Abstract
This chapter explores themes of amputation and abjection in a series of European folktales often referred to by the title of “The Girl Without Hands.” In a close reading of the Brothers Grimm version of the tale, the chapter argues that the amputation is deeply symbolic in nature. The removal of the girl’s hands—and by extension her ability to act independently in the world—symbolizes the loss of power and agency that is seen to accompany entry into womanhood. Drawing upon theories of feminine abjection coined by Julia Kristeva and developed by Barbara Creed, the chapter argues that the loss of the protagonist’s hands also evokes and serves as a vehicle to negotiate a number of culturally potent anxieties about female identity and agency.
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Notes
- 1.
Although scholars generally distinguish between popular oral folktales (Märchen) and more artistic fairy tales (Kunstmärchen) (Warner xix), this chapter uses the terms interchangeably. The primary reason for this is that “The Girl Without Hands” is both a folktale—a product of the oral storytelling tradition—and a fairy tale—edited and embellished artistically by the Grimms.
- 2.
Schmiesing notes that Viehmann’s status as a rural peasant is debated. The Grimms describe her as “a Bäuerin” (farmer’s wife or peasant woman), but they do not explain that she was the wife of a tailor and the daughter of an innkeeper. However, while some interpreters claim that Viehmann belonged more to the middle than the peasant class, others have argued that her family were comparatively poor, and as such, she could be considered a “peasant” (28).
- 3.
See Maria Tatar’s Secrets Beyond the Door for a more complete discussion of “Bluebeard” and its variations.
- 4.
The version of the tale I am using for this chapter comes from the seventh and final edition of Children’s and Household Tales.
- 5.
Schmiesing points out that in the first edition of Children’s and Household Tales, the maiden is not gifted with a silver prosthesis. This is apparently an innovation of the second and subsequent editions (2–3).
- 6.
See Schmiesing’s Disability, Deformity, and Disease in the Grimms’ Fairy Tales for more information on the variations between “The Girl Without Hands” as it appears in different editions of Children’s and Household Tales.
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Corcoran, M. (2021). “She Had Wept So Long and So Much on the Stumps”: Amputation and Embodiment in “The Girl Without Hands”. In: Grayson, E., Scheurer, M. (eds) Amputation in Literature and Film. Literary Disability Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74377-2_5
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