Second, I really like the introduction about the will of the plants and how they can think for themselves. It is very thought provoking and offers a unique introduction to such a story.
Probably the most fascinating part of the story though, is its deviation from a normal fairytale type. I mean, the beginning seems like a normal story, with some weird event, a transformation, a young maiden, etc... However, not many fairytales end in mystery, the unwarranted death of the heroine, and the need of asylums for the other characters. It is very different from other German fairytales in this sense.
I agree with you that the notion that flowers have a will of their own. The events with this flower seen to press the thought of suspendable disbelief. Seeing as this story has many examples where this suspendable disbelief is tested, I think this story loses credibility with each questionable event that follows, sprung from this notion that flowers have a will of their own.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Mynona was trying to incorporate the Virgin Mary symbolism with the "immaculate"- or as you phrase it, "illegitimate"- conception of the rose child. However, if this were the case, I would like to point out that Mynona does it in an irreverent way (and I am not saying that I am a pious churchgoer by any means.) God would be whittled down to a lusty rose, Mary would be framed as a psychotic hussy, and Jesus is a dumb mute that dies for the sake of a sick joke. You do have a point that the story does resemble the Mother Mary story, but because of the way Mynona tells it, it becomes more of a parody than a pedagogical tale.
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