Elvira and the Snow White Syndrome

Chapter 22 was devoted to psychiatrist Kåreland's proof that Elvira suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. In the same wave Kåreland's psychological assistant attributed "the Snow White syndrome" to her. She went on to say that it is mainly characterised by "escape into fantasy as a defence. In other words, she [=Elvira] uses her fantasy to escape from a difficult reality, with the consequence that she denies reality". – The assistant was unaware of the crucial distinction whether a person had escaped into fantasy, or was chased into fantasy. In addition, the assistant she did not at all define the syndrome, nor did she invoke any supporting publications.

But I have unearthed her source, Beyond the Myths. Mother-Daughter Relationships in Psychology, History, Literature and Everyday Life by Shelley Phillips (1991). Phillips's speculations are based on the psychoanalytic speculations of Bruno Bettelheim (1976) in The Uses of Enchantement. The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales.

Phillips's book does include a chapter with the heading "The Snow White Syndrome". But this chapter is not concerned with a syndrome that some and only some females may suffer from. Instead, Phillips is concerned with a psychological stage that all females supposedly undergo.

In the fairy tale the queen pricks her finger while sewing, and three drops of blood fall into the white snow. White is a symbol of innocence. Red blood is a symbol of sexual desire and of sexual bleeding (viz. at the first coitus and at menstruation). Therefore the fairy tale is concerned with the Oedipal struggle between the mother and the daughter (e.g., Elvira and Helena) about who is most beautiful. The queen orders the hunter (= the father) to take the daughter into the wood and kill her. But the hunter/father finds a compromise between the wishes of both females. He takes the daughter to the wood, but does not kill her.

The queen had ordered him to bring back Snow White's heart and liver, which the queen would then eat in the hope of thereby acquiring Snow White's beauty. But instead the hunter brings the corresponding body parts of an animal.

Because of the Oedipal conflict, life in the family will be dreadful. As a consequence, the child will dream of having other parents with whom there would be no conflict. Some children even run ways from home in search of an ideal family – exactly in the way that Elvira had run away to the Mollbeck family.

I do not think that I am under the obligation to refute such odd speculations.






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Uppdaterad: 2009-11-19

Yakida