Gothel

There was once a woman named Gothel. She was a fair skinned woman, with dark hair, which flowed down her back like a silky shadow. She was somewhat a hermit, who didn’t much care for the company of others. Her only regret to this lifestyle was that she had no children. Children, unlike adults were pure and easily controlled. Her despise of men kept her from ever pursuing a relationship, which would be the cause of her misery.

One day as she was tending to her garden, she spotted a man climbing over her wall. This wall was designed to keep people and animals out, and she was not pleased to see that after all these years, it had decided to fail her. The man couldn’t be more than thirty years old, and his clothes were worn and dirty. As she continued to watch him, she saw that he was attempting to rob her of her vegetables and quick as he had appeared, he was gone.

Three days passed and she was tending to her garden once again. When she saw the man appear for a second time, she ran out to him and demanded the reason he was stealing from her. He explained how his wife was pregnant and starving. He had no food to give her and if she doesn’t eat, she will die. Gothel considered this for a moment and let her rage settle. She saw an opportunity before her and started plotting quickly in her mind.

“How much do you love your wife?” she asked seriously.

“With all my heart. I don’t know what I would do if I lost her. Please help me!”

Gothel agreed to help him, under one condition. If she was to provide them with enough food to last the pregnancy, he must surrender the child to her when it is born.

The man was so desperate that he agreed. Thinking that they could just move once the baby was born and his wife was well enough to be moved. She was too weak from the pregnancy right now, but with the food… she would surely gain her strength quickly.

When the baby was born, the man and his wife were overjoyed to have a brand new daughter. Though their happiness was not long lasted, as Gothel appeared.

“I heard the baby crying and could not wait any longer to see it” she exclaimed.

The parents pleaded with her to spare the child, but Gothel told them that a debt must be paid. To leave the area to leave her with her new daughter. Against the parents’ wishes, they handed their daughter over. Their pain was too much to live so near their daughter, but not be able to raise her, so they packed their things and moved a couple towns over.

Gothel raised the babe as her own and gave her the name Rapunzel. As the girl grew, she was given an education and taught to tend to the garden. When Rapunzel was twelve years old, Gothel decided to let her accompany her to town to do some shopping. While they were out, she saw the man and his wife out and about. They made eye contact, and in a panic that they may recognize her, she took hold of Rapunzel and rushed back to her home.

Gothel hired help to build a shed, and when it was complete, she locked Rapunzel away in it so as to keep her safe from the parents. the first couple of years, Rapunzel wept and wailed at being locked away. She cried to be let out, though Gothel would not risk it and kept the door well fastened from the outside. The only access to the outside was a small window with bars keeping her in, and once a week when Gothel allowed her to help tend to the garden. Rapunzel often gazed out the window wishing to be let out. And to pass the time, she started singing and writing songs to keep her spirits alive.

When Rapunzel was sixteen years old, the parents decided that enough was enough and hired a man to fetch their daughter whatever means necessary. They hired a man to retrieve their daughter and bring her back to them. Once they have her, they will flee the kingdom and live out their lives together in one of the neighboring kingdoms.

The man they hired decided to sneak over the wall at night when Gothel would be sleeping. As he lowered himself to the ground, he spotted the shed and figured that must be where she is being kept.

As he approached the window, it dawned on him that the girl did not know him and might be frightened upon seeing him. He decided instead, to write a note to her and placed it just inside the window. He climbed back over the wall and planned to return the following night.

The following night he returned to find Rapunzel waiting for him.

“I’ve come to free you and bring you to your real parents” he told her.

She didn’t believe him at first, because Gothel was the only mother she had ever known. But after him explaining the story, she began to become attached to the idea of having a family like that. She agreed to go with him. As he attempted to unlock the door, Gothel appeared behind him and hit him over the head with a rock, rendering him unconscious. In a rage, Gothel retrieved a pitchfork, unlocked the door and retrieved Rapunzel.

“How dare you defy me!” she exclaimed.

Handing the tool to Rapunzel, she demanded that the girl stab the man and be rid of him. Afterwards, they will flee to a new kingdom and start over. Rapunzel held the tool with tears in her eyes and asked about her real parents. Gothel was shocked.

“You have no need for them. They gave you to me because they did not love you” Gothel told her.

Rapunzel cried with confusion and anger. She turned on Gothel and pierced her through the stomach. With shock in her eyes, Gothel pushed her adopted daughter into the rose bushes, where her eyes were pierced by the thorns and bled terribly. With the contents of her eyes mixed with blood pouring down her face, she wailed a terrible wail and woke the man laying on the ground. Upon seeing Gothel gasping for breath on the ground, and Rapunzel holding her leaking eyes, he grabbed the girl and carried her over the wall.

Returned to her parents, Rapunzel lived out her life married to the man and would go on to bear three children, whom she loved dearly. Never regaining her sight, she was cursed with blindness, never to lay eyes on her children or parents. As for Gothel… her body was left in her garden and she tended to her plants one last time.