Snow White
While reading the fairytale Snow White by Brothers Grimm, I found it very interesting how women were portrayed in the story. The Queen is shown to be obsessed with her appearance and constantly stares into her mirror asking it “Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” As Snow White grows […]
Sehnsucht
In seminar, the idea of manufacturing a history first came up a few weeks ago — during the discussions on Rousseau. It appeared that Herder was among the first to express ideas for German cultural nationalism; it seemed … Continue reading →
The Close Call effect in The Earthquake in Chile
One of the many questions The Earthquake in Chile is why Jeronimo decided to spare himself from the earthquake leading up to his suicide. Why would a man in a vehement state of grief deter his suicide when death was “offering … Continue reading →
Uncanny similarities between “Eckbert” and “The Sandman”
It seems that for the past few weeks, the uncanny has been a recurring theme in both lectures and seminars. “The Sandman” was directly analyzed by Freud for a source of the uncanny, and in turn, the three short stories … Continue reading →
Did the Queen Deserve it?: An Examination of the Death of the Queen in the Grimm’s “The Little Snow-White”
The Queen sentenced Snow-white to death because she was deemed the most beautiful in the land by the magic mirror. After the huntsman had failed to do so, the Queen then attempted to kill Snow-white three times. The third … Continue reading →
Freud and Fetishism
When discussing Snow White during the seminar on Thursday, the topic of Freud and his view on fetishism came up. The thought into how the glass coffin represented in Snow White is a form of a fetish instantly related back … Continue reading →
The (Deformed) Human Face of Incest?
During Tuesday’s seminar, we had a discussion on the fact that incest has been an universal taboo throughout history for all cultures except in respect to royalty. The idea of royal incest is simply baffling and incomprehensible to most people today. Why did societal morals condemn … Continue reading →
Freud and how the Uncanny Affects Us…
Sorry about the late post, like really late, but this is about the Freud and how the unheimlich works. Refer to Pg. 155-156 in Freud’s The Uncanny -The last sentence in italics that carry on to the next page -Freud says the the uncanny in literature and in real life are not taken in at the same level, […]
Dark Fairy Tales: Changes Through Retellings
Going into this, I was very excited to get into some fictional stories (FINALLY!) as we only did Oedipus The King and The Tempest thus far. I’m so happy to finally focus on other stories and see how these stories are told and why they are told. During our lecture, I was a little surprised when…
Questions, Questions, and More Questions–The Result of Trying to Interpret German Short Stories
Personally, I find the readings for this week to be particularly interesting. I mean, I never would have thought that I would be writing a scholarly essay on the Grimm Brothers’ fairytale “Little Snow-White”. Reading stories like this, however, has reminded me that even supposedly simple works of art can have a deeper meaning–if you take … Continue reading Questions, Questions, and More Questions–The Result of Trying to Interpret German Short Stories