The Original Rapunzel Story: The Grimm Detail That Was Removed
The original Rapunzel story revealed the prince's visits through a pregnancy. Learn the full Grimm plot, its Italian and French roots, and what changed later.
In this article
The original Rapunzel story, as first printed by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, contains a detail later editions removed: Rapunzel innocently asks the witch why her clothes are getting so tight, revealing that she is pregnant from the prince's secret visits. In later editions, Wilhelm Grimm changed her slip to a question about why the witch is so much heavier to pull up than the prince. The story then ends with the prince blinded, Rapunzel exiled to a wasteland with twins, and her tears restoring his sight.
The Grimms did not invent the tale. They adapted a German version that came from French and Italian sources. Here is the full story and its family tree.
The Full Plot of the Grimm Rapunzel
A craving for rampion
A couple longs for a child. When the wife finally becomes pregnant, she develops an intense craving for rapunzel (rampion, a leafy plant with an edible root) growing in the walled garden next door. The garden belongs to an enchantress, Dame Gothel. The husband climbs the wall twice to steal it. The second time he is caught, and to save himself he promises the enchantress their child.
The tower with no door
When the girl is born, the enchantress names her Rapunzel after the plant and takes her away. At twelve, Rapunzel is shut in a tower in the forest that has no stairs and no door, only a small window at the top. To enter, the enchantress calls out for Rapunzel to let down her hair, and climbs up her long golden braids.
The prince's visits
A king's son hears Rapunzel singing, watches the enchantress climb up, and copies the call. Rapunzel is frightened at first, but agrees to marry him. They plan an escape: he will bring a skein of silk each visit so she can weave a ladder.
The slip
In the 1812 version, Rapunzel asks the enchantress why her dresses are getting so tight and no longer fit, a detail that makes the pregnancy obvious. In the 1857 version, she instead asks why the enchantress is so much heavier to pull up than the young prince. Either way, the secret is out.
Exile and blindness
The enchantress cuts off Rapunzel's braids and sends her to a desert wasteland. When the prince climbs up the cut hair, he finds the enchantress waiting, who tells him he will never see Rapunzel again. In despair, he leaps from the tower and lands in thorns that pierce his eyes.
Reunion
He wanders blind for years, eating roots and berries. Finally he hears a familiar voice in the wilderness and finds Rapunzel, who is now living with the twins she gave birth to, a boy and a girl. Two of her tears fall on his eyes and he can see again. He leads them home to his kingdom.
Rapunzel's Family Tree
| Year | Version | Author | Key detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1634 | Petrosinella | Giambattista Basile (Italy) | Heroine named after parsley; escapes with three magic acorns |
| 1698 | Persinette | Charlotte-Rose de Caumont La Force (France) | A fairy, a tower, a pregnancy; written while the author was confined to a convent |
| 1790 | Rapunzel | Friedrich Schulz (Germany) | German translation-adaptation of La Force |
| 1812 | Rapunzel | Brothers Grimm | Adapted from Schulz; later revised |
The Grimms believed they were preserving German folk tradition, and only later learned that their source descended from a French literary tale. Folklorists classify the story as ATU 310, "The Maiden in the Tower."
Why Was the Pregnancy Removed?
As the Grimms' collection became a children's book, Wilhelm repeatedly edited out sexual content while often keeping (or even adding) violence. Rapunzel's pregnancy before marriage was too explicit for middle-class family reading. The twins remain in the story, though, so attentive readers can still work out what happened.
What Does Rapunzel Mean?
Overprotective parenting
Dame Gothel's tower is an extreme version of a parent who tries to stop a child from growing up. The enchantress isn't simply evil; she seems to want to keep Rapunzel for herself, away from the world. Cutting the hair, the symbol of Rapunzel's growth and her only link to the outside, is her final attempt at control.
The price of a craving
The whole tragedy starts with a pregnant woman's craving and a father's theft. Many fairy tales begin with a careless promise or a small crime that has enormous consequences, a pattern also seen in Beauty and the Beast and Rumpelstiltskin.
Healing through love
The prince's blindness and Rapunzel's healing tears turn the ending into a story of suffering and restoration rather than a quick rescue. Both lovers lose everything before they find each other again.
Rapunzel vs Disney's "Tangled"
Disney's 2010 film Tangled keeps the tower, the hair and the controlling mother figure (named Mother Gothel, after the Grimm enchantress) but gives Rapunzel magical healing hair, removes the pregnancy and the desert exile, and turns the prince into a thief named Flynn Rider. The healing tears survive in a new form: Rapunzel's tear revives Flynn at the climax.
For more classic tales with surprising first editions, read about the original Snow White or explore who the Brothers Grimm really were.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Rapunzel pregnant in the original story?
Yes. In the Grimms' 1812 edition, Rapunzel reveals the prince's visits by asking why her clothes have become tight. She later gives birth to twins.
What is rapunzel the plant?
Rapunzel, or rampion (Campanula rapunculus), is a European plant whose leaves and root were eaten in salads.
How does the prince go blind?
He jumps or falls from the tower in despair and lands in thorns that pierce his eyes.
Who wrote the first Rapunzel story?
The earliest close relative is Basile's Petrosinella (1634). The direct source of the Grimm tale is Charlotte-Rose de La Force's Persinette (1698), via Friedrich Schulz's German version.
How old is Rapunzel when she is locked in the tower?
The Grimm story says she is locked in the tower when she is twelve years old.
