Zel
Zel is a novel retelling of Rapunzel by Donna Jo Napoli. Interestingly it is a split perspective story with chapters from Zel (Rapunzel), Mother (Mother gothel) and Konrad’s (the prince) perspectives. This has the effect of showing a deeper level of the characters, their attitudes, motivations and growth. Zel’s perspective mainly has the effect of showing her mind state as it changes throughout the text, this is also reflected in her paintings and drawings. Initially Zel is a very happy, carefree girl who delights in everything around her. Her paintings and drawings vary depending on her materials the things she sees and does, reflecting her love of the world and how stimulating it is for her. When she is trapped in the tower at first she is very scared, but trusts mother. Her paintings become bright, but the brightness is in itself a monotone, and she draws things of nature as they comfort her, and slowly the forest outside her window becomes her only stimuli. As her mental state deterioriates we see the colour and joy go from her as she only uses charcoal, she is haunted by free things like racing horses and her drawings get angrier and wilder as she descends into madness.
The perspective of Mother shows her motivations and attitudes so we understand her as more than just a villain, rather she is a person who has made a lot of bad decisions and is a slave to her needs as a person. Konrad’s perspective serves to give us more insight into the romance between him and Zel and also shows us the pass of time in the outside world while Zel is in the tower.
Of all the appropriations Zel is the most similar to the original tale, it explains more of the events and gives depth into the characters but it doesn’t change the backstory or add any major new elements. This tale is definitely a mature take on the fairy tale as it contains elements of female sexuality as a large part of the story, it also contains themes such as madness and the idea of selling ones soul to the devil. Zel retells the story of Rapunzel in a time when everyone has motivations and everyone wants to know ‘why’, simply stating events doesn’t satisfy people in our contemporary society so retellings such as this seek to explain what is unexplained and in doing so make the fairy tale more relevant.
The theme of madness is quite prevalent in Zel and it is shown in several different ways. Zel’s madness comes from isolation and lack of interaction with people. It causes her to lose her grip on her humanity and self harm to try and preserve the sensation of feeling. She cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is an illusion. Konrad’s madness comes from obsession over a single meeting with a person that keeps him riveted for two years. He puts off all aspects of his regular life to search for an elusive person who caught his attention. Towards the end of the two years he begins to wonder if she was even real at all. Mother’s madness is in her paranoia and obsession with Zel making the choice she did, giving up her soul for a gift. We see her making panicked decisions without much thought and ruining her relationship with Zel through a frantic need to keep her close.
The fairy tale elements of the original text still resonate within Zel as it is a close retelling of the original. However elements such as repetition by Zel to show her madness, the prevalence of the numbers – the number of secrets Zel has, the number of perspectives, the number of days she is in the tower etc-, the repetition of ‘something must change’ by Mother to show she understands keeping Zel in the tower is driving both of them mad and the simplicity of the magic, plants and seeing.
The perspective of Mother shows her motivations and attitudes so we understand her as more than just a villain, rather she is a person who has made a lot of bad decisions and is a slave to her needs as a person. Konrad’s perspective serves to give us more insight into the romance between him and Zel and also shows us the pass of time in the outside world while Zel is in the tower.
Of all the appropriations Zel is the most similar to the original tale, it explains more of the events and gives depth into the characters but it doesn’t change the backstory or add any major new elements. This tale is definitely a mature take on the fairy tale as it contains elements of female sexuality as a large part of the story, it also contains themes such as madness and the idea of selling ones soul to the devil. Zel retells the story of Rapunzel in a time when everyone has motivations and everyone wants to know ‘why’, simply stating events doesn’t satisfy people in our contemporary society so retellings such as this seek to explain what is unexplained and in doing so make the fairy tale more relevant.
The theme of madness is quite prevalent in Zel and it is shown in several different ways. Zel’s madness comes from isolation and lack of interaction with people. It causes her to lose her grip on her humanity and self harm to try and preserve the sensation of feeling. She cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is an illusion. Konrad’s madness comes from obsession over a single meeting with a person that keeps him riveted for two years. He puts off all aspects of his regular life to search for an elusive person who caught his attention. Towards the end of the two years he begins to wonder if she was even real at all. Mother’s madness is in her paranoia and obsession with Zel making the choice she did, giving up her soul for a gift. We see her making panicked decisions without much thought and ruining her relationship with Zel through a frantic need to keep her close.
The fairy tale elements of the original text still resonate within Zel as it is a close retelling of the original. However elements such as repetition by Zel to show her madness, the prevalence of the numbers – the number of secrets Zel has, the number of perspectives, the number of days she is in the tower etc-, the repetition of ‘something must change’ by Mother to show she understands keeping Zel in the tower is driving both of them mad and the simplicity of the magic, plants and seeing.