Brothers Grimm version really ratchets things up a notch. Their first variation made it Snow’s biological mother who gets jealous; she abandons Snow in the forest, or has a servant do her dirty work. Later versions added the huntsman, who’s asked by the Evil Queen to bring back Snow White’s lungs and liver so she can EAT them. The most drastic change is the ending, however, wherein the Evil Queen unwittingly attends Snow White’s wedding, and the prince makes her dance in red-hot iron shoes until she dies.
#3: Cinderella
While there are many versions of this story from all over the globe, dating all the way back to 7BC, we’re focusing on the Grimm Brothers’ 1819 version. Cinderella’s father is still alive, and apparently a-okay with the abuse his daughter faces at the hands of his step-wife and her daughters. Following the Ball, when the prince makes his rounds to find the girl who fits the missing slipper, the stepsisters are encouraged by their mother to cut off their toes and heels to make the slipper fit. Of course, the blood is a dead giveaway, and he chooses Cinderella anyway. At the wedding, doves peck out the stepsisters’ eyes. Karma is . . . pretty awful.
#2: Little Red Riding Hood
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There are MANY early versions of this story, all of them laying the “don’t talk to strangers” moral on real thick. In some, Red unwittingly eats part of her grandmother when the wolf offers her food; in others, she removes her clothes and gets in bed with the wolf. There are versions where Red is held captive but later escapes; in another, the wolf simply eats her; in yet another, she escapes after discovering her grandmother's remains. The Grimm Brothers added the woodsman cutting the grandmother and Red free and filling the wolf’s stomach with stones so that when it tries to run, it dies. Yeah, it's messed up any way you slice it.
#1: Sleeping Beauty
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First published as “Sun, Moon, and Talia” by Giambattista Basile, this tale is as dark as it gets. Following the events of the spindle curse, a King finds Sleeping Beauty (named Talia), assaults her in her sleep, and leaves. She becomes pregnant, gives birth, and only wakes up when one of her twins tries nursing her finger and sucks out the cursed splinter. Returning, the King is shocked to see Talia awake, but eventually slinks back to his wife (yep, he’s also married). After his wife learns of Talia and the twins, she tries to feed the babies to the King in revenge. The King discovers the plot and has her burnt alive - and then marries Talia instead. Um, Happily Ever After?
