At this point I do not even need to watch the eps of Only Friends to know the plot. A leisurely stroll through my dash will provide me with everything, plot or otherwise

The Force Awakens and fairytales, part one: Snow Queen and Snoke

Thank you @ewa-a-nie-chce-spac​ for your encouragement and @shadowlass​ for inspiration :) I’ve been thinking about writing this post for a year, but recently few things happened that motivated me to do it:

Finally I had a chance to watch “Beauty and the Beast”. Well, I saw the animated version before but watching the new one only made me realize why I disagree so strongly with the conclusions of this fairytale. I was never a fan of this theory which highlights the parallels between Kylo and the Beast. Of course, there is some similarity in the outer layer and symbolism but the core of the story is totally different: while Beast is a proud and vain man and so his task in the story is to learn how to love another human being, Kylo is full of self-hatred and doubt and his main goal in this trilogy is learn how to love himself.

What is more, there are many fairytales that reflect more accurately the main motives visible in the Force Awakens. The two that, in my opinion, are the most fitting here are “Snow Queen” and “Prince Lindworm”. But let me say this: since I’ve become a part of this fandom I admired all those talented people who were creating amazing stores, drawing beautiful fanarts and those who put their extensive knowledge (from fabulously varied fields!) into use, writing metas. I also wanted to contribute and share those bits and pieces that I’ve collected during my studies. I decided to divide this post into two parts: the first one will be about the Snow Queen and I will discuss the similarities between the fairytale and TFA on the level of the plot and its symbolism. This one will be more like a summary. In the second part I will write about Prince Lindwom and more psychological stuff, like trauma, dissociation and archetypal defenses of personal spirit. However, I will focus on Kylo’s relation with Snoke in both parts, because I feel that there are still some things that need to be said.

I get a feeling that we forget about the fact that everything that exists and works for us somehow, is functional at least in some ways and as such it reinforces achievement of personal goals. This applies also to the dynamics of Kylo/Snoke relationship. In this respect TFA is very shallow, as it only shows the Resistance as good and morally right. But have you ever heard about people who were thinking that they are fighting on the “wrong side” of the war? Fortunately, fanfiction authors make up for this omission and write very interesting, nuanced stories. However, Snoke is usually described as this evil creature which does evil things only because he… likes evil things, I guess? He is corrupt, greedy and seeks power for the sake of power itself, which is psychologically improbable. He uses Kylo Ren as a tool and doesn’t hesitate to torture him on a whim, in which I don’t believe either because this is not how you get to rule the people. You do it by winning their hearts, and, even though there is this part inside Kylo Ren that wants to be humiliated as a punishment for “not being good enough”, I believe that this is just a reenactment of his relationship with his caregivers, and Snoke is just a parental figure whom Kylo willingly chose to perform this role.

But back to the issue at hand. Recently @forcechokehold​ asked a very interesting question that I think I have an answer for. Let me cite it first:

Do you ever think about how different Kylo Ren’s dynamic with his abuser/surrogate parental figure would have been if they were a female? Do you ever think about how that would have reflective on his relationship to Rey?

They were considering making Snoke a woman/female whatever-he-is and that bit of trivia reminded me of Eros’ relationship with his mother, Aphrodite in ‘Eros and Psyche’. The line “You have compassion for her” would have sounded even more possesive coming from a mother figure.

Actually the “Snow Queen” describes exactly the same scenario. “Snow Queen” tells a story in which Kay (similar to Kylo, isn’t it?) is abducted/seduced by cold and unfeeling Queen of the Icy North after a shred of ice wounds his heart. He forgets his family and lives with the Queen in her snowy castle. But brave Gertha, who used to be his friend, sets off for a journey to find him and even marches through endless winter with bare feet, determined to save Kay who, by that time, became Snow Queen’s servant, squire and, presumably, lover.

Sounds familiar?

Well it should! But first listen to read the story:

Everything started with the big mirror, created by the trolls. The mirror had this one peculiar characteristic that it showed the distorted image of both the world and the people living in it: everyone in it’s reflection seemed repulsive and ugly on the inside. Trolls lifted the mirror up above the ground, they were rising it higher and higher, to reflect the whole world in it, and they laughed so loudly and cruelly that the mirror slipped out of their hands and crashed into thousands of pieces that were swept by the wind. Some of them were used by people to make windows, and from now on they could not see friends through the glass. The smaller fragment were used to make eyeglasses, and everyone wore them saw only bad things. “In the evening, when the little Kay was half naked, he climbed to a chair by the window and peered through the crack in its frame. Several snowflakes fell, and one, the largest of them, lay on the edge of the pot.

The snowflake grew bigger and bigger until it was as big as a young lady, dressed in the most beautiful silk, made of millions of small petals, like the stars. She was so pretty and delicate, but she was made of ice, shining and glittering ice; Her eyes were staring motionless like two stars, but there was no peace in them. She nodded toward the window and summoned Kay with a wave of her hand. The boy was frightened and jumped from his chair...”

This last element is interesting. In some retellings the scene of the first real encounter between the Queen and the boy is changed to portray the abduction of a defenseless child. Just like people sometimes picture Kylo’s relationship with Snoke. Yes, the evil creature targeted this boy from the beginning of his life. Yet, in the fairytale, there was something in Kay that made him wait by the window frame and which allowed him to see the Queen. Similarly, it was something in Kylo that made it possible for him to hear Snoke, and something that made him obedient to his voice.

It is exactly at this moment in the Snow Queen fairytale - not earlier! – that Kay gets wounded by the pieces of mirror:

“It was one of the pieces from the magical mirror, and poor Kay was stabbed in the heart. It was no longer painful, but the splinter was still there, and his heart became hard and cold like ice.

Since then Kay's plays has become different. He made fun of Gertha and pulled out all of her flowers from the pots. The only thing that seemed to interest him was watching snowflakes, "look how funny it is!" He said, "much more interesting than real flowers. Those are as accurate as possible, they would have no flaws if only they did not melt!"

Kay, just like Kylo, believes that he only deserves respect, if he deserves admiration. His judgments are cruel to others and to himself, but the boy no longer tells apart his own thoughts from the Snow Queen's whispers. Finally, one snowy morning, when everyone plays in the city square, Kay sees there a beautiful sleigh. Without thinking he attaches his small sledge to it and is taken away:

“The big sleighs stopped, and the person who was driving them them rose from her place. She was a woman; Her coat and cape were made of snow, she was tall and slim and her face was shining bright. She was the Snow Queen.

"We were traveling fast," she said; "But it is frigidly cold. Come, come under my bear skin. " And she sat the boy in the sleigh next to her, wrapped him in fur, and he felt as if he were falling into a snowdrift.

"Are you still cold? She asked and kissed him on the forehead. Ah! The kiss was colder than ice, penetrated to the bottom of his heart, which was almost frozen like a stone. He thought he was going to die, but after a while it felt quite pleasant and he did not mind the cold around. (...) The Snow Queen kissed Kay again, and then he forgot Gertha, his grandmother, and all those he had left at home.

"There will be no more kisses," she said, "otherwise you would die." Kay looked at her. She was very beautiful; she was much wiser and had more wonderful face than he could have ever imagined. And she did not seem to be made from ice as he saw her before, when he was sitting by the window, and she was calling him to her; in his eyes she was perfect, he was not afraid of her and he told her that he could add and subtract in his head and do fractions and that he could tell how many square miles and inhabitants there were in different countries, She always smiled at him, and he then thought that he surely did not know enough, and he looked up into the wide expanse of heaven, into which they rose higher and higher as she flew with him on a dark cloud, while the storm surged around them, the wind ringing in their ears like well-known old songs.

They flew over woods and lakes, over oceans and islands, the cold wind whistled down below them, the wolves howled, the black crows flew screaming over the sparkling snow, but up above, the moon shone bright and clear—and Kay looked at it all the long, long winter nights; in the day he slept at the Snow Queen's feet”

The Snow Queen seems beautiful, clever and wise (“Supreme leader is wise!”), truly refined, and the most important of her assets is her cool intellect with which Kay wants to compete. While Gertha will ask the stream, the flowers, and the sun about Kay, he, during sleepless nights will stare at the empty face of the moon. And just like Rey is “the ray of sunshine” the junior novelization describes Kylo as follows:

“Ben had the wavy dark hair that Han remembered, now shoulder length. His mother's cheeks, Han's chin. Yet everything about him was narrow and stark, as if he had starved himself of nourishment. And his eyes were not the brown eyes Han remembered. They were dim and dark and terribly sad.”

Yet we must not forget that TFA is not only a story about Kylo but also about first of all about Rey who undergoes a certain transformation, just the way Gertha did:

Meanwhile in the fairytale the girls puts on her red shoes and sets off in search of a friend. On her way she visit the garden where the plants tell her fairy tales, she meets the crows that lead her to the palace of the young royal couple; Everyone is deeply touched by Gertha's story and everyone is helping her fulfill her mission the best as they can. The  most important part of her journey is the moment in which is attacked by thieves and becomes the property of a small robber girl, her alter-ego: "You will sleep with me today, with all my animals," said the little thief. They ate and drank and went to the corner where supplies and carpets lay. Beside, there were almost a hundred of pigeons sitting on the perches, all seemingly aslep, but they moved when a little bandit came. "All of them belong to me," she said, and grabbed the legs of one of the pigeons closest to her, and shook him, and he waved his wings. "Kiss him!" She exclaimed and shoved him in Gertha's face. "If they were not tethered they would fly away immediately! And this is my old reindeer, "she said and grabbed the horns of the reindeer, which had a copper ring on its the neck, to which the post was attached. "We must tie him, otherwise he would run away! Every night, I tickle his neck with my sharp knife, he is so scared of it! ", And the girl put a long knife through the crack in the wall and slid it over the reindeer’s neck. Poor animal began to kick, and the girl laughed and pulled Gertha back to bed. “Why do you go to bed with a knife? "Gertha said, looking at the knife with fear. "I always sleep with a knife," said the bandit. "You never know what can happen. Now tell me once more about the little Kay. Why do you travel accross the world alone? " The robber girl is uncouth and ruthless but courageous, with a heart that is capable of kindness. She is not entirely sure whether to help Gertha and many times threatens to kill her, but finally gives her a reindeer and supplies and lets her go to continue her search for Kay. Up to this point, Gertha was crying, waiting or wandering in her search almost aimlessly, just like Rey was hindered in her journey by hesitation and attachment to her past. Only after Gertha confronts the little thief, she can discover the strength to move through the snow to the Queen's castle. On the way she meets a Saami shaman (and Rey meets Maz). In fairytales the wizards are masters of craftsmanship and military arts (see: Yoda) and enchantresses are the ones who show you how to live: ... [the shaman said:] "I can not give her more power than she already has. Can not you see how great she is? You do not see how men and animals are obliged to serve her; How she travels the whole world with bare feet? This power does not come from the magic, it comes from her heart!..."

The girl has bare feet! In TFA, Kylo is a prince, wealthy and powerful, while Rey is only a desert rat from a desolate planet. (“somehow you convinced the droid to show it to you. You. A scavenger.) Yet she is the one who defeats him in the end! Similarly, Gertha does not look like a princess but it is she who succeeds to change Kay’s heart.

In the meantime Kay was thinking only about the task entrusted to him by the Snow Queen: from geometric pieces of ice he was creating new patterns, trying to make the word "eternity" - what could be more perfect than eternity? The queen told him that if he could handle the task and touch this ideal form, then "he would become master of himself", she would give him the whole world as a gift together with and a pair of skates. ..."It is true that Kay is staying at the Queen's palace and everything is to his liking in there. He thinks it is the best place in the world and the reason for this is the glass pieces - one in his eye and one in the heart "...

In this fairytale the traditional roles are reversed - Kay is a passive hostage, and Gertha is his savior. Similarly, in TFA, Rey is the true hero of the story but her destiny is intertwined with Kylo’s fate. Both “Snow Queen” and TFA describe an unhealthy relationship with parental figure.

The Snow Queen is a personification of Kay’s narcissism, just as Kylo’s attachment to Snoke is built on his narcissistic need for perfection and appraisal.  

An authentic relationship with another person can bring salvation. At the same time it is the source of hope and the cause of fear. Snow Queen and Snoke perform the role of guardians and persecutors who defend Kay and Kylo from dangerous and fear-inducing, vulnerable feelings in so-called “attacks on linking” (Bion), in other words, a perceived need to sever any attachment . It is visible when Snow Queen orders Kay to forget about his past, friends and family and also when Snoke “tells” Kylo to kill his father… But really no such thing happens, Snoke only warns Kylo that the meeting with Han Solo is unevitable and Kylo makes decision to kill him because, apparently, he thinks that this is the thing that Snoke wants.

Finally, the fairytale tells a story of true love and hope:

“Then it was that little Gertha walked into the Palace, through the great gates, in a biting wind. She said her evening prayer, and the wind dropped as if lulled to sleep, and she walked on into the big empty hall. She saw Kay, and knew him at once; she flung her arms round his neck, held him fast, and cried, "Kay, little Kay, have I found you at last?"

But he sat still, rigid and cold.

Then little Gertha shed hot tears; they fell upon his breast and penetrated to his heart. Here they thawed the lump of ice, and melted the little bit of the mirror which was in it.

Then Kay burst into tears; he cried so much that the grain of glass was washed out of his eye. He knew her, and shouted with joy, "Gertha, dear little Gertha! where have you been for such a long time? And where have I been?" He looked round and said, "How cold it is here; how empty and vast!" He kept tight hold of Gertha, who laughed and cried for joy. Their happiness was so heavenly that even the bits of ice danced for joy around them; and when they settled down, there they lay, just in the very position the Snow Queen had told Kay he must find out, if he was to become his own master and have the whole world and a new pair of skates.

Gertha kissed his cheeks and they grew rose, she kissed his eyes and they shone like hers, she kissed his hands and his feet, and he became well and strong. The Snow Queen might come home whenever she liked, his order of release was written there in shining letters of ice.

They took hold of each other's hands and wandered out of the big place.”

Will the new trilogy end the same way? How do you think? :)