The fantastic world of Disney has been responsible for many of the stories that accompanied our childhood. And although the curiosities of his films are many and very funny, the original versions of children’s stories They are even more unusual. We already saw it, for example, in the case of the sweet Sleeping Beauty, who in the original story was the victim of a rape while she was sleeping. This time at we want to tell you the story of the real Rapunzel, that princess locked up at the top of a tower., and with her long hair as golden as gold, she received the prince in her confinement. Join us to learn the true story of Rapunzel.
The true story of Rapunzel
After «once upon a time», the true story of Rapunzel is very different from how it was presented to us in films like Tangled or even in the children’s stories that we read at the end of the 20th century.
This story, which first became popular thanks to the story of the Brothers Grimm, seems to be based on reality, and in a much more terrible one than we imagine.
We know that For both the famous storytellers and the Disney production company, each story had to carry a moral. A kind of warning that would warn society about multiple dangers such as strangers or the night. Also those that laid the foundations of the morality of the time.
Since they were aimed at children, mainly, they had to be sweetened, nuanced so that they were suitable for children’s ears. But as the saying goes, reality is stranger than fiction, and that is what we see in the story of the real Rapunzel.
1. A witch and a whim: version in the true story of Rapunzel
The price of a whim was very expensive for Rapunzel’s parents who, in exchange for some snowdrop flowers, had to give their daughter to a sorceress. The rest is well known, isn’t it?
The girl grew up and her long hair helped the witch climb to the very high tower where she was kept.. After years, a young prince heard her sing and fell in love with her. Hence the famous: «Rapunzel, witch girl, let your hair fall.»
Rapunzel does what the prince asks and receives him terrified in her tower, after all, it is the first time she has seen a male in her short existence.
The prince manages to gain Rapunzel’s trust with his sweet words and they begin a romance. The boy visits Rapunzel for several nights and… we assume you can sense what happens between them. This is where the story takes the definitive turn that distances it from its later versions.
In the true story of Rapunzel, the girl becomes pregnant by the prince. Don’t think this is obvious to her that, unlike her future father, I didn’t even suspect that I could get sick.
In fact, It’s not the real Rapunzel who first notices her pregnancy, it’s the witch! The girl confusedly comments that her waist doesn’t stop growing. The witch, whose pride has been wounded, because she believed that Rapunzel was completely isolated, He cuts her long hair and abandons her in a desert., this time yes: in complete solitude. The poor princess gives birth to twins.
Meanwhile, the prince sees his lover again, but is deceived by the witch, who pretends to be Rapunzel in the tower and takes down the real young woman’s cut hair for him. The outcome of Rapunzel’s true story is heartbreaking.
The prince, upon discovering that the witch has taken Rapunzel away from him forever, falls from the tower onto some thorn hedges, with the bad luck of being blinded by their sharp spikes.
In this sense, it is worth mentioning that there are those who interpret this fall from the tower as a suicide, the result of desperation, which has its punishment in blindness.
Be that as it may, the prince, blind and devastated, wanders through all the forests and deserts looking for his true love. But not everything was going to be bad, in this story there is a more or less happy ending…
After many years of searching, he finally finds Rapunzel, who with her tears restores his vision. They both return to the prince’s kingdom, where they had left him for dead, but he is welcomed with joy along with his «future wife» and his children.
2. Blanche Monnier: The real Rapunzel?
The one you just read is the true story of Rapunzel, according to the original story. But there is actually a much worse story… It is about the life of a French woman named Blanche Monnier. Although her story occurred after the story was written, those who know her have called her the Royal Rapunzel.
It was in 1901 when a woman was found completely malnourished, deteriorated and psychologically affected. She slept on a mattress full of urine and feces, and she had the hair long to the ankles, as they had never been cut.
She was the victim of an overprotective and very cruel mother and siblings. At 27 years old, she had not married, which was very rare for the time. She fell in love with a Protestant lawyer, and as punishment she was locked up for 25 years!
It is said that at that time he suffered constant emotional, physical and even sexual abuse from his brothers. Once rescued, she 52 yearshis state was such that He ended his days in a psychiatric hospital. Without a doubt the most tragic version of the real Rapunzel.
Beyond the true story of Rapunzel, you may be interested
If you are one of those who are fascinated by discovering the reality behind all the fairy tales and the most well-known stories, do not miss this selection that we have made for you.
And you, Did you know the true story of Rapunzel? The cruelty of the original story? And the horrible story of Blanche Monnier? As you can see, reality far surpasses fiction. Feel free to leave us all your opinions in a comment. We will be happy to read you!