Symbolism: Madoka and Fairy Tails

Oct 18, 2016 3:32 PM

Offline

Jul 2016

I've never seen anyone comment on this so I'm going to bring it up. I really like how each Puella Magi is linked to a traditional European fairy tail and how they act as foreshadowing to their stories.

Sayaka was the first I noticed. She's the Little Mermaid who saved the man she loved sacrificed everything to be next to him and endured great pain to make him happy only to be abandoned for another woman while she was left to die.

Kyoko is Snow White. She likes apples. As the wicked stepmother envied Snow White and tried to kill her, her father envied her powers and tried to kill her. She is trapped in a curse of eternal sleep until her prince charming wakes her with a kiss of love (Sayaka so cool).

Mami is Rapunzel. Her ribbons she uses as lassos mimic Rapunzels long golden locks she uses as a rope. Like Rapunzel she is awaiting a prince who will save her from her predicament and like Rapunzel she dooms her saviour by the trickery of the witch that holds her captive and her hair is cut.

Nagisa is Hanzel and Gretel. She loves sweet things. She rejoiced at her mother's death and really loves sweets. Her witch form also loves eating children.

Homura and Madoka are of course a bit special.

Homura is the Nutcracker. She is cursed to repeat battle with the Rat King for all of time. She is gifted a ribbon by her princess. She is given weapons with which to finally strike the Rat King dead by her princess (a bow and arrow or love, take your pick).

Madoka is the Swan Lake. She is a perfectly pure and innocent being. Her true self is hidden away by a curse. She is held hostage by an evil warlock. Her prince is fooled into loving an illussion of her and is cursed forever.

There are a few other witches who have clear fairy tale counterparts such as H.N.Elly who is Cinderella.

I'm pretty sure I got all these right, some are more obvious than others and certain details are not in the more common versions of these fairy tales. I haven't found which fairy tales correspond to the witches but most witch forms don't have many direct parallels to their fairy tales.

Can anyone give me more?

Oct 18, 2016 10:30 PM

steepholm

Offline

Apr 2014

Some interesting ideas there. I don’t think anyone would argue with Sayaka as the Little Mermaid, but some of the others are a bit of a stretch, such as Kyoko as Snow White. Their characters are pretty far apart, for a start, and her father (apart from not being her stepmother) isn’t jealous of her so much as horrified by her powers. If you really wanted to find a parallel for her you’d do better with Eve (admittedly not a European fairy tale): not only do you have the apple, but she’s someone who gave away her innocence in exchange for power and knowledge, which led to her being exiled from the “paradise” of her family life. The conflagration of her family we see might stand for the angel with the fiery sword… But even so, I’m not sure how far I would push it.

"Burn this sight into your minds. This is what it means to be a magical girl."

Nov 18, 2016 5:42 AM

Vux-Sama

Offline

Aug 2015

Hmmm I would argue about Sayaka being Little Mermaid, I personally think that her entire character's story is more akin to The Frog Prince's story, how he's trying to find happiness in life which a big part of Sayaka's character.
NOTE: If you have the time you can watch this analysis of Sayaka which IMO is amazing and my comment about this exact topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiyogtJa4L ,also I'm glad that someone else found this interesting and wanted to give their own take on it.

Nov 19, 2016 2:04 PM

CT_BINO

Offline

Aug 2015

Vux-Sama said:
Hmmm I would argue about Sayaka being Little Mermaid, I personally think that her entire character's story is more akin to The Frog Prince's story, how he's trying to find happiness in life which a big part of Sayaka's character.
NOTE: If you have the time you can watch this analysis of Sayaka which IMO is amazing and my comment about this exact topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiyogtJa4L ,also I'm glad that someone else found this interesting and wanted to give their own take on it.

I can be wrong but sayaka story is almost like the little mermaid (not the disney story), if you look to oktavia design she has a mermaid body(tail?).

Nov 20, 2016 6:39 AM

Wardog_E

Offline

Jul 2016

CT_BINO said:

I can be wrong but sayaka story is almost like the little mermaid (not the disney story), if you look to oktavia design she has a mermaid body(tail?).

Yes. In the original story, The Mermaid gets legs and meets her prince but in exchange she feels absolute agony with every step she takes and she fails to win the prince's heart she will die. Eventually he falls in love with another woman and she considers killing the prince to save her own life but eventually accepts her fate and hopes the prince will be happy. Finally, God is moved by her selfless love and she becomes an angel to serve him. Both stories have the same beats and reach an identical conclusion.

Wardog_ENov 20, 2016 6:43 AM

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