Rapunzel

Rapunzel book report - detailed analysis, book summary, literary elements, character analysis, Brothers Grimm biography, and everything necessary for active class participation.

Analysis

The Brothers Grimm are the authors of many popular fairy tales that have always been enjoyed by all generations. They became famous after they set out to collect folk tales so they could start writing fairy tales, which remained eternal. Among the numerous titles, fairy tales such as Hansel and Gretel, The Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and many others should be highlighted. The first collection contained 86 stories, and after being republished, the number has grown to as many as 200 stories.

Fairy tales written by famous brothers have undergone great changes. Newer editions thus differ from the original versions because the folk tales collected by the brothers were not considered suitable reading material for children.

By reading fairy tales we enter the world of spells and unreal adventures that accompany the main characters. But fairy tales always have morals and we can always learn a lesson that will help us in life. At the heart of this fairy tale is the love between two young people. The evil witch wants to prevent their happiness but fails.

Rapunzel is a fairy tale about the love between a young prince and a blonde girl who overcame all the witches of evil intentions. They were persistent in their intentions to be happy together again, and on the way to happiness, the witch was their biggest obstacle.

When they first met, they knew it would be a love of a lifetime. They immediately fell in love and secretly met for a while until the witch found out everything. Soon she separated them because she was afraid that someone would find out that she had kidnapped Rapunzel from her parents when she was born.

Years passed, and their love overcame everything. The evil witch tried to separate them in every way, but she didn't succeed. Although they were separated for years, the prince found his beloved Rapunzel and never separated from her again. The young man went blind because of the evil witch, but he never gave up his intention to find her. He fought for her until the very end. The moral of this story is that love is stronger than all malicious intentions. In the end, Rapunzel and the prince get married and live happily ever after.

Other book reports

• Hansel and Gretel
• Snow White
• The Brave Little Tailor
• The Fisherman and His Wife
• The Frog Prince
• The Golden Goose
• The Sleeping Beauty
• The Twelve Dancing Princesses
• The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats
• Town Musicians of Bremen

Literary Elements

Genre: fairy tale

Setting: once upon a time; the place is not stated except for mentioning garden, forest, and tower

Point of view: third-person

Narrator: an omniscient narration

Tone: hopeful, suspenseful

Mood: adventurous, optimistic

Theme: great love between Rapunzel and the prince

Summary

Read original story Rapunzel online >>

Once upon a time, there lived a young married couple who were looking forward to the birth of a child. They lived in a beautiful house not far from a rich garden where a variety of fruits and vegetables grew. The woman often watched the garden from the window of the house and sighed for fresh rapunzel, so she asked her husband to bring her one, otherwise, she would die.

The owner of that garden was an evil witch, so he didn't dare ask her if she could pick a fresh rapunzel for his wife. In order not to have to face the witch, he decided to steal from her garden, but as soon as he stepped into the garden he heard a piercing voice grumbling. It was an evil witch who caught him stealing her rapunzel. She yelled at him and asked him how he dared to steal in her garden. He got on his knees and begged her to spare him because he stole a little rapunzel for his pregnant wife.

The witch was so evil that she demanded a favor from him. She told him that he would give her his firstborn child because otherwise she would turn him into a pig. The husband felt he had no choice and agreed to the witch's request.

The woman soon gave birth, and when the little girl was born, an evil witch kidnapped her and took her into the unknown. She named her Rapunzel.

The days passed, and a girl grew into a real beauty with long golden hair. No one knew what happened to her after the abduction because the witch placed her in a tall tower in a deep forest. No one could reach the room at the top of the tower where Rapunzel lived because there were no stairs. Only a small window could be seen from the top, and a beautiful girl would appear there. Every day the witch visited her by standing in front of the tower and summoning her to let go of her long blonde hair.

Time passed, and Rapunzel knew only the evil witch. She had never seen other people in her life. As she loved to sing every day, the prince, who once was passing through the forest where the tower was located, heard her beautiful voice. He first hid in the nearby bushes to enjoy the song, when he saw an evil witch in front of the tower, urging Rapunzel to let her hair down so that she could climb up.

The prince thought he could do the same thing the witch did and summoned Rapunzel in the same way. He went up to her room, and when Rapunzel saw him, she was frightened. Until then, she only knew the evil witch, and now a beautiful prince appeared before her. She calmed down when he explained to her that she should not be afraid of him and they soon fell in love.

They had been secretly seeing each other for a while because they didn't want the evil witch to find out about their relationship. The witch still came to the tower every morning and did not notice anything strange in Rapunzel’s behavior. But one morning after climbing into her room, Rapunzel told her that she was much heavier than the prince and that she could barely lift her up.

The witch was furious. She told her she was an ungrateful brat as she was keeping her out of the world for her own good. The witch took the scissors and cut her long blonde hair, sentencing Rapunzel to a life of solitary life in a tower in the middle of a dense forest. Rapunzel was the loneliest person in the world.

But the witch did not take revenge only on Rapunzel. She decided to take revenge on the poor prince in love. She was waiting for him to appear in front of the tower and call Rapunzel. As soon as she heard his voice she tossed her cut hair, and he started to climb up to the room. When he was about to enter through the window, an evil witch stood before him. He was frightened by how ugly she was and he fell into the thorny bushes and went blind. So he too became a sad and unhappy prince.

Blind and unhappy, he searched the world for his Rapunzel. He wandered from town to town, peeking into every village, but Rapunzel was nowhere to be seen. Along the way, he ate berries and drank water from a stream. His misfortune was growing day by day because he was constantly thinking about the beautiful Rapunzel and her beautiful voice.

The prince wandered for several years until he reached a dense forest and sat down to rest under a tree and cried loudly. He was already on the edge of his strength and thought it would be best to give up, but suddenly he heard a familiar voice. It was Rapunzel.

He gathered his strength and headed for that beautiful voice. He staggered from tree to tree, tripping over rocks and stumbling over thorny bushes, calling out to his Rapunzel.

He managed to stagger over to her, and when she saw him she ran into his arms. It was real love. Rapunzel cried, and suddenly her two tears fell into his eyes and a miracle happened. The prince could see again.

They headed to his castle where they eventually got married and had many children. They loved each other very much and enjoyed being together for the rest of their lives. And the witch? No one has heard or seen the witch since.

Characters

Characters: Rapunzel, witch, prince

Rapunzel - a young girl sentenced to life in the tower. The witch imprisoned her to punish her parents, but Rapunzel still grew into a beautiful, smart, and good girl. She had a pure heart and did not allow the evil witch to poison her with her maliciousness. She never hated the witch who locked her up, but she didn't even come to terms with that fate.

When a young prince appeared at the foot of the tower one day, he surprised her with his visit. She immediately fell in love, but the evil witch rebuked her. Rapunzel could not deny her love, so the witch cut her hair and wanted to keep her in the tower for life. Fortunately, Rapunzel managed to escape from the tower and meet the young prince again, who went blind due to the witch. But she succeeded only with her sacrifice and perseverance.

She did not stop believing that she would find him even when the prospects for it were almost non-existent. She still believed in love and justice.

Witch - an evil old woman who blinded a young prince. She was very evil and selfish. She first punished Rapunzel’s parents for taking her rapunzel from her garden, and then took their long-desired child. The witch had no benefit from the girl other than controlling her and making her life miserable. She locked Rapunzel in the tower and did not allow her to see the outside world. She raised her to think that the tower and the witch are the only things that exist in that world. And when Rapunzel found love, the witch decided to punish her even harder, because she couldn't stand for Rapunzel to be happy.

The witch was also jealous of her happiness, so she decided to destroy her. But in the end, she paid her fine and was left alone. When the prince and Rapunzel managed to find each other again, no one even asked about the evil witch because their love was greater than her malice.

Prince - a handsome young man in love with Rapunzel. The evil witch pushed him down from the high tower as he tried to climb to Rapunzel’s room. But blindness did not stop him from continuing to seek his love. He set out in search of his beloved and although he was blind, he did not give up. He wandered through the woods, crashing into bushes and trees, desperately searching for his beloved; he perished and starved along the way, thinking that he would die that way. He wandered the world until he heard her singing again and found her following her voice from a distance.

Prince, like Rapunzel, was also faithful. He was persistent and never gave up on his love. That's why the reward awaited him in the end - not only did he find his beloved, but he also had two children with him that he didn't know existed.

Biography

Thanks to the Grimm brothers many children enjoyed reading the stories of brave heroes that always win over evil. The Grimm brothers are well-known German authors who, with a little help from national stories, collected fairy tales that were read all over the world

The older brother Jacob was born in 1785 and died in 1863. The younger brother Wilhelm was born in 1786 and died in 1859. Both of them were linguists and philosophers. Jacob published German grammar and worked closely with his brother on publishing a German dictionary.

Both of them studied law in Marburg and, during that period, both of them criticized King Ernst August I. Because of that, they were banned from school. Because of the inability to study law both of them started writing fairy tales which made them famous. Their fairy tales are known as stories full of wisdom and cheerfulness.

In the beginning, their collection contained 86 stories and through repeated publishing, the number grew to 200. Some of their most famous works are "The Sleeping Beauty", "Cinderella", "Snow White", "Rapunzel", etc.