I read once that in the original Snow White fairytale, there was no stepmother, only a real mother filled with jealousy of her daughter. A sort of "be careful what you wish for" tale. I thought about of the mothers with Postnatal Depression who cannot bond with their children and wondered if this was the true story behind Snow White. I do not mean to demonise anyone with Postnatal Depression or other illnesses, but to try and see the story behind the fairytale.
POSSIBLE TRIGGERS: Domestic Violence, Postnatal Depression
Poem (c)opyright Laura Morrigan 2015
Only Child
(A retelling of Snow White)
There were pills
A counsellor
Things got better for a time
I tried to love her
Tried to relish the fact her beauty grew as mine faded
Tried not to see how his love for me faded as his for her grew
I threw the pills down the toilet,
Nothing would make it better
I wanted her to bleed like I had for her
I wanted to see that snow white skin split open
I wanted her to feel the pain that I did
I slit open
That snow white skin
So many cuts
I cut my only child
And felt no remorse
Somehow I failed
She broke free
Running down the street leaving behind her blood drops like rubies
The surgeon in the hospital who sewed her up
Had a face like a prince in a storybook.
I knew that he loved her at once
Just like everybody else
I played the grieving mother but this time no one believed
She didn't look at me as they took me away to the psych ward
They say I won't see jail and for that I am grateful
Here in this ward where the walls are painted like a forest
Because they think it will keep us calm
She visits me and tells me I am still her mother
I relish the scars that cover her arms and chest
And mar that skin as white as snow
They should not have shown me mercy
If they ever let me out
I will kill that snow white bitch.
Great poem! I studied fairy tales in my undergrad. None of the Cinderella stories we read involved the mother (except for Vasilisa the Beautiful, which uses the mother's dying blessing), however I would definitely think that the mother in some early tellings of Hansel & Gretel had postnatal depression. She was uber jealous of those kids and I remember one version had her making love with their father in the next room while she was planning to murder them lol.
ReplyDeleteI can really relate to your poem. I don't want children personally, mostly because I just don't like them. I know if I had been forced into that situation because of a relationship (thank god this isn't the 1950's) this is probably exactly how I would feel about the kid; jealous, annoyed and wanting to detach myself from them. I have zero maternal instinct, except maybe for my cats, whom I adore lol.
Hahh, cool! I wish they made a movie adaptation of Snow White from the viewpoint of the stepmom too...:D
ReplyDeleteReally sad and a hard topic you are writing about! Thanks for being so brave!
ReplyDeleteLaura, that's a very insightful look into postnatal depression. I think most fairy tales have their roots in reality. People turned human deeds into fairy tales as a way to distance themselves from the truth - monsters are always human.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Victoria
I have had 4 mother figures in my life. My mother, my former stepmother, my current stepmother, and my mother in law. My mother and step mother are the sweetest, kindest, most motherly ladies imaginable and I'm so lucky to have them. My former step mother and mother-in-law are wicked indeed. Nothing to do with postnatal depression, but with mental illness in general. I so understand that there are women who struggle to grasp the maternal role due to conflicting mental disorders of their own. Unfortunately, that causes the children involved to suffer. Fascinating version of Snow White you have created. It is so deeply meaningful to me.
ReplyDeleteumm... speechless here, hard topic indeed :-O
ReplyDeleteAwwwwww thanks everyone! (blushes) I have no words for how much I appreciate the encouragement on my writing!
ReplyDeleteThis is lovely, I especially liked the part "Here in this ward where the walls are painted like a forest / Because they think it will keep us calm". :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a difficult topic but I like this take. Very brave.
ReplyDelete