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White as Snow: Difference between revisions
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{{work}}
{{Infobox book
| title = White as Snow
| image = WhiteAsSnow_4597.jpg
| caption = What did the mirror see?
| author = Tanith Lee
| central theme =
| elevator pitch = A dark retelling of "[[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (novel)|Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs]]"
| genre = Fairy Tale
| publication date = 2000
}}
Once upon a time, there was a mirror.
So begins a dark retelling of "[[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (
As Arpazia [[Sanity Slippage|loses touch with reality more and more]], her daughter Candacis, called Coira, is brought up away from her parents by her uncaring nurse. It is not until the day her father consults an oracle when she is seven years old that she first truly sees her mother and, platonically, falls in love with her. Unfortunately for the girl, the mother's love is in that same instant given to a handsome young hunter with [[Fisher King|deep ties to the old gods of the land]].
Enter the [[Greek Mythology]] elements as Coira grows up with one foot in the Christian world and one foot in the land's pagan roots.
Not to be confused with [[White as Snow (film)|the 2010 Turkish film]], the song by [[U2]], or the episode of ''[[Captain Scarlet]]'', all of the same name.
----
{{tropelist}}
* [[Adults Are Useless]]: Coira's parents ignore her, her nurse mostly resents her, and her nurse's replacement fails to explain a few very important things. No wonder Coira isolates herself so much.
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* [[Attempted Rape]]: Draco almost rapes Arpazia a second time, but her complete refusal to respond reminds him of a corpse and he's too disgusted to continue.
* [[Bastard Bastard]]: Hadz.
* [[Big Screwed
* [[Black Eyes]]: Arpazia and Coira have "[[Icy Blue Eyes|cold water eyes]]" normally, a color that's not quite blue or gray, but when their pupils dilate, their eyes appear to be black.
* [[Broken Bird]]: Arpazia and Coira.
* [[Brother
* [[Cool and Unusual Punishment]]: As in the original fairy tale, Arpazia is given hot iron "shoes."
* [[Crapsack World]]: There is no joy anywhere in this story. Even before Arpazia marries Draco, her father doesn't seem to be so great himself.
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* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Draco features prominently in the first few chapters and later disappears from the books aside from being mentioned now and then.
* [[Disappeared Dad]]: Draco goes off and creates a new capital city with a new queen who gives him sons and forgets Arpazia and Coira. Subverted in that they don't miss him and soon leave the city themselves.
* [[Dude, She's Like, in
* [[Emotionless Girl]]: Coira, to the point that she scares people.
* [[Fairest of Them All]]: Arpazia is more interested in her lost youth, which she believes Coira represents. But she does want to be beautiful i.e. find the girlhood that was stolen from her.
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** A man remembers Coira wearing a red dress, symbolic of a stage in life she hasn't reached yet. She corrects him, saying it was green.
* [[Light Feminine and Dark Feminine]]: The two sides of the princess, the part of her that is Candacis and the part of her that is Coira. To highlight the dichotemy she is sometimes called Coira-Candacis.
* [[Madonna
* [[Magic Mirror]]: Subverted. The mirror is only "magic" because Arpazia is losing her mind and treats it as such, combined with the superstitions of the people.
* [[Magic Realism]]
* [[Mandatory Motherhood]]: Arpazia doesn't want to be a mother, but between her rape and Draco needing an heir, she must be.
* [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane]]
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Both of the princess's names, as well as others.
** Candacis is stated to mean something to do with "fiery whiteness." (Actually Candacis is a a variant of Candace, which means "Mother Queen".)
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** Arpazia herself is such a non-presence in Coira's life that Coira thinks her real mother is dead and Arpazia is a stepmother.
* [[Offing the Offspring]]: Played entirely straight. Arpazia is Coira's mother, not her stepmother.
* [[Only Known
** Arpazia's lover is known as Klymeno and as Orion. His real name is never disclosed, even to Arpazia.
* [[Raven Hair, Ivory Skin]]/[[Eerie Pale
* [[Real Women Have Curves]]: Invoked. When Arpazia's pregnancy shows (barely) at her wedding, it is assumed to be her natural shape.
* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Kaya and Julah.
* [[Sanity Slippage]]: Arpazia slips further and further from reality over the years.
* [[Secret Other Family]]: Subverted. Draco's other queen and children aren't secret at all.
* [[Seven Deadly Sins]]: The seven dwarves put on a play where each of them plays a sin.
* [[She Cleans Up Nicely]]: Coira.
* [[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (
* [[Tell Me About My Father]]: Subverted with Coira's father, who she has no interest in. Played straight with her mother.
* [[That Thing Is Not My Child]]: Arpazia's reaction to her baby.
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* [[Victorian Novel Disease]]: Coira becomes violently ill after Arpazia refuses to have anything to do with her.
* [[Villain Protagonist]]: Arpazia.
* [[
* [[Woman in White]]: Arpazia when Coira first realizes how much she loves her mother. This is the first of Arpazia's three important gowns, symbolizing the maiden.
** Coira when her mother takes her into the woods at age eight.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Fantasy Literature]]
[[Category:Fairy Tale]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:Literature]]
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