Freud and Rapunzel
In the fairy tale “Rapunzel”, the dreamer, Rapunzel, successfully passes through all the Freudian psychosexual stages of development. Symbolism helps to illustrate the dreamer’s movement through the five stages. The Witch portrays the super-ego figure in “Rapunzel”. Rapunzel’s mother plays the Id figure. The events of Rapunzel’s life lead the reader to identify the dream as more of a nightmare. Her father agrees to give Rapunzel to a witch, who then locks Rapunzel in a tall tower; only rescued by a passing prince. Yonic and phallic imagery help identify the dreamer’s current stage of psychosexual development. Although delayed by the witch, the dreamer Rapunzel eventually passes through all stages of psychosexual development. The Dreamer first experiences the Oral stage, which can be represented by dependency, food, or other oral imagery. Rapunzel begins her psychosexual journey in the oral stage, when inside her mother’s womb. Her mother, desiring rampion from the witch’s garden, orders her husband to retrieve it. Rapunzel’s father, who loves his wife, scales the wall and retrieves the rampion. Upon his return Rapunzel’s mother prepares a great salad “which tasted so good that her longing for the forbidden food was greater than ever” (1). Once again Rapunzel’s father scales the wall to fulfill his wife’s desire, but finds that now the witch waits for him. After explaining himself, the witch agrees that Rapunzel’s father may have as much rampion as his wife desires if they will give the witch their unborn child. In terror, Rapunzel’s father agrees to the witch’s terms. The oral stage is represented through the mother’s desire for the rampion. The oral stage identifies through acts of eating and dependency. Rapunzel’s mother demands that her husband retrieve rampion or she “shall die”, the dreamer develops a dependency on the rampion (1). The garden characterizes a yonic symbol. The rampion, referred to as a “forbidden food”, leads to similarities in the story of