Mental Illness In Snow White

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Pages: 6

Mental and personality disorders have plagued people for centuries, sometimes causing pain to those around them. In some cases, the illnesses became physically dangerous to others. The disorders caused people to act in ways that led people to be afraid of them, rather than trying to help them. These potentially life and death situations were brought to life and animated using fairy tales and books. By creating material that would be commonly read, the authors were able to show the world just how far certain mental illnesses caused people to go. One fairy tale in particular that addresses the effects of mental illness on the surrounding people is “Snow White”. Throughout the tale, it can be proven that the Evil Queen suffers from paranoia and …show more content…
Her attempts to kill Snow White become more and more severe and desperate each time. The first time, she sends someone to do it for her and when that fails, she takes matters into her own hands. This demonstrates that her paranoid personality disorder causes her to feel that she is the only was who can help herself. This is also a main symptom of the disorder. Steve Bressert notes that, “ Because individuals with paranoid personality disorder lack trust in others, they have an excessive need to be self-sufficient and a strong sense of autonomy” (PsychCentral). This is proven when the Evil Queen does not trust the Huntsman and feels the need to make sure that it is done properly and thoroughly. Every time she tries to kill Snow White, she becomes more and more frantic in her attempts which shows the downward spiral of her disorder. She panics each time and tries harder to make sure that the job is done, all the way until her death. The Evil Queen declares, “Snow White shall die, even if it costs me my life” (Grimm, np). The fact that she continues till death shows that her disorder will not allow her to forget the situation and move