In A Glass Grimmly

“You see, when you are very pretty, people tend to remark on your looks. They smile at you more easily. They are more permissive of your faults. Soon, you come to believe that your prettiness matters, and that you are better because you are pretty, and that all it takes to get through life is a batting of your eyelashes and a twisting of your hair around your little finger, and that you can scream and pout and shout and tease because everyone will still like you anyway because you are so unbelievably pretty. This is what many very pretty people think.

Beware, then, for this is how monsters are made.”

This passage from the narrator discusses Jill’s mother and how the girl (who later becomes the queen) is twisted by her beauty. Even as a child, Jill’s mother knew she was pretty, and she used this prettiness to her advantage to get what she wanted. Here, the narrator reflects on how this ability to manipulate others turns her into a monster and comments on how external beauty does not make someone pretty on the inside. Society’s tendency to let traditionally attractive people get away with things others cannot establishes the harmful idea that pretty people are more influential or important. Concerning Jill, this passage notes the key difference between her and her mother. Jill’s mother knows she is pretty and, thus, becomes a monster on the inside. By contrast, Jill is pretty but doesn’t know it, so she remains good on the inside regardless of her outward appearance.

“As anyone who’s read the Brothers Grimm would know, this is actually when she throws him against a wall with all of her might in an attempt to kill him.

And only then, after the attempted murder, does he reveal himself as an enchanted prince. And then they get married. And live happily ever after.

Which is clearly idiotic. Why would they live happily ever after if she’s just tried to kill him?

And why would being smashed against a wall turn him back into a prince?

And who said he was a prince in the first place?”

Here, the narrator digs into the logic of fairy tales and finds it lacking. Before this discussion, the young queen picked up the frog, and the frog is dizzy with anticipation of what will happen next. The narrator then distinguishes between the original forms of fairy tales and the popularized versions: In popular versions, the queen kisses the frog to lift a curse.