"Get away from me you nasty-looking thing!"
Illustration based on the original by Warwick Goble
Boy, a young maiden's first time can really be unpleasant business! The Grimms' Frog Prince brims with sexual innuendo and invokes the irksome threat of first-time sex for a girl in a contract marriage. Reading it made me squirm more than the sight of a moist, warty toad.
There is the well shaft that the frog pokes his "thick ugly head" out of, announcements by the maiden that "he wants to come in to me," urgings from the frog to "open to me!" and her own father's instruction for her to "perform."
Oh, my God, I need to stop.
The maiden seems spoiled and shallow due to her otherworldly beauty. It is worth noting that she is one of three sisters and plays with a golden ball – in Greek mythology, a golden apple bearing the inscription 'to the fairest' is claimed by three goddesses. The ensuing dispute unleashes a chain of events leading to the Trojan War.
Nevertheless, I believe her visible, visceral reluctance to the frog's advances reflects well on her pristine virtue. How else should a King's virginal daughter react?
The deflowering business being over, the maiden gets the chance to warm up to her newly-annointed life partner. What was once an ugly frog transforms into a handsome prince.
But the references to sex and marriage do not end there. No sooner do the two get married, surrounded by white horses and white plumes, we meet the Prince's faithful servant. Henry wore iron bands around his heart for the duration of his master's curse. They functioned both as a wedding band indicative of Henry's love for the Prince and a chastity belt that would ensure the servant would not betray his master.
The bands around Henry's heart are finally allowed to break now that the Prince got that chance to bind himself to someone else.
There is the well shaft that the frog pokes his "thick ugly head" out of, announcements by the maiden that "he wants to come in to me," urgings from the frog to "open to me!" and her own father's instruction for her to "perform."
Oh, my God, I need to stop.
The maiden seems spoiled and shallow due to her otherworldly beauty. It is worth noting that she is one of three sisters and plays with a golden ball – in Greek mythology, a golden apple bearing the inscription 'to the fairest' is claimed by three goddesses. The ensuing dispute unleashes a chain of events leading to the Trojan War.
Nevertheless, I believe her visible, visceral reluctance to the frog's advances reflects well on her pristine virtue. How else should a King's virginal daughter react?
The deflowering business being over, the maiden gets the chance to warm up to her newly-annointed life partner. What was once an ugly frog transforms into a handsome prince.
But the references to sex and marriage do not end there. No sooner do the two get married, surrounded by white horses and white plumes, we meet the Prince's faithful servant. Henry wore iron bands around his heart for the duration of his master's curse. They functioned both as a wedding band indicative of Henry's love for the Prince and a chastity belt that would ensure the servant would not betray his master.
The bands around Henry's heart are finally allowed to break now that the Prince got that chance to bind himself to someone else.
Thanks for sharing this - I love this type of story, and the "Iron Henry" part of it is such an odd and distinctive feature of the Grimm story. There's another story in Grimm that has a lot of similarities to this one - do you know about Hans the Hedgehog? I love that story!!! In that one, a princess is forced to marry... a hedgehog. It happens in that story because of a rash promise made by her father. Anyway, it's a really cool story - here it is online if you are curious:
ReplyDeleteHans-My-Hedgehog
Hedgehogs are cuter than frogs, of course, but still... :-)
Oh my God! I had never heard of the hedgehog story! What a wonderful image. These tales really evoke how weird the opposite sex must have seem to young girls - especially considering they were all forced to marry so young! Thanks for pointing me to it. I'm going to read it immediately!
ReplyDeleteI read Hans the Hedgehog in the Barnes and Noble edition of Grimm's fairy tales. It has a footnote to tell me what a hedgehog was! haha It's a really cute story, and I like it a lot more than the Frog King. I wasn't too fond of the princess in the Frog King, but then, Eva does make a good point about why she's reluctant.
ReplyDeleteLove your analysis! I always have felt sorry for that princess: she is young and very silly, so it's not hard for me to forgive her (even though I love frogs and would happily share my plate and bed with one).
ReplyDeleteI think it's a story about her being pushed and pushed out of her comfort zone: it's a horrible, unpleasant process that you struggle and struggle with until pop! You're out the other side and you've won.
I'm afraid "pop" might be the operative word here!
ReplyDeleteIn the version of the Greek golden ball myth I know, it wasn't so much "awarded" to Aphrodite. It was an apple inscribed "kallistē" ("To the fairest") and Eris (goddess of discord) tossed it into a party attended by Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. Discord -- the Trojan war -- duly ensued.
ReplyDeleteHey digitig
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're right. I have only the most cursory background on Greek Mythology (wish I had more) and wrote with a vague understanding that Paris chose Aphrodite over the others so that he could take Helen as his wife (leading to the Trojan War). The way I have tried to summarize it above sounds inaccurate, then. I'll re-phrase it. Any suggestions?