"Where did the idea of the 'wicked stepmother' come from?" Topic

"What springs to mind when you picture a fairy tale? Maybe Cinderella sweeping the hearth in tattered rags; Hansel and Gretel trailing bread crumbs through a dark forest; or Snow White, her face deathly pale, lying motionless within a glass coffin.

These images are burned into our collective consciousness. But besides sharing similar folklore roots and being reimagined by Disney, they all feature the same villain: the wicked stepmother.

Wicked stepmothers have haunted the pages of fairy tale books for centuries, seeking the downfall of the plucky heroine. But who is this evil crone, and where did she come from? And what do we make of her as a modern-day archetype?…"

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Armand

Simple evolutionary biology, a step-parent has no genetic stake in a step child. At its most extreme in mice and lions the new step father kills all the offspring before impregnating the females. Humans are supposedly a bit less ruthless, but any scarcity of resources will be made to impact the step child before the genetic offspring.

Well, I have a wicked stepmother-in-law, so the situation and stereotype is indeed based in reality. Can't explain it, but just know that it isn't a Brothers Grimm invention.

Not all step-parents are of this stereotype…

I have three step-sons. I am sooo evil, I introduced them to 2e AD&D role playing, along with 2e BattleSystem fantasy miniatures gaming.

I love my step-sons as if they were mine, biologically. We're not all bad/evil step-parents. I forget that we're not biologically connected.

I told my sons, a year after I became their step-Dad:

"Being a father, is an act of biology. Being a Dad, is a choice. I will never be your father, but I will always be your Dad."

Their father walked out on them, when they were little, he wanted nothing to do with them. I've been their Dad for 24 years; I'm Grandpa, to their children. Biology is rarely a part of the equation, for us.

I love them, and I always will. I'm their Dad. Cheers!

People writing stories about kids have always had a problem: kids have parents who keep them from having adventures. That's why so very many Disney protagonists are orphans. It's why so many sit comes have an absent or impotent father figure. The other solution is a step parent: they're a ready made authority figure antagonist. What other antagonist could there be for a kid? The parents would intercede. If kids are going to be the protagonist you have to remove the parents.

So I suspect the origin is simple pragmatism on the part of the story teller.

Abraham Lincoln's stepmother appears to have been ok…

Thanks!

Armand

In the Middle Ages, the death of the mother in childbirth was pretty common. The second (or nth) wife would want the best for her children and if that was at the expect of the kids already there, well, death in childhood was pretty common too.

My guess is it started with the story of Cinderella. How old is that story?

Medieval…

Armand

Could be it also comes from a new mouth to feed entering a family when resources are at the limit because of a death of a relative and their kids coming to an uncle or aunt.

It appears in Greek mythology, so don't blame Cinderella.

Actually, read Bruno Bettelheim's "The Uses of Enchantment" for a thoroughgoing exploration of this and other fantasy tropes.