Rapunzel
Told by The Brothers GrimmGermanyTale type ATU 310
- Age
- 5 to 10
- Reading time
- 9 minutes
- Scariness
- 2 of 5A villain, never frightening on the page
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The story
There was a man whose wife was expecting a baby, and who could see, from their back window, into the finest garden in the country.
It belonged to a woman called Mother Gothel, and nobody went in there.
His wife wanted rampion. Not casually. She wanted it the way you want water, and she stopped eating, and she went grey, and one night the man climbed the wall.
He got a handful. It was the best thing his wife had ever eaten, and the next night she wanted more, and he went back.
Mother Gothel was standing in the middle of the garden waiting for him.
"You can take as much as you like," she said. "Truly. Take it every night."
The man waited.
"And when the child is born, I will come and collect her, and I will raise her as my own, and she will want for nothing at all."
He should have said no. He knew it while he was saying yes.
The child came in the spring and Mother Gothel came the same week, and she named the girl Rapunzel, after the plant her mother could not stop eating.
She was not cruel to her. This is the part people forget.
Mother Gothel fed her well and taught her to read and brushed her hair every night, and told her she was clever, and meant it. When Rapunzel was twelve she took her out into the middle of the wilderness and put her in a tower.
The tower had no door and no stairs. There was one room at the top and one window, and the view from it went on for about forty miles and contained nothing at all.
Rapunzel did not think this was strange, because nobody had ever told her it was.
Her hair grew. It grew past her shoulders and past her waist and down to the floor, and she wore it in one enormous braid, and every day Mother Gothel stood at the bottom of the tower and called up.
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair."
And Rapunzel wound the braid round the hook by the window and let it fall, and Mother Gothel climbed up, and they had a perfectly nice afternoon, and then she climbed down and went away.
That was the entire shape of Rapunzel's life and she had no reason to think it was unusual.
She sang, though. There was nothing else to do, so she sang out of the window at the forty miles of nothing, and her voice carried a very long way.
A king's son, lost, heard it.
He rode round the tower twice looking for the door and there was not one, so he sat down among the trees and waited, and at dusk he watched a woman arrive, and call up, and climb a rope of hair.
He came back the next evening.
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair."
The braid came down. He climbed up.
Rapunzel had never seen another person in her life. She backed into the corner of the room and stayed there, and the prince, who realised about four seconds too late what he had done, sat down on the floor by the window and did not move.
They talked for two hours from opposite sides of the room.
He came back the next evening, and the next. He told her about towns. He told her about the sea, which she did not believe in. He told her about markets and horses and other people's houses and the fact that most buildings have doors.
"Why?" said Rapunzel.
"So people can go in and out."
She thought about that for a long time.
Over the weeks they made a plan, and it was a bad plan, but it was the only one available to two people who had never done anything like this. He would bring silk, a little each visit, and she would weave a ladder, and one evening she would climb down it.
It took months, and it very nearly worked.
What went wrong was this. One afternoon Mother Gothel was climbing up, and it was slow, and Rapunzel, who was not deceitful and had no practice at it whatsoever, said without thinking:
"You're much heavier than the prince."
The room went very quiet.
Mother Gothel did not shout. She sat down on the edge of the bed and she asked one question after another in a perfectly level voice, and Rapunzel, who had never been lied to and did not know how to lie, answered all of them.
That evening Mother Gothel cut off the braid and took Rapunzel out into the wilderness, a long way, and left her there with a bag of food and her hair in a bundle and no directions at all.
Then she went back to the tower, and when the prince called up that night she let the cut braid down over the hook.
He climbed all the way to the window before he understood.
He got down badly. He came off the last of it into a thorn bush and lay there for some time with his eyes shut and his face scratched half to pieces, and when he got up he could barely see and he did not know which way anything was.
So he walked. That is all he did, for two years, in roughly one direction, asking.
And in the second year, in a part of the wilderness he had no name for, he heard somebody singing.
She had built herself a hut. She had worked out food and water and a roof, on her own, having been told about none of it. She had two small children by then, and she had kept going, and she had got quite good at it.
She came out and found a filthy scratched half-blind man standing in the grass, and she knew him at once, and she put her hands on his face and cried, and two of her tears went into his eyes.
The story says his sight came back. Whether that is true or whether he had simply been walking through the wilderness for two years and needed someone to stand still with him for an hour, the story does not say.
They went to his father's kingdom, all four of them.
And Rapunzel, who had spent twelve years in a tower and two years in the wilderness, walked through the gate of a city for the first time in her life at the age of twenty-six, and stopped in the middle of the road, and looked at all the doors.
What is the moral of Rapunzel?
You cannot miss what nobody has told you about, and that is exactly why somebody should tell you.
Rapunzel is not trapped in the way a prisoner is trapped. For most of her life she does not know she is anywhere unusual. The tower is normal because it is all there has ever been, and Mother Gothel is kind to her, and the day is full and pleasant. That is a far more uncomfortable idea than a locked door, and it is why the story has lasted. What changes everything is not a rescue. It is one person turning up and mentioning that there is a world, which is a small thing to do and the only thing that helps.
Talk about it
- Rapunzel was not unhappy in the tower for most of her life. Why not?
- Mother Gothel is kind to her every single day. Does that make what she did alright?
- Rapunzel gives herself away by accident. Why do you think she said it?
- The prince cannot get her out any more than she can. What does he actually give her?
- At the end Rapunzel finds him rather than the other way round. Does that change the story?
Who is in the story
Rapunzel
protagonist · human
Raised in a tower with no door, and never told that either the tower or the lack of a door was unusual.
- Kind
- 9 out of 10
- Brave
- 9 out of 10
- Clever
- 8 out of 10
- Honest
- 10 out of 10
- Curious
- 10 out of 10
- Patient
- 8 out of 10
Mother Gothel
antagonist · human
Takes a child in payment for a handful of lettuce, and then raises her carefully and kindly for twelve years.
- Kind
- 4 out of 10
- Brave
- 6 out of 10
- Clever
- 9 out of 10
- Honest
- 3 out of 10
- Curious
- 5 out of 10
- Patient
- 10 out of 10
Rapunzel's Father
supporting · human
Climbs a wall twice for a handful of lettuce and agrees to something he knows is wrong while he is agreeing to it.
- Kind
- 6 out of 10
- Brave
- 2 out of 10
- Clever
- 4 out of 10
- Honest
- 5 out of 10
- Curious
- 3 out of 10
- Patient
- 4 out of 10
The King's Son
deuteragonist · human
Hears singing across forty miles of nothing, finds a tower with no door, and sits down among the trees to work out what to do.
- Kind
- 10 out of 10
- Brave
- 7 out of 10
- Clever
- 6 out of 10
- Honest
- 9 out of 10
- Curious
- 8 out of 10
- Patient
- 10 out of 10
In a nutshell
A man steals lettuce from a witch's garden for his pregnant wife, and pays for it with the baby. The girl grows up alone in a tower with no door and no stairs, and does not know that either of those things is strange, until somebody who is not the witch calls up from the bottom.
Scene by scene
20 moments from the tale.
- Scene 1The Walled Gardenfurtive
The finest garden in the country
A man who can see the finest garden in the country from his own back window goes over the wall at night and takes a handful of green leaves out of the nearest row.
Nobody went in there
- Scene 2The Walled Gardeninevitable
Waiting in the garden
The second time he climbs the wall, Mother Gothel is standing in the middle of the garden with the offer already prepared.
She was already standing there
- Scene 3The Walled Gardengrim
He knew it while he was saying yes
Mother Gothel names her price in the middle of the garden in exactly the tone she used to offer him the rampion, and the man agrees to it while looking at the ground.
And when the child is born
- Scene 4The Walled Gardenuncomfortable
This is the part people forget
A small girl sits at a table set out among the garden rows with a book in front of her, sounding out words, while Mother Gothel works along the row behind her and listens to every one.
She was not cruel to her
- Scene 5The Towerunsettling
Nobody had ever told her
At twelve she is taken out into the middle of the wilderness and put in a tower with one room and one window, and she looks around it and asks where the books should go.
One room. One window. No door
- Scene 6The Towerwarm and wrong
Let down your hair
The whole shape of Rapunzel's life: a call from the bottom, a braid over a worn hook, and a perfectly nice afternoon.
Every day, the same call, the same climb
- Scene 7The Towervast and lonely
Forty miles of nothing
With nothing else to do, Rapunzel sits up in the window and sings out at forty miles of empty country, and the sound goes considerably further than she has any idea of.
Her voice carried a very long way
- Scene 8The Towerpuzzled
He rode round the tower twice
A lost king's son follows a voice to a tower, rides all the way round the base of it twice looking for the way in, finds nothing, and sits down among the trees to wait and see what happens.
There was not one
- Scene 9The Towercareful
Opposite sides of the room
The prince climbs in and realises four seconds too late what he has done, so he sits down on the floor by the window and does not move.
She had never seen another person
- Scene 10The Towerdawning
So people can go in and out
He tells her about towns and the sea and markets, and mentions in passing that most buildings have doors. She asks why.
One word changed everything
- Scene 11The Towerhopeful and precarious
A bad plan, and the only one
He brings silk a short length at a time, folded inside his coat, and she weaves it into a ladder on the floor of the tower room. It takes months and it very nearly works.
A little silk each visit
- Scene 12The Towersinking
Heavier than the prince
Mid-climb, Rapunzel says without thinking that Mother Gothel is much heavier than the prince, and the room goes very quiet.
She had never learned how to lie
- Scene 13The Towerquietly awful
The edge of the bed
Mother Gothel sits down on the edge of the bed, folds her hands and asks one level question after another, and Rapunzel, who has never been lied to, answers every single one of them.
She did not shout
- Scene 14The Wildernessstark
A bag of food and no directions
Mother Gothel takes Rapunzel a long way out into the wilderness and leaves her with a bag of food and her cut hair in a bundle.
She cut the braid and left her there
- Scene 15The Towercold
Before he understood
That night the call goes up exactly as it always does and the braid comes down exactly as it always does, and he climbs the whole way to the window with no idea who is holding the other end.
The braid came down as usual
- Scene 16The Wildernessgrim but steady
Roughly one direction
He comes out of it scratched half to pieces and can barely see, and does not know which way anything is, so he walks, and keeps walking, and asks everyone he meets.
For two years, asking
- Scene 17The Wildernessquietly triumphant
Told about none of it
In two years she has built a hut, worked out water and food and a roof, and raised two small children, having been shown how to do none of it by anybody.
She worked it all out herself
- Scene 18The Wildernessoverwhelming
She knew him at once
Two years later, a filthy scratched half-blind man walks out of the grass toward a hut Rapunzel built herself.
Two years, in roughly one direction
- Scene 19The Wildernessoverwhelming
Two of her tears
She puts both hands on his face and cries, and two of her tears go into his eyes, and he stands entirely still in the grass and lets her.
The story says his sight came back
- Scene 20The Wildernessquietly triumphant
All the doors
At twenty-six, Rapunzel walks through the gate of a city for the first time in her life and stops to look at all the doors.
She stopped in the middle of the road
Where it happens
The Tower
tower
One room, one window, no door and no stairs.
The Walled Garden
garden
The finest garden in the country, and nobody goes in there.
The Wilderness
wilderness
Forty miles of nothing, which turns out to be survivable.
How they are connected
RapunzelMother Gothelfamily
Twelve years of genuine kindness, in a tower with no door.
RapunzelThe King's Sonfriend
Two hours from opposite sides of the room, on the first evening, and neither of them moves.
Rapunzel's FatherMother Gothelenemy
A handful of lettuce for a child, agreed to in a garden at night.
Things you might not know
Rapunzel is named after rampion, a leafy green a bit like lettuce. The most famous name in fairy tales is a salad vegetable.
The Grimms did not collect this from German peasants. It came almost directly from a French story, Persinette, published in 1698, which itself came from an Italian one from 1634.
In the Grimms' first edition Rapunzel gives herself away by mentioning that her clothes have got tight. Wilhelm changed it in a later edition to the line about the prince being lighter, because the original made it obvious she was pregnant.
There is no lock on the tower. There is no door to lock. It works because Rapunzel has no idea she should want to leave.
In the original the prince is blinded by thorns and wanders for two years. Rapunzel's tears restore his sight when she finds him.
In Basile's earlier Italian version the craved plant is parsley, and the heroine escapes using three magic acorns that turn into animals to chase off the ogress.
Folklorists file this as ATU 310, the Maiden in the Tower. Versions have been recorded across Europe, the Middle East and as far as the Philippines.
Rapunzel survives two years alone in the wilderness and raises two children there. Almost every screen version cuts this part, which is the part where she is most impressive.
What things stand for
- The tower with no door
- Not a prison exactly. A place with no way in or out that nobody has ever described as unusual.
- The braid
- The only way anyone reaches her, and it is attached to her head. She is the door, which is worse than there not being one.
- The rampion
- A craving so ordinary that giving away a child for it seems mad, which is the point. Small wants make enormous mistakes.
- Her singing
- The one thing that leaves the tower without permission.
- The wilderness
- Everything she was never told about. It turns out to be survivable.
The same story elsewhere
Folk tales are not owned by whoever wrote them down first.
Petrosinella
Italy, 1634
Basile's earlier version. The craved plant is parsley rather than rampion, and the girl escapes using three magic acorns rather than a woven ladder.
Persinette
France, 1698
Charlotte-Rose de La Force's version, which the Grimms almost certainly worked from. The fairy forgives everyone at the end.
Prunella
Italy, traditional
A girl taken by a witch for stealing plums, who is set impossible tasks rather than shut in a tower.
Anthousa
Greece, traditional
The girl's hair is golden and she is kept by an ogress, and she escapes with the help of talking objects in the house.
Where you might already know it from
Most children meet a screen version first. Here is what those changed.
The Red Fairy Book
book, Andrew Lang, 1890
One of Lang's famous coloured fairy books, which carried Rapunzel to a very wide English readership.
Rapunzel
opera, Various
Several small chamber operas exist. Most keep the tower and cut the wilderness, which loses the best part.
Rapunzel
book, William Morris, 1858
A long poem in Morris's first book of verse, The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems. It includes a song sung by the prince.
Questions parents ask
- What is the moral of Rapunzel?
- You cannot miss what nobody has told you about, and that is exactly why somebody should tell you.
- What is Rapunzel about?
- A man steals lettuce from a witch's garden for his pregnant wife, and pays for it with the baby. The girl grows up alone in a tower with no door and no stairs, and does not know that either of those things is strange, until somebody who is not the witch calls up from the bottom.
- What age is Rapunzel for?
- Rapunzel suits ages 5-10.
- How long does Rapunzel take to read?
- About 9 minutes read aloud.
- Where does Rapunzel come from?
- Rapunzel is a traditional tale from Germany.
Sing it
Every story here has its own song. This one is spacious, curious, then wide open, about 96 beats a minute.
Forty Miles of Nothing
acoustic folk
There is no recording yet. The words are here so you can sing it yourself.
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