Rapunzel

Rapunzel

Retold and Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky

 

 

Bibliography: 

Zelinsky, Paul. Rapunzel. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 1997.

Plot Summary and Critical Analysis:

The story of Rapunzel is an ancient one in which a man and his wife are, for a long time, unable to conceive a child.  When the wife finds “her dress growing tight” she tells her husband that they are going to have a child.  While she is expecting the wife sits and looks into the beautiful garden next door.  The garden is owned by a Sorceress and, among other things, it contains an herb called Rapunzel which the wife craves greatly.  When the Sorceress catches the husband stealing the Rapunzel, she says he can take it, to save his wife, but their child must become hers upon its birth.  The child is born, the Sorceress takes the child, raises her, attending to her every need, and then puts her in a beautiful luxurious tower with no doors where she is to live.  The girl must let down her hair for the Sorceress to climb in order to enter the tower.  One day a prince comes along, falls in love with Rapunzel when he hears her singing, and they are secretly married, and when Rapunzel’s dress grows tight around her waist, the Sorceress cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and banishes her to the wilderness where she gives birth to twins.  When the Prince returns he is bereft at the news of Rapunzel’s banishment, and falls from the tower and is blinded.  He wanders aimlessly until, one day he hears Rapunzel’s voice again, and they are reunited.  Rapunzel’s tears fall into his eyes restoring his sight and they return to his kingdom to live “a long life, happy and content.”

Paul Zelinsky writes in “A Note About Rapunzel” at the end of the book that his tale is based on both the Grimms’ retelling and the earlier Neapolitan story called Petrosinella.  Choosing much of the structure of the Grimms’ tale with the themes and details of Petrosinella and other tales, Zelinsky creates a unique blend of the frightening aspects of the Grimms account with the more gentle nature of the French tale. 

The author’s illustrations, created in oil paintings that mirror, and sometimes quote artists such as Rembrandt and Raphael, create a vibrant and beautiful setting.    Zelinsky says that he took his inspiration for the paintings from the Italian versions of the tale and the paintings perfectly reflect the feel and look of the Italian renaissance period in art.  Through pictures and text, he portrays the Sorceress, at times, as someone frightening, and later as someone who cares deeply for Rapunzel and who provides everything that she needs, with the exception of companionship.

Rapunzel is portrayed as the innocent she is, with the text noting her fear when she first meets the prince because she has never seen a man before.  The painting that accompanies this section shows a young, handsome, eager prince first meeting a frightened Rapunzel after climbing into the tower.   The painting emphasizes the theme of the sexual innocence of Rapunzel who has been shielded from the realities of life for so long.  But a turn of the page shows that Rapunzel’s fear has faded in the light of knowledge and the painting of the two young lovers, her hand in his, with him kneeling at her feet, illustrates that Rapunzel has quickly adapted to the biological and sexual reality of marriage.

The paintings of the Sorceress discovering Rapunzel’s pregnancy, cutting her hair, and banishing her seem to show a distraught, rather than angry, woman who thought she had shielded Rapunzel from the “dangers” of sexuality and knowledge.  Along with the text, in its simplicity, the paintings tell a much deeper story. 

In a lesson plan on TeacherVision.com developed by Mr. Zelinsky’s wife Deborah, she notes that the painting of the Prince wandering blindly into the woods with his hands over his eyes is very much like the painting "The Expulsion from Paradise" by Italian painter Massacio which shows Adam and Even being expelled from the Garden of Eden.  Like Adam and Eve, the prince and Rapunzel are banished by the Sorceress for, metaphorically, eating from the tree of knowledge through marriage and sexuality.  

Lest we dig too deeply into the symbolism, hidden themes, and scope of this book, I think it is important not to lose sight of the fact that this retelling of the Rapunzel story as a work of art in text and paintings.

The story is essentially the same, the characters are the same, but the painting creates a unique way to view this story as one of love, overprotection, and loneliness.  The text, in its simplicity tells the story, and the artwork sets the tone and feel of the book, making this retelling moving and beautiful.

Review Excerpts:

goodreads.com:  Surely among the most original and gifted of children's book illustrators, Paul O. Zelinsky has once again with unmatched emotional authority, control of space, and narrative capability brought forth a unique vision for an age-old tale. Few artists at work today can touch the level at which his paintings tell a story and exert their hold.

Kirkus Reviews:  Exquisite paintings in late Italian Renaissance style illumine this hybrid version of a classic tale. As Zelinsky (The Wheels on the Bus, 1990, etc.) explains in a long source note, the story's Italian oral progenitor went through a series of literary revisions and translations before the Brothers Grimm published their own take; he draws on many of these to create a formal, spare text that is more about the undercurrents between characters than crime and punishment. Feeling "her dress growing tight around her waist" a woman conceives the desire for an herb from the neighboring garden--rendered in fine detail with low clipped hedges, elaborate statuary and even a wandering pangolin--that causes her to lose her child to a witch. Ensconced for years in a tower, young Rapunzel meets the prince, "marries" him immediately, is cast into the wilderness when her own dress begins to tighten, gives birth to twins, and cures her husband's blindness with her tears at their long-awaited reunion. Suffused with golden light, Zelinsky's landscapes and indoor scenes are grandly evocative, composed and executed with superb technical and emotional command.

1998 Caldecott Medal Book

Connections:

Have the story dramatized by the children, allowing them to make their own decisions about how to portray each character.

Explore the paintings and their similarities to Renaissance paintings.  Show the children side by side comparisons of the two.

Discuss why the father agrees to the deal with Sorceress and ask if the children think this makes him a bad person.

Discuss the good qualities of the Sorceress.