We all read in childhood a wonderful fairy tale about a beautiful woman with snow-white skin and tarry black hair, telling about how she was sheltered in the forest by little magical men. We worried about the fate of the princess and were angry at the machinations of a terrible stepmother when we saw the embodiment of the plot of the mentioned fairy tale in numerous film adaptations (the Disney cartoon is especially magnificent). But how many people know who the author of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is? Let's try to clarify this issue. There are certainly more than one authors in this case. These are the brothers
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. And yet - albeit indirectly - the entire people of the German land of Westphalia.
Grimm's life and work
Weather brothers were born in the town of Hanau. Jacob - in January 1785, and William - in February 1786. In addition to them, the family had an even smaller brother and three little sisters. His father, Philip Wilhelm, worked first as a lawyer, and since 1792 - as a judge in Steinau. It was he who instilled in his sons a love of reading and drawing. But in 1796, his father died, and Jacob, at 11 years old, became the head of the family. Soon, the eldest sons went to Kassel to graduate from high school, go to university and become lawyers. This creative tandem appeared there - the author of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. Because at the university the brothers met new people, from whom they learned about folk songs and tales of the people of Westphalia.
Fairy tale nav and political reality
To understand the fate and work of the Grimm brothers, it is necessary to at least briefly describe the political situation that developed at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries in Germany. Then the country was split into many principalities - each with its own language, lord, minted coin, and so on. Little Westphalia was easily captured in 1806 by Napoleon's army. The kingdom was led by Bonaparte's brother Jerome. He invited Jacob to become a librarian, to which he agreed. The author of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" actively collects legends, songs and legends of the region.
After the French were expelled from Westphalia, the brothers serve as librarians in Kassel, and then, in 1840, accept the invitation of Friedrich-Wilhelm of Prussia to move to Berlin. Even then, Grimm became known to the general public as the author of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", as well as 82 more tales. In Berlin, they continued to do: collect, as valuable pearls, samples of folk poetry, process folklore and explore German linguistics. They died - William in 1859, and Jacob in 1863 - at work on the first dictionary of the German language.
Oh, these storytellers ...
Now about the period when "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" appeared. The author, or rather, the creative tandem, published their first collection, when they were still green youths, in 1812.
It was released in a modest soft cover and included only eighty-three tales. Later, the authors repeatedly resumed circulation, constantly replenishing the book with new stories. Now the collection of "Children's and family tales of the Brothers Grimm" consists of 200 works.
What is significant "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"
In this fantastic story many motifs that are present in other stories of the Brothers Grimm are interwoven. This is an evil stepmother who wants to get rid of her stepdaughter (compare with "Hans and Gretel"). The motive of lethargic sleep is present in the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty." Very interesting is the idea of the insidious "gifts" of the stepmother - a belt, a comb and an apple, in which a reader familiar with Greek myths can easily recognize the attributes of Venus. In the multifaceted work of the authors, there is a much deeper meaning than it might seem at first glance. On the lands of the former Roman Empire, the ancient myth is defeated by German legends about the dwarves.