Popular fairy tales have one defining factor. The stepmothers are almost always evil.
Admittedly, the Brothers Grimm, who many commenters blame for creating the ‘Evil Stepmother’ trope, only featured stepmothers in 15 out of over 200 tales. And as we noted a few days ago, they did not create ‘Snow White.’
Rather, they took inspiration from existing folktales, re-imagining them for contemporary audiences. This applies to other renowned Grimm fairy tales (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, etc). Therefore, you can’t blame them for originating the ‘Evil Stepmother’ concept, although they definitely popularized it.
One 2019 study from Geon Ho Bahn and Minha Hong analyzed 104 Korean Fairy Tales that utilized the same ‘Evil Stepmother’ trope we see in Grimm Fairy Tales. In Kongjwi and Patjwi, Kongjwi’s stepmother and stepsister kill her, but she finds new allies and resurrects.
In A Stepson in a Well, a stepmother wants her son to inherit his father’s property, so she throws the stepson down a well. In Hwanghwairyeop, a stepmother uses a rat’s shell to frame her stepdaughter for aborting a fetus, getting her kicked out of the house.
In Wise Sang-gaeka, a stepmother ruins her stepdaughter’s upcoming wedding by spreading a rumour about an affair with another man. The differences in motivation are fascinating.
In Western folktales, the stepmother lashes out against her stepchildren because of envy. In Eastern folktales, evil stepmothers are motivated by greed. They attack stepchildren because they want to secure the husband’s property. African stepmothers are second wives or concubines who attack the virtuous first wife.
Either way, the question remains the same; why are stepmothers demonized in these stories? We know from recent studies that step-parents are actually a blessing to grieving children who lose a biological parent, acting as a splint that heals broken families.
Research shows that most stepparents and stepchildren have positive relationships. Was that not the case in previous centuries, when these folktales were written? Not really.
First of all, plenty of biological mothers and mothers-in-law mistreated their children, but the Brothers Grimm changed their villains to stepmothers to preserve the image of motherhood. This is why the biological mothers who die at the start of each folktale are so pure.
Secondly, infant mortality back then was incredibly high. One in four babies would not make it to their first birthday. This is part of the reason why people back then had so many children. You never knew how many would survive.
Just as problematic was the number of women who died during childbirth. The widower would typically marry a younger woman, creating friction between the children and a youthful second wife who wanted to monopolize the husband’s attention, particularly in cases where the new wife and the stepdaughter fell within the same age range.
Some analysts have argued that authors like the Brothers Grimm wrote about evil stepmothers because they wanted to caution fathers about marrying the wrong woman in the aftermath of their first wife’s death and protecting their children at all costs.
The folktales also warned stepmothers about the catastrophes that would befall them if they mistreated their stepchildren. If those themes seem a little too mature for children, the Brothers Grimm produced books for adults.
They did not intend for their fairy tales to become children’s bedtime stories. What am I saying? Read some fairy tales, not just Eastern and Western lore, but the stories from your culture. You might be surprised by what they have to say about your people, their beliefs, and anxieties.
mbjjnr8@gmail.com
Which child would want to be raised by stepmother?
What does the mother who still calls herself ‘mother’ but isn’t raising her own child, do while her child is with stepwhatever?
Not to forget that children who are cruel, disobedient at schools…are mainly those left to stepmothers & are badly treated, most of them are babysitters, cleaners…while the stepmothers’ children live like princes, while the so called father turns blind eyes to what goes on!
If a woman marries a man who already has children in his house from another woman/women, she should accept them unconditionally or look for another man. The children are innocent. Such sick human beings should be locked up.