Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Has Finally Let Down Her Hair!: The Feminist Evolution of “Rapunzel” from the Nineteenth Century to the Twenty-First Century

Although children’s literature and cinema are seldom studied critically for their thematic relevance in social structures, their influence on young, impressionable minds cannot be denied, and they are often the first teachers of gender politics to new generations. The study of gender conditioning in light of the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale “Rapunzel” and its evolution from the classic tale to the blockbuster Disney animation Tangled in 2010, then traveling to India as a short story by Sowmya Rajendran in 2015, is the focus of this article. Feminist theories support the discussion here.