Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall

STORYBOOK INSPIRATION:


Snow White Illustration by Trina Schart Hyman


Evil Queen and the Mirror, Illustration by John Patience


Queen and Mirror Illustration by Walter Crane


Disney's Evil Queen

"After a year had passed the king took to himself another wife. She was a beautiful woman, but proud and haughty, and she could not bear that anyone else should surpass her in beauty. She had a wonderful looking-glass, and when she stood in front of it and looked at herself in it, and said,

"Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
Who in this land is the fairest of all?"

the looking-glass answered --

"Thou, O Queen, art the fairest of all!"
- " Little Snow-White," by The Brothers Grimm

Imagine the mirror you might peer into every day. It adorns your home, informs you, and perhaps brings you deserved pleasure. What would you want that mirror to look like? Following are some mirrors one might choose if creating Snow White's Wicked Queen-themed decor for your home.


A mirror white as snow... (Z Gallerie)


A black, sinister looking Console Mirror (French Bedroom Company)


An elegant antique-gold Baroque mirror, perfect for a dining room or a bedroom. (eBay)


Perhaps you'd prefer something larger, darker, more regal. (eBay)


No-one said a Queen must always prefer a gold mirror. Perhaps one might choose this silver leaf mirror, just big enough to peer in - and see the face peering back at you. (eBay)


Most Snow White illustrations show the evil queen standing in front of a mirror, but there's no reason for her not to have used a desktop mirror (Pier 1)


Perhaps even the most wicked queen might select a soft pink mirror to admire herself in. (Couture Furniture)


It's not difficult to imagine this hellfire-colored mirror coming to life and speaking to the Queen. (The Conran Shop)


And once when the
queen asked her looking-glass,
looking-glass, looking-glass, on the wall,
who in this land is the fairest of all.

It answered,
thou art fairer than all who are here, lady queen.
But more beautiful still is Snow-White, as I ween.


A black mirror for a black-hearted queen. (eBay)


This red-and-black Fleur de Lis mirror is at once modern, yet old. (House Accents).



Here's a twist to the story. What if the Wicked Queen's mirror is made of maple cut down by the woodsman she sent to kill Snow White? (House Accents).

Related Links:

The Annotated Snow White (SurLaLune Fairy Tales)

The Evil Queen of 'Snow White' (Disney Villains)

Teaching "Snow White" in Literature

Snow White Queen and Mirror Illustration by Bess Livings (SurLaLune Fairy Tales)

The Snow White Database

Snow White, at Wikipedia

Queen (Snow White) at Wikipedia


Walt Disney's "Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs," on Amazon



Snow White, by Jane Ray, on Amazon

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