March of Microanalysis Day 25
Microfiction Entry Day 25:
The tower soared upward, the top lost among clouds. By the third day of climbing, he began to have doubts. Hope she’s worth it, he thought.
Fairy tales again. Give me words enough and time, and like the proverbial monkey typewriter pool, I’ll come up with a fairy tale. I found the concept of this one pretty amusing...Rapunzel’s tower becomes fantastically tall, more like the beanstalk to the giant’s castle. So our hero, forced to climb longer than anticipated, naturally experiences some buyer’s remorse. I do hope there’s a happy ending.
You could argue that this is a passive aggressive Rapunzel. By making her tower endless, or nearly endless, the actions of of the prince are rendered nearly useless.
I could go on about the passivity of heroines. Several of the most famous heroines (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella...) are rather passive in regards to...let’s call it the courtship phase of the story. These ladies aren’t total non-entities, of course. Snow White gets out of Dodge when the huntsman takes her to the forest, and she finds a decent shelter and earns her keep there. Cinderella does get her own ass to the ball, even if she leaves her actual pursuit up to the prince. I guess Sleeping Beauty is the worst of the lot, although it is right there in the name. Awake Beauty would presumably show a bit more spunk.
Where was I? Oh, hanging on the side of an infinitely tall tower, watching the doubting prince. And he should be doubtful. Hair length and/or singing voice is no way to choose a bride. Why the hell is he still climbing? Why not give up, go back down to earth, where there’s a bevy of beauties all happy to marry a prince? Maybe that’s why. Maybe the elusiveness, the exclusiveness, of Rapunzel is the most interesting thing about her. Maybe the thrill really is in the chase. Or maybe she’s his last chance. Maybe he can’t go back. Maybe the clouded future is all he’s got.
Through March, I'm posting a breakdown/analysis of the microfiction I posted on the corresponding day in February. This is probably only interesting to you if you care about the mechanics of writing, or if you know me personally.