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.
What they are like
- Kind
- 6/10
- Brave
- 2/10
- Clever
- 4/10
- Honest
- 5/10
- Curious
- 3/10
- Patient
- 4/10
How we meet them
Looking out of a back window at somebody else's garden, which is where the whole thing starts.
Personality
Not wicked, and not strong. His wife is starving herself and he is frightened, and he makes a bargain that no amount of fear really covers.
What they want
His wife has stopped eating and gone grey. He cannot think past that.
How they change
Says yes, and is never mentioned again.
How they speak
Almost nothing. The story notes that he knew it was wrong while he was saying yes, and gives him no line to defend himself with.
How the story treats them
The story does not forgive him. It simply records that he should have said no, and moves on to the consequences.
One surprising thing
In the Grimms' telling the craving is so overpowering that the wife says she will die without the rampion. Extreme food cravings in pregnancy were taken very seriously in folk belief.
If they were real today
He would be the person who signs the thing without reading it because someone he loves is frightened.
Key moments
He knew it while he was saying yes
Mother Gothel makes her offer in the middle of her garden at night, and he accepts, and the story is explicit that he understood exactly what he was doing.
Who they know
Mother Gothelenemy
A handful of lettuce for a child, agreed to in a garden at night.
Characters like Rapunzel's Father
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