Rapunzel (Fairytale)

This article focuses on the fairytale "Rapunzel". For the first iteration of the character, see Rapunzel (The Tower). For the second iteration of the character, see Rapunzel Tremaine.

Rapunzel
Story
Background Information
Written by:	The Brothers Grimm
Publication:	1812
Adaptation Information
Featured episode(s):	The Tower" "Eloise Gardener" "One Little Tear

"Rapunzel" is a fairytale featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by the German authors Jacob and Wilhelm of the Brothers Grimm and incorporated into the book "Grimms' Fairy Tales" in 1812.

Traditional Plot

Once upon a time, a peasant family lived near a fearsome witch named Dame Gothel. The wife became pregnant and would often crave herbs - specifically the rapunzel plant—from Dame Gothel's garden, so she would ask her husband to steal some from her, as her desire for them was so great. The husband obliges, but he is caught escaping the garden one night by the witch. She accuses him of theft and demands his life as payment. However, the husband explains his wife's cravings to her, and she takes mercy on him, and demands their child as payment for the rapunzel herbs. He agrees to her terms and escapes with his life.

As soon as the child is born, Dame Gothel appears, names the baby Rapunzel, and takes her to live as her own daughter. Rapunzel grows up to have beautiful, long, golden hair, and becomes the most beautiful girl in the world. When the girl reaches twelve years of age, Dame Gothel locks her up in a tower hidden in the woods, with nothing but a single window. Whenever Dame Gothel would visit Rapunzel, she would tell her to let down her hair so that she could enter the tower. Rapunzel would then wrap her hair around a hook and let the witch climb up to her tower room.

One day, many years later, a handsome prince is riding through the forest when he hears Rapunzel singing in her tower. He is entranced by her magnificent voice, and decides to search for the voice and finds the tower. However, he is, naturally, unable to enter. He returns often to listen to her ethereal singing, and spots Dame Gothel visiting one day. As soon as the witch is gone, he asks Rapunzel to let her hair down.

When she does so, he climbs up into the tower. While Rapunzel is frightened at first, he introduces himself and makes her acquaintance. He visits every day, and eventually they become friends. One visit, he asks her to marry him, to which she agrees. Together, they decide to make a ladder made out of silk so that they will be able to escape. However, Rapunzel accidentally gives away the prince during one of Dame Gothel's visits. Dame Gothel becomes furious, cuts Rapunzel's braided hair, and casts her out to fend for herself in the forest. When the prince visits that night, the sorceress lets the braids down so that he could climb up. He becomes horrified when he sees the enchantress instead of Rapunzel, who is missing from the tower.

When the witch tells him that he will never see her again, she pushes him from the tower, blinding him from the thorns growing below. The prince wanders through the wastelands of the country for months. One day, as Rapunzel sings while she fetches water, the prince hears Rapunzel's voice again, and they are reunited. When she sees him, her tears immediately restore his sight. Then the prince and Rapunzel get married, have fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, and live happily ever after.

Show Adaptation

• First Iteration
• Second Iteration

First Iteration

• Rapunzel was forced up the Tower by the Witch, who is actually a manifestation of her greatest fear, and left after "killing" the Witch.
  • Said manifestation took on a physical form immediately after Rapunzel consumed the Night Root, a plant rumored to rid the user of any fear.
• The Prince is already married to Snow White by the time he meets Rapunzel and shows no romantic interest in her.

Second Iteration

• The Witch locks Rapunzel in the Tower after promising to help save her husband and two daughters.
  • Rapunzel escapes and later tricks the Witch into imprisoning herself. The latter then uses magic to turn herself as Rapunzel and, after residing in the Tower for several years, deceives the Prince into conceiving a child with her before leaving the infant to take her place.

Characters Featured

Original Character	Adaptated as	First Featured in
Rapunzel	Rapunzel (The Tower)	"The Tower"
	Rapunzel Tremaine	"One Little Tear"
The Prince	Prince Charming	"The Tower"
	Hook (Wish Realm) (allusion)	"Eloise Gardener"
	Marcus Tremaine (allusion)	"One Little Tear"
Dame Gothel	Manifestation of Rapunzel's fear	"The Tower"
	Gothel	"Eloise Gardener
Rapunzel's Parents	Rapunzel's Parents	"The Tower"
Rapunzel's Two Children	Drizella and Anastasia	"One Little Tear"

Location Featured

Original Location	Adaptated as	First Featured in
Rapunzel's Tower	Rapunzel's Tower	"The Tower"
	Gothel's Tower	"Eloise Gardener"
Witch's Garden	Gothel's Garden	"Eloise Gardener"

Items Featured

Original Item	Adaptated as	First Featured in
The Plant	Night Root (allusion)	"The Tower"
	Golden Flower	"Eloise Gardener"
The Tears	Lucy's Tear	"One Little Tear"

References

Stories

A – M The Adventures of Pinocchio | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Aesop's Fables | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Arthurian legend | "Beauty and the Beast" | Beowulf | The BFG | Carrie | Celtic mythology | "Cinderella" | A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court | The Count of Monte Cristo | The Curse of Capistrano | Don Quixote | The Emerald City of Oz | Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus | "The Frog Prince" | Germanic mythology | "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" | Greek mythology | "Hansel and Gretel" | The Hundred and One Dalmatians | "Jack and the Beanstalk" | "Jack and Jill" | "Jack the Giant Killer" | "Little Bo Peep" | "Jack Sprat" | La Cenerentola | "The Little Mermaid" | "Little Red Riding Hood" | The Lord of the Rings | The Marvelous Land of Oz | Mary Reilly | Moby-Dick | Mulan | The Mysterious Island N – Z Nursery rhymes | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | One Thousand and One Nights | The Patchwork Girl of Oz | Peter and the Wolf | Peter and Wendy | "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" | "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" | Polynesian mythology | Pride and Prejudice | The Prince and the Pauper | "Rapunzel" | "Rip Van Winkle" | Robin Hood | Roman mythology | "Rumpelstiltskin" | The Scarlet Letter | Slavic mythology | "Sleeping Beauty" | "The Snow Queen" | "Snow White" | "Snow-White and Rose-Red" | "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" | Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde | Swan Lake | "Three Billy Goats Gruff" | The Three Musketeers | The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark | Treasure Island | Through the Looking-Glass | Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea | "The Ugly Duckling" | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz