Fairy-tale adaptations and economies of desire

We All Live in Fabletown: Bill Willingham’s Fables—A Fairy-Tale Epic for the 21st Century

“…Bacchilega only notes Fables in passing-paraphrasing the work of Andrew Friedenthal, who analyzes additional adaptations of the Snow White and Rose Red characters, and points out that "More modern figurations of Rose Red demonstrate how contemporary writers interpret her and use this dichotomy [between Rose Red and Snow White] as a kind of shorthand to explore diverse expressions of femininity" ( [27], p. 173). Fables exemplifies these "diverse expressions", and Friendenthal gives Fables special attention in his article's conclusion: "Fables offers an extreme exception to a general pattern-Rose Red is silenced by the very fact that she is the symbolic representation of a dangerous, active woman, a femme fatale to Snow White's innocent persecuted heroine" ( [27], p. 178).…”

“…Fables exemplifies these "diverse expressions", and Friendenthal gives Fables special attention in his article's conclusion: "Fables offers an extreme exception to a general pattern-Rose Red is silenced by the very fact that she is the symbolic representation of a dangerous, active woman, a femme fatale to Snow White's innocent persecuted heroine" ( [27], p. 178). In his footnotes, Friendenthal offers a quotation from Fables where Rose explains how she's "grown out of the habit of sleeping with girls" ( [28], Note 7, p. 178).…”

“I Am the Wolf: Queering ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and ‘Snow White and Rose Red’ in the Television Show Once Upon a Time”

“…11 Though a less familiar fairy tale, "Snow White and Rose Red" is still recognizable to many and is, for those who know it, a far more interesting and subversive tale than many of those that have gained considerably greater popularity. 12 This intertextual blurring of two fairy tales allows the texts to "mingle with one another, anticipating, evoking, interrupting, and supporting one another in unpredictable ways" ( [26], p. 79).…”

“…148-50). One can speculate, as Cristina Bacchilega and Heinz Rölleke do, that the tale appealed to the Grimm brothers because "the sisters' devotion to one another plays a key role in the tale and mirrors that of the two Grimms" themselves ( [26], p. 85). This perhaps helps explain its inclusion, despite the fact that the lack of any clear evidence of an oral history for the tale should theoretically have excluded it from the Grimms' collection.…”

“…What's more, though the sisters do both marry princes in the tale, their respective marriages do not result in their separation. As Bacchilega argues, there is "no need [in the tale] for married life to replace sisterly bonds" and the sisters are not "dependent on males" ( [26], pp. 86-87).…”