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 that actually means
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.
What happens in the story
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.
Read RapunzelQuestions to ask afterwards
The lesson lands better when a child works it out themselves.
- 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?