Comparative Writing

 Rapunzel and Tangled

In Rapunzel, the witch, also known as Dame Gothel or Mother Gothel, has a garden full of the leafy green “rapunzel.” The unborn heroine’s pregnant mother desperately craves those greens, so her husband sneaks into the garden to steal some for her. Gothel catches him, but she agrees to let him go if he’ll give her his baby daughter to raise as her own. Out of fear he agrees, and when the baby is born, Gothel appears, names her Rapunzel and whisks her away.

In Tangled, in place of the greens is a magic flower that restores youth and health, which Mother Gothel has been using for centuries to keep herself youthful and pretty. The unborn heroine’s pregnant mother becomes seriously ill, so the royal soldiers steal the flower to heal her, and when the baby princess is born, the flower’s power manifests in her hair. So Gothel kidnaps the baby to raise as her own so she can use her hair’s magic to maintain her youth. Rapunzel is just the girl’s name, not tied to the circumstances of her birth.