Evil Queen in the context of "Snow White"

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⭐ Core Definition: Evil Queen

The Evil Queen (German: böse Königin), also called the Wicked Queen or simply the Queen, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of "Snow White", a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. In the Grimm's story, the Queen is Snow White's stepmother obsessed with being "the fairest in the land". When the Queen's magic mirror reveals that the young princess Snow White is considered more beautiful than her, the Queen decides to kill Snow White using witchcraft. When this attempt fails, Snow White is rescued and the Queen is executed for her crimes. A stock character of this type also appears in a number of other fairy tales and legends.

The Grimms' tale is didactic, meant as a warning to young children against the dangers of narcissism, pride, and hubris, and demonstrates a triumph of good over evil. In some revisions, however, the Queen has been reworked or portrayed more sympathetically, serving as the protagonist, antihero, or tragic hero. Her many variants in adaptations notably include the Disney version.

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👉 Evil Queen in the context of Snow White

"Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection Grimms' Fairy Tales, numbered as Tale 53. The original title was Sneewittchen, which is a partial translation from Low German. The modern spelling is Schneewittchen. The Grimms completed their final revision of the story in 1854, which can be found in the 1857 version of Grimms' Fairy Tales. The story was first published in English in 1823 under the title "Snow-Drop", which was also used in other early translations. Occasionally, the title "Little Snow-white" was also used.

The fairy tale features elements such as the magic mirror, the poisoned apple, the glass coffin, and the characters of the Evil Queen and the seven Dwarfs. The seven dwarfs were first given individual names in the 1912 Broadway play Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and then given different names in Walt Disney's 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The Grimm story, which is commonly referred to as "Snow White", should not be confused with the story of "Snow-White and Rose-Red" (in German "Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot"), another fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm.

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