Page 100 - year book 2023-24

RAPUNZUEL

WHO IS RAPUNZEL?
Rapunzel is a German fairy tale about a young woman named Rapunzel with impossibly long
hair and who lives alone in a tower, held captive by a witch.
It's also the German name of a vegetable commonly used in salads

WHERE DOES RAPUNZEL COME FROM?
Originating from an old oral tradition, the story of Rapunzel was published in Friedrich Schultz's
Kleine Romane in 1790, then more famously in Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's 1812 collection,
Children's and Household Tales.

SUMMARY
At the beginning of the fairy tale,
Rapunzel's mother has major pregnancy
cravings for a vegetable, called rapunzel,
that she
happens to see in the neighbor's garden.
She starts to feel ill from wanting it so
badly, so her husband breaks into the
garden to steal it. The neighbor, a witch,
catches him. The two make a deal that he
can have some rapunzel in exchange for
the baby once it's born. When the baby
arrives, the witch takes her away and
names her after that vegetable the
mother wanted so badly: Rapunzel.

Rapunzel (the girl) grows up in a remote tower, which has neither a staircase nor ladder so she
can't get away. The witch (who's a kind of mother figure for her) visits the tower regularly and
calls out, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” at which Rapunzel throws down her
ridiculously long hair for the witch to climb up like a rope.

One day, a prince comes across the tower, hears the witch say the words, and sees her climb
up. After the witch leaves, he tries it himself and meets Rapunzel. The two fall in love and he
starts visiting her regularly. The witch eventually catches on, cuts off Rapunzel's hair, and kicks
her out of the tower to fend for herself. She uses the severed hair-rope to catch the prince the
next time he visits, then throws him out of the tower (literally). Luckily, he survives, Rapunzel
finds him, and they live happily ever after.