Rapunzel Revised

I had the following conversation with a friend (male) 2 days ago:

Him: You should cut your hair.

Me: Mmmmm.

Him: Give it to Locks of Love.

Me: I have already.

Him: You could do it again.

Me: I might need my hair...for an escape, like Rapunzel.

Him: You're planning to have some guy climb your hair to rescue you?

Me: No, I'll do it myself. I'll pin my hair to the windowsill or something and get down.

Him: There's a knight; he climbs up her hair.

Me: Oh yeah, I forgot. I was thinking she did it herself. Well, I think the fairytale should be that she does it herself.

Him: No, she needs the knight--how else is she going to fight off the dragon? What are you going to do? swish, swish, swish your ponytail at the dragon's face?

Me: There's a dragon?

Him: I think so, at the end, they have to pass to get out of the woods.

Me: I forgot about the dragon I guess!

Him: And how are you going to get down from the tower?

Me: I'll pin my hair to the windowsill...

Him: ...throw your hair out and bungee jump?

Me: No, I'd nail it or tie it to the windowsill and, what do you call it? mountain climb? down the tower...what's the word for it--you know, where...RAPPELLING, that's it. Yeah, I would rappell down the tower wall. THAT's how the fairytale should be. I think someone needs to rewrite that fairytale...hmmm, maybe me.

That was the end of our conversation about Rapunzel. I might be able to use a knight for fighting off the dragon. But Rapunzel gets out of the tower on her own.

In another tale, from King Arthur legends, the woman (Elaine? waiting for Lancelot?) encloses herself in a tower of her own accord--as Tennyson wrote,

"There she weaves by night and day,
A magic web with colors gay;
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
to look down on Camelot."

Waiting, always, for the knight in shining armor, and the woman on a pedestal of sorts, out of reach, imprisoned. Juliet, on the balcony, Cinderella in the attic...Just waiting...sort of abused woman's syndrome. Then once down to earth, the fairytale ends, usually in marriage or tragedy. Hmmm.

When I was a girl, I went to the library several times a week. I read all the fairytales in the fairytale section. I read all the books of Grimm, and fairytales from other countries. I especially enjoyed the Japanese fairytales and illustrations, aside from traditional stories or versions. Reading these stories, some well-crafted, stimulated my imagination and love for literature.

They also gave me about as much real-world knowledge as playing with barbie dolls.