View source for Evil Queen

{{For|the Disney version of the character|Evil Queen (Disney)}}
{{Infobox character
| name = The Evil Queen
| image = File:SnowWhite22.jpg
| series = [[Snow White]]
| caption = The Evil Queen with [[Magic Mirror (Snow White)|her mirror]] in an American illustration from 1913
| first = ''[[Grimms' Fairy Tales]]'' (1812)
| creator = The [[Brothers Grimm]] (adapted from pre-existing fairy tales)
| occupation = [[Queen consort]], [[Magician (fantasy)|witch]] (secretly)
| spouse = King (unnamed)
| children = [[Snow White]] (daughter in the original version, stepdaughter since the 1819 revision)
}}
The '''Evil Queen''' ({{langx|de|böse Königin}}), also called the '''Wicked Queen''' or simply the '''Queen''', is a fictional character and the main [[antagonist]] of "[[Snow White]]", a German [[fairy tale]] recorded by the [[Brothers Grimm]]. In the Grimm's story, the Queen is Snow White's stepmother obsessed with being "the fairest in the land". When the Queen's [[Magic Mirror (Snow White)|magic mirror]] reveals that the young princess Snow White is considered more beautiful than her, the Queen decides to kill Snow White using [[witchcraft]]. When this attempt fails, Snow White is rescued and the Queen is executed for her crimes. A stock character of this type also appears in a number of other fairy tales and legends.

The Grimms' tale is [[Didactic method|didactic]], meant as a warning to young children against the dangers of [[narcissism]], [[pride]], and [[hubris]], and demonstrates a triumph of good over evil. In some revisions, however, the Queen has been reworked or portrayed more sympathetically, serving as the [[protagonist]], [[antihero]], or [[tragic hero]]. Her many variants in adaptations notably include [[Evil Queen (Disney)|the Disney version]].

==Brothers Grimm tale==

===Story===
[[File:Magic_mirror.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The queen with her mirror in [[Jennie Harbour]]'s illustration for ''My Favorite Book of Fairy Tales'' (1921)]]

The Evil Queen is described as a "proud and arrogant" woman of exceptional beauty who marries the King following the death of his first wife, Snow White's mother.<ref name="sites.pitt.edu" /> Obsessed with her own beauty, the Queen stands before a magic mirror every morning to confirm that she is the most beautiful, thus validating her vanity. One morning, the mirror informs her that her stepdaughter, the seven-year-old Princess Snow White, has surpassed her in beauty "a thousand times".<ref name="sites.pitt.edu">{{Cite web|title=Grimm 053: Little Snow-White|url=https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm053.html|access-date=2025-01-16|website=sites.pitt.edu}}</ref> Furious, the Queen formulates a plan to kill Snow White. The Queen orders her [[Huntsman (Snow White)|Huntsman]] to lure Snow White into the forest to murder her. The Queen tells him to bring back the child's lungs and liver as proof that the princess is dead. However, the Huntsman takes pity on Snow White and instead, he brings the Queen the lungs and liver of a wild boar. The Queen or (in some retellings) a cook prepares the lungs and liver, believing them to be Snow White's organs, and the Queen eats them.

[[File:Schneewitchen_(1).jpg|thumb|upright|The Queen in disguise offers lace to Snow White in a late 19th-century German illustration]]

After questioning her mirror again, the Queen discovers that Snow White has survived and found sanctuary with the [[Seven Dwarfs]]. Intending to kill Snow White herself, she takes on the disguise of an old [[peddler]] woman. Under this guise, she visits the dwarfs' house and sells Snow White laces for a corset. The Queen intentionally laces the corset too tight in an attempt to suffocate Snow White. When this fails, the Queen returns again, this time as a comb seller, and tricks Snow White into using a poisoned comb created through the art of witchcraft. When the comb also fails to kill Snow White, the Queen proclaims, "Snow White shall die… even if it costs me my life!" She again visits Snow White, disguised as a farmer's wife, and gives her half of a red, beautiful apple that had been poisoned, which places Snow White in a deep sleep. However, Snow White is awakened by a kiss from a [[Prince Charming|Prince]] from another kingdom and they invite the Queen to their wedding. Although she fears what will happen, the Queen's jealousy drives her to attend. At the celebration, she is forced to put on red-hot iron shoes and dance until she drops dead.<ref>{{cite book|author=Brothers Grimm|title=The Complete Fairy Tales|publisher=[[Routledge|Routledge Classics]]|isbn=0-415-28596-8|chapter=Little Snow White|year=2002}}</ref>

===Origins and evolution===

[[File:Zofia Plewińska-Smidowiczowa - Lustereczko.jpg|thumb|left|A Polish illustration by Zofia Plewińska-Smidowiczowa]]

In the first print edition of the Brothers Grimm story from their 1812/1815 collection [[Grimms' Fairy Tales|''Kinder- und Hausmärchen'' ("Children's and Household Tales")]], the Queen is Snow White's biological mother. At the beginning of the story, she is sewing at an open window when she pricks her finger with her needle, causing three drops of red blood to drip onto the white snow on the black ebony windowsill. She then wishes to have a daughter with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony, and she later gives birth to Snow White (Snow Drop{{sfn|Purkiss|1996|p=278}}). In subsequent versions after 1819,<ref name="windling"/> this was changed; the text was added to include that Snow White's mother died and the King remarried.{{sfn|Purkiss|1996|p=278}}<ref>Cay Dollerup, ''Tales and Translation: The Grimm Tales from Pan-Germanic Narratives to Shared International Fairytales'', page 339.</ref> According to [[Jack Zipes]], that change was made because the Grimms "held motherhood sacred".<ref>{{cite news |author=Adam Uren |title=Miserably ever after: U of M professor's fairy tales translation reveals Grimm side |url=http://bringmethenews.com/2014/11/14/miserably-ever-after-u-of-m-professors-fairy-tales-translation-reveals-grimm-side/ |access-date=8 December 2014 |work=Rick Kupchella's - BringMeTheNews.com}}</ref> According to Cashdan, a "cardinal rule of fairy tales" mandates that the "heroes and heroines are allowed to kill witches, sorceresses, even stepmothers, but never their own mothers".<ref name="witch2"/> Zipes' 2014 collection of Grimm fairy tales in their original forms reinstated the Queen as Snow White's mother.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Today's Fairy Tales Started Out (Even More) Dark and Harrowing |url=https://www.npr.org/2014/11/16/364089661/todays-fairy-tales-started-out-even-more-dark-and-harrowing |website=NPR.org|date=16 November 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=14 November 2014 |title=English Translation of the First Edition of the Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales Now Available - Dread Central |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/78921/english-translation-first-edition-grimm-brothers-fairy-tales-now-available/ |access-date=8 December 2014 |work=Dread Central}}</ref> This revision was likely the work of Wilhelm Grimm.{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|p=94}} In the Brothers' original (unpublished) Ölenberg Manuscript (1810), the Queen herself abandons Snow White in a forest after taking her there to pick flowers, and ends up being punished by the returning King after he revives their daughter.<ref>Stone, Kay. "Three Transformation of Snow White". ''The Brothers Grimm and Folktale''. Ed. James M. McGlathery, with Larry W. Danielson, Ruth E. Lorbe, and Selma K. Richardson. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1988.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYUJifSmp_YC&pg=PA66|title=Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion|first=Jack|last=Zipes|date=May 7, 2007|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-21029-8 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The wicked stepmother was not unknown in German versions predating the Brothers Grimm's collection. In 1782, [[Johann Karl August Musäus]] published a [[literary fairy tale]] titled "[[Richilde (fairy tale)|Richilde]]" which reimagined the folktale from the villain's point of view.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kawan |first=Christine Shojaei |date=2005–2006 |title=Innovation, Persistence, and Self-Correction: The Case of Snow White |url=https://sapientia.ualg.pt/bitstream/10400.1/1671/1/11-12-Kawan.pdf |journal=Estudos de Literatura Oral |volume=11–12 |pages=238}}</ref> The main character is Richilde, arrogant Countess of Brabant, who as a child received the gift of a magic mirror invented by her godfather [[Albertus Magnus]]. Many elements of the Grimms' Snow White appear in this story, including the [[wicked stepmother]], the magic mirror, the poisoned apple, and the punishment of dancing in red-hot shoes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beckford |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hFiBeDVvjxkC |title=Popular Tales of the Germans, Volume 1 |publisher=J. Murray |year=1791 |pages=1–73}}</ref> The Grimms knew of ''Snow White'' (1809), a play by their contemporary and rival Albert Ludwig Grimm (no relation to the Brothers Grimm), which according to Zipes "treated the Queen more gently".{{sfn|Zipes|2015|p=262}}

Equivalents to the Evil Queen can be found in Snow White-like tales from around the world. In the Scottish Gaelic oral tale "[[Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree]]", the Queen is named Silver-Tree and is the heroine's biological mother. A talking trout takes the place of the Queen's mirror and the huntsman figure (often her lover in non-Grimm versions)<ref name="windling">{{cite web |title=Snow, Glass, Apples: The Story of Snow White by Terri Windling: Summer 2007, Journal of Mythic Arts, Endicott Studio |url=http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/forsga2.html |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222093926/http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/forsga2.html |archive-date=2014-02-22 |access-date=2014-05-04 |publisher=Endicott-studio.com}}</ref> is the princess's own father.<ref>Kay F. Stone, ''Some Day Your Witch Will Come'', page 67.</ref><ref name="evolution">{{cite web |url= http://www.ctzine.com/the-evolution-of-snow-white-magic-mirror-on-the-wall-who-is-the-fairest-one-of-all/ |title= The Evolution of Snow White: 'Magic Mirror, on the Wall, Who Is the Fairest One of All?' &#124; Cultural Transmogrifier Magazine |publisher= Ctzine.com |date= 2012-06-01 |access-date= 2013-07-31 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131021184126/http://www.ctzine.com/the-evolution-of-snow-white-magic-mirror-on-the-wall-who-is-the-fairest-one-of-all/ |archive-date= 2013-10-21 |url-status= dead }}</ref> The villain's relationship with Snow White can also vary, with versions from around the world sometimes featuring wicked sisters, wicked sisters-in-law, or a wicked mother of the prince.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tatar |first=Maria |title=The Fairest of Them All: Snow White and 21 Tales of Mothers and Daughters |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2020}}</ref> One early variation of the tale was [[Giambattista Basile]]'s "[[The Young Slave]]" (1634). In this telling the heroine's mother is unintentionally involved in putting her to sleep. She is then awoken by her cruel and jealous aunt who treats her like a slave. Furthermore, the Evil Queen's tricks also vary from place to place. In Italy, she is found using a toxic comb, a contaminated cake, and a suffocating braid. In France, she is found using a poisoned tomato.<ref name="fae" /> There are many more examples. The Queen demands varying proof from the huntsman. In Spain, Snow White can be found needing to stop a bottle of blood with her toe; in Italy, it is the princess's intestines and blood-soaked shirt.<ref name="hard">Maria Tatar, ''The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales'', pages 233-234.</ref>

[[Oliver Madox Hueffer]] noted that the wicked stepmother with magical powers threatening a young princess is a recurring theme in fairy tales; one similar character is the witch-queen in "[[The Wild Swans]]" as told by [[Hans Christian Andersen]].<ref name="book">Oliver Madox Hueffer, ''The Book of Witches''.</ref> According to [[Kenny Klein]], the Celtic enchantress [[Ceridwen]] of the [[Welsh mythology]] was "the quintessential evil stepmother, the origin of that character in the two tales of Snow White and [[Cinderella]]".<ref name="fae">Kenny Klein, ''Through the Faerie Glass'', page 124.</ref>

===Violence and sanitisation ===
[[File:Franz Jüttner Schneewittchen 8.jpg|thumb|left|The Queen arrives at Snow White's wedding in a 1905 German illustration]]

In the classic ending of "Snow White", the Evil Queen is put to death by torture. However, such extreme punishment is often considered inappropriate for children. Already the first English translation of the Grimm's tale, written by [[Edgar Taylor (author)|Edgar Taylor]] in 1823, had the Queen choke on her own envy upon the sight of Snow White alive. An 1871 English translation by [[Susanna Mary Paull]] "replaces the Queen's death by cruel physical punishment with death by self-inflicted pain and self-destruction", as it is instead her own shoes that become hot due to her anger.<ref>{{cite book|last=Anderman|first=Gunilla M.|author-link=|date=|title=Voices in Translation: Bridging Cultural Divides|url=|language=|location=|publisher=|page=140|isbn=}}</ref> Many modern revisions of the fairy tale also change the gruesome classic ending in order to make it less violent. As [[Sara Maitland]] wrote, "We do not tell this part of the story anymore; we say it is too cruel and will break children's soft hearts".<ref>Sara Maitland, ''From the Forest: A Search for the Hidden Roots of Our Fairy Tales'', page 195.</ref>

Alternative endings may have the Queen, for example, instantly drop dead "of anger" at the wedding<ref>{{cite book|last=Gikow|first=Louise|author-link=|date=|title=Muppet Babies' Classic Children's Tales|url=|language=|location=|publisher=|page=|isbn=}}</ref> or in front of her mirror upon learning of Snow White's survival,<ref>{{cite book|last=Carruth|first=Jane|author-link=|date=|title=The Best of the Brothers Grimm|url=|language=|location=|publisher=|page=19|isbn=}}</ref> fall victim to her own designs going awry (such as through touching her own poisoned rose<ref>{{cite book|last=Heitman|first=Jane|author-link=|date=|title=Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales in the Library and Language Arts Classroom|url=|language=|location=|publisher=|page=20|isbn=}}</ref>), die by nature (e.g., falling into quicksand on her way back to the castle after poisoning Snow White<ref>Ruth Solski, ''Fairy Tales Using Bloom's Taxonomy Gr. 3-5'', page 15.</ref>), killed by the dwarfs during a chase,<ref>Van Gool, ''Snow White'', page 39.</ref> destroyed by her own mirror,<ref>Nelson Thornes, ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', page 32.</ref> run away into the forest never to be seen again,<ref>Richard Holliss, ''Bedtime Collection Snow White'', page 82.</ref> or simply banished from the kingdom forever.<ref>Elena Giulemetova, ''Stories'', page 71.</ref> In some versions, the Queen is merely prevented from committing further wrong-doings and does not die, but is banished or disappears; in others, she may die by accident.{{sfn|Zipes|2011|p=116}} [[Fawzia Gilani-Williams]]'s ''Snow White: An Islamic Tale'', for instance, has Snow White forgive her evil witch stepmother entirely, making her repent and redeem herself, as part of the book's religious lessons for children.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Snow White: An Islamic Tale |url=https://www.siraj.co/products/snow-white-an-islamic-tale |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=Siraj Islamic Lifestyle Store}}</ref> 

Such revisions have been considered a softening of the original text and many today feel the story has become too "sanitized".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.uk.msn.com/snow-white-favourite-fairy-tale|title=Snow White 'favourite fairy tale'|publisher=News.uk.msn.com|date=2014-05-23|access-date=2014-05-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529103253/http://news.uk.msn.com/snow-white-favourite-fairy-tale|archive-date=2014-05-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sheldon Cashdan, Professor of Psychology at the [[University of Massachusetts]], argues that in accordance with the logic of fairy tales, the Queen could not be allowed to flee or merely be locked up, as fairy tale narrative demands that "the reader needs to know that the death of the witch is thorough and complete, even if it means exposing young readers to acts of violence that are extreme by contemporary standards".<ref name=witch2/> Conversely, writers such as Hueffer have expressed sympathy for the queen,<ref name="book" /> or, like psychology professor Sharna Olfman, have removed the violence when reading the story to children, while also acknowledging that verbal storytelling lacks "graphic visual imagery".<ref>Sharna Olfman, ''The Sexualization of Childhood'', page 37.</ref>

===Interpretations===
[[File:Illustration at page 210 in Grimm's Household Tales (Edwardes, Bell).png|thumb|upright|left|[[Robert Anning Bell]]'s 1912 illustration]]

According to some scholars, such as [[Roger Sale]] and [[University of Hawaiʻi]] professor Cristina Bacchilega, the story has [[ageism|ageist]] undertones vilifying the older woman character, with her envy of Snow White's beauty.<ref name="chron">{{cite web |last=Berkowitz |first=Lana |date=27 March 2012 |title=Are you Team Snow White or Team Evil Queen? - Houston Chronicle |url=https://www.chron.com/life/article/Are-you-Team-Snow-White-or-Team-Evil-Queen-3438997.php |access-date=2014-01-11 |publisher=Chron.com}}</ref><ref name=evolution/> [[Terri Windling]] wrote that the Queen is "a woman whose power is derived from her beauty; it is this, the tale implies, that provides her place in the castle's hierarchy. If the king’s attention turns from his wife to another, what power is left to an aging woman? Witchcraft, the tale answers. Potions, poisons, and self-protection."<ref name=evolution/> [[Sandra Gilbert]] and [[Susan Gubar]] regard Snow White and her mother/stepmother as two female stereotypes, the angel and the monster.<ref name="greenwood2">Donald Haase, ''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales'', pages 777-778, 885.</ref> The fact that the Queen was Snow White's biological mother in the first version of the Grimms' story has led several psychoanalytic critics to interpret "Snow White" as a story about a repressed [[Oedipus complex]], or about Snow White's [[Electra complex]] and sexual rivalry with the Queen.<ref name="greenwood2"/> According to [[Bruno Bettelheim]], the story's main motif is "the clash of sexual innocence and sexual desire": "whereas Snow White achieves inner harmony, her stepmother fails to do so. Unable to integrate the social and the antisocial aspects of human nature, she remains enslaved to her desires and gets caught up in an [[Oedipus|Oedipal]] competition with her daughter from which she cannot extricate herself. This imbalance between her contradictory drives proves to be her undoing."<ref name="theory">Henk De Berg, ''Freud's Theory and Its Use in Literary and Cultural Studies: An Introduction'', pages 102, 105.</ref> Cashdan interprets the Queen's motives as "fear that the king will find Snow White more appealing than her."<ref name="witch2"/> This struggle so dominates the psychological landscape of the tale that Gilber and Gubar even proposed renaming the story "Snow White and Her Wicked Stepmother".<ref name="hard" /><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Tatar |first=Maria |date=8 June 2012 |title=A Brief History of Snow White |url=https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/06/snow-white-and-the-huntsman-and-fairy-tales.html |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=2014-01-11}}</ref> Zipes considered it a story of a "natural" (in a patriarchal society) competition where the Queen "acts on behalf of her genes" as she seeks to both maintain her status as the most beautiful woman and to secure her own progeny.{{sfn|Zipes|2013|p=135-136}} [[Harold Bloom]] opined that the three "temptations" all "testify to a mutual sexual attraction between Snow White and her stepmother."<ref>Roger Sale, ''Fairy Tales and After: From Snow White to E.B. White'', page 40.</ref> [[Trina Schart Hyman]]'s illustrations for her picture book version show the Queen's mental suffering in her descent into madness caused by her jealousy in a psychological interpretation not contradicting the Brothers Grimm story but expanding on it.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OqtkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA13|title=New Tales for Old: Folktales As Literary Fictions for Young Adults|first1=Anna E.|last1=Altmann|first2=Gail de|last2=Vos|date=October 15, 1999|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-56308-447-8 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The Brothers Grimm, who wrote their book as an "educational manual" (''Erziehungsbuch''), may have felt that a brutal punishment for a villain was a necessary element augmenting the happy endings of their tales, as in Snow White's ascent as new queen and triumph over her evil enemy.{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|pp=101-103}} Cashdan proposes that the evil queen "embodies narcissism, and the young princess, with whom readers identify, embodies parts of the child struggling to overcome this tendency. Vanquishing the queen represents a triumph of positive forces in the self over vain impulses." As such, "the death of the witch signals a victory of virtue over vice, a sign that positive forces in the self have prevailed." In addition, "the active involvement of heroin in the witch's demise communicates to readers that they must take an active role in overcoming their own errant tendencies."<ref name="witch2">Sheldon Cashdan, ''The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairy Tales'', pages 11, 15, 35-37, 61.</ref> Similarly, psychologist Betsy Cohen wrote about the perceived symbolism of the act: "In order to avoid becoming a wicked queen herself, Snow White needs to separate from and kill off this destructive force inside of her."<ref>Betsy Cohen, ''The Snow White Syndrome: All About Envy'', pages 6, 14.</ref> In the words of Bettelheim, "only the death of the jealous queen (the elimination of all outer and inner turbulence) can make for a happy world."<ref>Bruno Bettelheim, ''The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales''.</ref>

[[File:Snow White Iron Shoes.png|thumb|The iron shoes being heated in an 1852 Icelandic translation of the Grimms' story]]

Regarding the manner of the Queen's execution, scholars such as Cashdan, Sheldon Donald Haase, and John Hanson Saunders argue that from psychological and storytelling perspectives, the Queen's punishment fits her crimes, gives closure to the reader, and shows good triumphing over evil.<ref name="witch2"/><ref name="greenwood2"/><ref>John Hanson Saunders, ''The Evolution of Snow White: A Close Textual Analysis of Three Versions of the Snow White Fairy Tale'', pages 71-71.</ref> Jo Eldridge Carney, Professor of English at [[The College of New Jersey]], wrote: "Again, the fairy tale's system of punishment is horrific but apt: a woman so actively consumed with seeking affirmation from others and with violently undoing her rival is forced to enact her own physical destruction as a public spectacle."<ref>Jo Eldridge Carney, ''Fairy Tale Queens: Representations of Early Modern Queenship'', page 94.</ref> Likewise, Mary Ayers of the [[Stanford University School of Medicine]] wrote that the red-hot shoes symbolize that the Queen was "subjected to the effects of her own inflamed, searing hot envy and hatred."<ref>Mary Ayers, ''Mother-Infant Attachment and Psychoanalysis: The Eyes of Shame'', page 97.</ref> It was also noted that this ending echoes the fairy tale of "[[The Red Shoes (fairy tale)|The Red Shoes]]", which similarly "warns of the danger of attachment to appearances".<ref>Sara Halprin, ''Look at My Ugly Face!: Myths and Musings on Beauty and Other Perilous Obsessions With Women's Appearance'', page 85.</ref> [[Diane Purkiss]] attributes the Queen's fiery death in the Brothers Grimm tale to "the folk belief that burning a witch's body ended her power, a belief which subtended (but did not cause) the practice of [[Witch burning|burning witches]] in Germany."{{sfn|Purkiss|1996|p=285}} The [[American Folklore Society]] noted that the use of iron shoes "recalls folk practices of destroying a witch through [[Iron in folklore|the magic agency of iron]]."<ref>''Journal of American Folklore'', volume 90, page 297.</ref> In other variants of the "Snow White" type tales, the story usually also ends with the punishment of the wicked stepmother through burning, [[immurement]], or decapitation.{{sfn|Zipes|2015|pp=478-479}}

[[Rosemary Ellen Guiley]] suggests that the Queen of the Brothers Grimm tale uses an apple because it recalls the [[Adam and Eve|temptation of Eve]]; this [[creation myth|creation story]] from the Bible led the Christian Church to view apples as a symbol of sin. Many people feared that apples could carry evil spirits and that witches used them for poisoning.<ref>Rosemary Guiley, ''The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy'', page 17.</ref> Robert G. Brown of [[Duke University]] also makes a connection with the story of Adam and Eve, seeing the Queen as a representation of the [[archetype]] of [[Lilith]].<ref>Robert G. Brown, ''The Book of Lilith'', page 214.</ref> The [[Apple (symbolism)|symbol of the apple]] has long had traditional associations with enchantment and witchcraft in some European cultures, as in the case of [[Morgan le Fay]]'s [[Avalon]] ("Isle of the Apples").<ref>Rosemary Guiley, ''The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca'', page 9.</ref>

==Adaptations==

{{split|Evil Queen in works based on Snow White|date=April 2025}}

===Overview===

The Queen is portrayed in a variety of ways in subsequent adaptations of the original fairy tale (considered "mutations" by Zipes{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=63}}). For one, she is usually provided a backstory that is often tragic, with motifs such as childhood trauma, which may humanise her and make her a less one-dimensional character.{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=59, 65, 185}} Lana Berkowitz of the ''[[Houston Chronicle]]'' noted: "Today stereotypes of the evil queen and innocent Snow White often are challenged. Rewrites may show the queen is reacting to extenuating circumstances."<ref name="chron" /> In addition, according to Scott Meslow of ''[[The Atlantic]]'', "Disney's decision to throw out the Grimm's appropriately grim ending—which sentences the evil queen to dance in heated iron shoes until her death—has meant that ending is all but forgotten."<ref>{{cite web|last=Cutler |first=David |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/03/snow-whites-strange-cinematic-history/255222/ |title=Snow White's Strange Cinematic History - Scott Meslow |publisher=The Atlantic |date=2012-03-29 |access-date=2014-01-11}}</ref> However, this change was not unique to Disney: already in Taylor's 1923 ''German Popular Stories'', the very first translation of the Grimms' tale into English, the Queen, while remaining just as much a sinister figure as in the original text, simply chokes to death out of anger (Taylor avoided giving cruel punishments for the villains throughout the book).{{sfn|Zipes|2016|p=53}} She can also "be presented either as a horrible witch or as a beautiful and jealous rival", thus enhancing one of the themes of the story.{{sfn|Haase|2007|p=475}} The author [[James Ursini]] described her a "classic female icon for fetishists" of powerful and evil women.<ref name=ju>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NNGGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT100|title=The Modern Amazons: Warrior Women On-Screen|first=James|last=Ursini|date=March 1, 2006|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-87910-691-1 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

===Disney's ''Snow White'' franchise===

{{main|Evil Queen (Disney)}}
    
[[File:Morgan_McMichaels_(Evil Queen).jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Morgan McMichaels]] dressed as the [[Evil Queen (Disney)|Evil Queen from a 1937 Showgirls Weho Peeformance]]]]

In [[The Walt Disney Company]]'s seminal 1937 animated film ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'', the Queen, usually known as the Evil Queen or the Wicked Queen, is sometimes referred to as '''[[Evil Queen (Disney)|Queen Grimhilde]]''' in Disney publications from the 1930s and was originally voiced by [[Lucille La Verne]]. In the film, similar to the Brothers Grimm story, the Queen is vain and wants to be the "fairest in the land". She envies her stepdaughter's beauty and the attention of the Prince from another land. Disney's changes also include the expansion of her magical powers (including control over elements of nature, conjuring wind, and thunder as ingredients for her spell) and placing her as the master of the spirit in her magic mirror (even referred to by the Queen as her "slave").{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|pp=103-110}} As in the fairy tale, the Queen's jealousy leads her to plot [[Snow White (Disney character)|Snow White]]'s death, and leads to her own when she falls to her death shortly after poisoning Snow White. The Disney version of the Queen character uses her magic to transform herself into an old woman rather than taking a disguise like in the Grimms' story; with this appearance, she is commonly referred to as the '''Wicked Witch''' or alternatively as the '''Old Hag''', or '''Witch'''.

The film's version of the Queen was created by [[Walt Disney]] and [[Joe Grant]], originally animated by [[Art Babbit]], overseen by [[David Hand (animator)|David Hand]], and voiced (in both of her forms) by Lucille La Verne. Inspiration for her design came from several sources, including the characters of Queen Hash-a-Motep from ''[[She (1935 film)|She]]'' and Princess [[Kriemhild]] from ''[[Die Nibelungen]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/villains/queen/queen.html |title=Disney Villains: Queen |publisher=Disney.go.com |access-date=November 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227222743/http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/villains/queen/queen.html|archive-date=February 27, 2011}}</ref><ref>''Golden Anniversary: Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', Gladstone 1987.</ref> as well as actresses such as [[Joan Crawford]] and [[Gale Sondergaard]].<ref>Ryan Gilbey, Jonathan Ross, ''The Ultimate Film: The UK's 100 Most Popular Films'', page 19.</ref><ref>Axel Nissen, ''Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywood Faces from the Thirties to the Fifties'', page 197.</ref> 

[[File:Gal_Gadot_cropped_lighting_corrected.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Gal Gadot]] at 2016 [[San Diego Comic-Con International]]]]

Since the 1937 film, the Wicked Queen has made numerous appearances in The Walt Disney Company productions and attractions, such as the show ''[[Fantasmic!]]'', the book series ''[[The Kingdom Keepers]]'', and the video game ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep]]'', sometimes appearing alongside [[Maleficent]] from ''[[Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)|Sleeping Beauty]]''. She has since been voiced by [[Eleanor Audley]], Louise Chamis, and [[Susanne Blakeslee]]. She was portrayed live by [[Anne Francine]], [[Jane Curtin]], and [[Olivia Wilde]], among others. Her surviving and aged version was portrayed by [[Kathy Najimy]] in ''[[Descendants (franchise)|Descendants]]''. In 2025, [[Gal Gadot]] portrayed the Queen in ''[[Snow White (2025 film)|Snow White]]'', Disney's own and highly controversial<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/business/snow-white-movie-controversies.html|title=Snow White and the Seven Kajillion Controversies|work=The New York Times |date=March 20, 2025 |last1=Barnes |first1=Brooks }}</ref> (including major controversies surrounding her role<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2025/film/columns/disney-snow-white-premiere-zegler-gadot-controversies-1236333285/|title=Disney Scales Back 'Snow White' Hollywood Premiere Amid Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot Controversies|first=Marc|last=Malkin|date=March 11, 2025}}</ref>) live-action reimagining of the original film.

According to Heather Greene, "Nearly a century later, the Wicked Queen in both of her forms reigns as one of Disney's most beautiful characters and one of the most frightening."{{sfn|Greene|2021|p=168}} She has become a popular archetype, visually embodying the fairy tale character in popular consciousness.{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|p=93}}{{sfn|Haase|2007|p=798}} She influenced a number of non-Disney "Snow White" adaptations and other works, and even Walt Disney's own next villainess, Maleficent.{{sfn|Zipes|2011|p=89}}{{sfn|Greene|2021|p=231}} The both of them, along with [[Cruella De Vil]], were later self-parodied by The Walt Disney Company through the character of Queen Narissa played by [[Susan Sarandon]] in ''[[Enchanted (film)|Enchanted]]'' (2007).<ref>Linda Pershing and Lisa Gablehouse, "Disney's Enchanted Patriarchal Backlash and Nostalgia in a Fairy Tale Film" (''Fairy Tale Films'').</ref>

===Film and television===

==== Live-action film ====

The 1916 American silent film ''[[Snow White (1916 film)|Snow White]]'' is an early example of an altered ending to the story. Here, '''Queen Brangomar''' ([[Dorothy Cumming]]) is not executed but merely banished from the court after breaking her demonic mirror in anger.{{sfn|Zipes|2011|pp=116, 120}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.silentfilm.org/snow-white|title=Snow White, 1916|author=J.B. Kaufman|author-link=J.B. Kaufman|publisher=[[San Francisco Silent Film Festival]]|accessdate=May 21, 2015}}</ref>

Similarly, the 1961 East German film ''[[Snow White (1961 film)|Snow White]]'' for the youngest viewers changes the ending as well, even as it an otherwise quite faithful adaptation.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ykTPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA257|title=Folktales and Fairy Tales: Traditions and Texts from around the World [4 volumes]|first1=Anne E. Duggan|last1=Ph.D|first2=Donald Haase|last2=Ph.D|first3=Helen J.|last3=Callow|date=February 12, 2016|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|isbn=978-1-61069-254-0 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The Queen, played by Marianne Christina Schilling, arrives at Snow White's wedding where the Prince offers her a half of a red apple, which she assumes is poisoned, an flees terrified, chased out of the country by the Prince.

In the 1961 film ''[[Snow White and the Three Stooges]]'', the '''Queen of Fortunia''' is played by [[Patricia Medina]].<ref name="lat" /> Her character is similar to the fairy tale, however, the princess is protected by the [[Three Stooges]]. The Queen's companion in the film is the wizard Count Oga (a rare male magical villain of a "Snow White" story instead of a witch{{sfn|Greene|2021|p=275}}), who is killed by Prince Charming when he falls into a vat of boiling oil. Following the apple poisoning, the Stooges spot the Queen flying back to her castle on a broom and destroy her by using Oga's power to make a magic wish which causes her to fatally crash.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19610716&id=_NEiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KHkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4804,2367772 Review], ''St. Petersburg Times'', July 16, 1961.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KOAvAQAAIAAJ|title=Filmfacts|date=April 20, 1961|via=Google Books}}</ref>{{sfn|Holston|Winchester|2018|pp=258-259}}

In the 1962 Mexican children's film, ''[[Tom Thumb and Little Red Riding Hood]]'', Snow White's stepmother<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unotv.com/entretenimiento/de-pulgarcito-a-el-dolor-de-pagar-la-renta-las-peliculas-que-hicieron-famoso-a-cesareo-quezadas/|title=De "Pulgarcito" a "El dolor de pagar la renta": Las películas que hicieron famoso a Cesáreo Quezadas|date=17 March 2021|language=es}}</ref> appears as the '''Witch Queen''', ''Reina Bruja'', the mistress of all evil and the queen of all monsters in the world, played by [[Ofelia Guilmáin]]. The Queen looks similar to the Queen in Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' but she has a green face like Maleficent from Disney's ''[[Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)|Sleeping Beauty]]''. She dies when the [[Little Red Riding Hood]] tricks her to fall into a furnace-like shrine of the Devil at her castle.

The 1964 Korean film ''Princess Snow White'' (''Baekseol Gongju''), a new queen plotting to kill the first queen's daughter in a plot to seize undisputed power over an Asian kingdom. The film replaced the classic Western tale's rivalry over beauty with a political struggle for power in an allegory for South Korea's contemporary military coups.<ref>Sung Ae Lee, "The Fairy Tale in Korea" (''Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney'').</ref>

The 1987 American musical film [[Snow White (1987 film)|''Snow White'']] stars [[Diana Rigg]] as the Queen.<ref name="lat" /> The plot follows the story of the fairy tale closely but again modifies the ending. When the Queen is invited to Snow White's wedding, she breaks the mirror in rage, causing her to age rapidly. After arriving at the wedding, as the mirror falls apart, she shatters into pieces and disintegrates.<ref name="md">{{cite web |date=22 December 2014 |title=Special feature: Popular screen adaptations of 'Snow White' |url=http://www.mid-day.com/articles/special-feature-popular-screen-adaptations-of-snow-white/15851195 |access-date=5 January 2015 |work=mid-day}}</ref>{{sfn|Zipes|2011|p=124}}

In the 1997 Gothic horror film ''[[Snow White: A Tale of Terror]]'', exploring the wicked stepmother's backstory and personality as its "quasi-central" character in an antithesis to the Disney version.{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|p=110}} Here she is not a queen, but rather a tragic noblewoman named '''Lady Claudia Hoffman''', portrayed by [[Sigourney Weaver]].<ref name="md" /> Unlike an usual Snow White stepmother character, she is explicitly obsessed with motherhood rather than her appearance. Lady Claudia, daughter of a witch (who the film suggests had been burned at the stake by the knights of the kingdom),{{sfn|Zipes|2011|pp=124-125}} marries widower Count Frederick and tries to befriend his daughter Lilli, who rejects her. When Claudia is pregnant, Lilli receiving all of the attention causes her so much stress that the baby is stillborn. Driven mad by grief Claudia listens to her mother's magic mirror and blames Lilli for the baby's death and shows her own reflection distorted and deformed, driving the countess to her crimes and possessing her. Claudia's various magic powers greatly surpass those of the Brothers Grimms Queen. She successfully seduces Lilly's suitor Dr Gutenberg and begins to plot the death of her stepdaughter and later also the king. Claudia sends her mute, inbred brother Gustav to kill the princess (his role replacing that of the Hunter from the fairy tale). When her mirror tells her that Lilli is alive, she uses magic to kill her brother and to try to bring her child back to life. Claudia learns of Lilly's whereabouts and attempts to kill her and the seven miners with whom Lilly hides. She then gives Lilli a poisoned apple, placing her in a coma. When Lilli awakens she and the remaining miners confront Claudia. Lilli kills her stepmother by stabbing her image in the mirror, causing Claudia to rapidly age and catch fire before she is crushed by debris.{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|pp=110-118}}{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=62, 70}}

''Snow White: A Tale of Terror'' has been noted as innovative in that the Queen's jealousy is first provoked by Snow White's own jealousy towards her.{{sfn|Slethaug|2014|p=230}} Weaver said about her role: "It was vitally important to me to make it clear that Claudia and Frederick are madly in love at the beginning and that's what Lilli resents. Then when she changes from perfect wife into the worthless mother of a stillborn child, that's when she looks hideous in the mirror and blames Lilli for everything. The key to Claudia is that she starts out as normal as the rest of us. She isn't evil."{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|pp=113}}

''Willa: An American Snow White'', a 1998 television reimagined version of the fairy tale takes place in the American South around 1915, featuring a retired stage star '''Regina Worthington''' (played by Caitlin O'Connell). Regina (Latin for "queen") is jealous of her stepdaughter, Willa, who has ambitions to become an actress and attempts to gain Regina's approval. The stepmother's mirror is not magic but a regular mirror in which she sees her young and beautiful image due to insanity. After Regina notices that Willa is more beautiful than her, she orders her butler Otto to kill Willa, but he drives Willa into a forest where she takes refuge with a traveling show. Regina murders Otto and attempts to murder Willa while the latter plays Snow White in a skit, but Willa is saved by the "elixir of life" of the fake Indian chief Wonka that the demented Regina drinks before accidentally setting fire to the stage and herself. Willa is subsequently cast in a moving picture while Tonka, who claims to have seen Regina perform, says that she was described as "the tragic queen" and that she serves as a cautionary tale against "the corrosive effects of fame and fortune."{{sfn|Zipes|2011|p=125}} Regina's character is based not only on the Queen but also on Norma Desmond from ''[[Sunset Boulevard (film)|Sunset Boulevard]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ayeaAAAAIAAJ|title=Crosscurrents of Children's Literature: An Anthology of Texts and Criticism|first1=John Daniel|last1=Stahl|first2=Tina L.|last2=Hanlon|first3=Elizabeth Lennox|last3=Keyser|date=August 12, 2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-513493-3 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

An inspired character is in the 1999 film ''The Queen of the Lake'' that mixes the fairy tales of Grimm and those of [[Hans Christian Andersen]]. The Queen plots to marry the young Prince Victor so she can become the most powerful ruler in the world, but Victor discovers the Queen has magically kidnapped seven young princesses so they could not become her rivals. He manages to rescue the princesses and defeat the Queen, turning her to stone.{{sfn|Zipes|2011|p=340}}

In the 2001 American television film ''[[Snow White: The Fairest of Them All]]'', a self-loathing crone genie named '''Elspeth''' ([[Miranda Richardson]] and [[Karin Konoval]] in her crone form) is transformed into a beautiful queen by her brother. She becomes jealous when her hall of mirrors reveal that her stepdaughter Snow White is the fairest in the land and in this adaptation she is driven more by insecurities than vanity. She also envies the affection that Prince Alfred shows towards Snow White and disguises herself as Snow White's deceased mother Josephine ([[Vera Farmiga]]) and succeeds in poisoning her with an apple. Eventually, Elspeth shatters the mirrors in rage, breaking her spells and turning her back into the old crone, and is then killed by the dwarves whom she had once turned into statues.{{sfn|Zipes|2011|pp=125-126}}

[[Nina Hagen]] portrayed the Queen in the 2004 German comedy film ''[[7 Dwarves – Men Alone in the Wood]]'' and its 2006 sequel ''[[7 Dwarves: The Forest Is Not Enough]]''. In the latter, the Queen's character is known as the Witch after having been dethroned and the main villain is instead [[Rumpelstiltskin]].{{sfn|Zipes|2016|p=121}} It is a loose adaptation parody: for example, the poisoned apple scene is replaced by the one involving the Queen pretending to be a door-to-door salesperson of supposed youth-preserving coffins to trick Snow White, played by Nina Hagen's real life daughter, [[Cosma Shiva Hagen]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=7 Dwarves {{!}} 2005 Tribeca Festival |url=https://tribecafilm.com/films/512cdaf01c7d76e0460001cc-7-dwarves |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=Tribeca}}</ref> The two live-action films were followed by 2014's animated film ''[[The Seventh Dwarf]]'', in which her character was given the name '''Dellamorta'''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Solomon |first=Charles |date=2015-07-31 |title=Review: 'The Seventh Dwarf' a forgettable princess tale |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-seventh-dwarf-20150731-story.html |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> In it, she ends up accidentally defeated by the eponymous dwarf Bubi and turned into an ice figure.

[[File:Monica Bellucci, Women's World Awards 2009 c.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Monica Bellucci]] in 2009]]

In the 2005 historical fantasy film ''[[The Brothers Grimm (film)|The Brothers Grimm]]'', [[Monica Bellucci]] plays an [[Elizabeth Báthory]]-like<ref name=adapted>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FkRsDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA171|title=Adapted from the Original: Essays on the Value and Values of Works Remade for a New Medium|first=Laurence|last=Raw|date=September 14, 2018|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-7872-9 |via=Google Books}}</ref> figure that (in the film's world) will inspire both the fairytale Evil Queen and [[Rapunzel]]<ref name=adapted/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_D86AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA114|title=The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction|date=April 8, 2006|publisher=Fantasy House.|via=Google Books}}</ref> after the Brothers themselves face her in Napoleonic-era Germany. Known as the '''Thuringian Queen''' or the '''Mirror Queen''', she is the extremely vain and [[dominatrix]]-like<ref name=ju/> witch who is a former wife of an unnamed Christian king, obsessed with preserving her youth and beauty that is otherwise only preserved in an idealised form in her magic mirror. This leads her to dabble in black magic, which backfires when she acquires a spell for eternal life that does not grant her eternal youth. Since then, she has been living in a tower  organising abductions of young girls so she can use their blood to regain her youth and beauty. Five hundred years later, in 1811, she is close to achieving her return and the conquest of Germany. The Queen's magic defeats an invading French forces and she herself attempts to seduce Will Grimm. She is destroyed after Jake Grimm shatters the mirror in the tower, making her werewolf minion transform into the woodsman (the film's Hunter figure) and destroy the rest of the mirror by jumping out of the tower's window with it.<ref name=adapted/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mc-PCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA26|title=Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney: International Perspectives|first1=Jack|last1=Zipes|first2=Pauline|last2=Greenhill|first3=Kendra|last3=Magnus-Johnston|date=September 16, 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-62813-1 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The story of ''The Brothers Grimm'' "reflects the political battle over the European hearts and minds between, on the one side, [French general] Delatombe's ideal of the supra-national state, which strives to make Italians and Germans into citizens of the [[French Revolution]], and, on the other, the Thuringian queen's sub-national vision wishes to draw Germans into a native past which is fixated with notions of power and blood so dear to twentieth-century totalitarian ideologies."<ref>Ofir Haivry, "'It shall be a nation': Terry Gilliam's Exploration of National Identity, Between Rationalism and Imagination". In  ''The Cinema of Terry Gilliam: It's a Mad World'' (Columbia University Press), 2013.</ref>

[[File:Sara Paxton.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Sara Paxton]] in 2007]]

In the 2007 teen comedy film ''[[Sydney White]]'', [[Sara Paxton]] plays '''Rachel Witchburn''', the mean and rich (due to her family wealth) leader of the student council and the head of the [[Kappa Omicron Nu|Kappa Sorority]] that the working class family newcomer Sydney wants to attend. Jealous of Sydney becoming more popular than she is (her computer and the internet replacing the magic mirror in the telling), Rachel hires a hacker to destroy Sydney's computer files using a virus called The Poison Apple. Nevertheless, Sydney, aided by outsiders and by seven male students including Rachel's ex-boyfriend Tyler Prince, wins the debate and the election, becoming the new president.{{sfn|Zipes|2011|p=205-206}}{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|p=221-224}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C1Fj5iLkTiIC&pg=PA78|title=Genre, Gender and the Effects of Neoliberalism: The New Millennium Hollywood Rom Com|first=Betty|last=Kaklamanidou|date=March 5, 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-09003-6 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

In a major 2012 retelling, ''[[Snow White and the Huntsman]]'', [[Charlize Theron]] portrays '''Queen Ravenna''', an extremely powerful sorceress on a misandrous vendetta after having been sexually abused by powerful men in the past.{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|pp=126-128}}<ref>{{cite news |date=2011-02-08 |title='Snow White' Lands Julia Roberts As Evil Queen, So How Does She Stack Up Against Charlize Theron? |url=http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/02/08/snow-white-julia-roberts-charlize-theron |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211051634/http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/02/08/snow-white-julia-roberts-charlize-theron |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 11, 2011 |access-date=2012-05-29 |work=MTV Movies Blog}}</ref> After the prologue that shows how she inherited her mother's magic, the Queen is depicted as a vain, scheming, and power-hungry secret leader of a supernatural army that King Magnus believes he "defeated" when "rescuing" her. On their wedding night, she brutally murders the King and everyone in the castle but the young Snow White, conquering yet another kingdom with her younger brother Finn. However, Ravenna fears that Snow White may challenge her reign of terror. The Queen's obsession with power and beauty stems from childhood trauma when her mother tells her that beauty is a weapon. The strength of her powers seems to correlate to her appearance, which she retains by stealing life force from young women. Both her powers and beauty begin to fade as Snow White comes into her own. Her magic mirror assures her that the only way to render her powers and her youth permanent is to consume Snow White's heart. She is ultimately killed when she is stabbed by Snow White, aided by Eric the Huntsman, rapidly aging as she dies.{{sfn|Holston|Winchester|2018|pp=260-261}}{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|pp=126-133}}{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=67-71, 84}}

''Snow White and the Huntsman'' director [[Rupert Sanders]] said: "It was very important that we didn't have a terrible cut-out villain. We had someone who was doing evil things out of a fear and weakness. I think it is important that you do sympathize with her to a degree, but also really understand why she is the person she’s become because she wasn't born evil. It was a journey for her to become evil, and I think it was very important to myself and Charlize Theron to play a realistic version of the queen."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2012/06/interview-director-rupert-sanders-talks-snow-white-and-the-huntsman |title=Interview: "Snow White And The Huntsman" Director Rupert Sanders Talks Dark Fairy Tales & Kristen Stewart's Toughness |publisher=Complex |date=2012-06-02 |access-date=2014-07-05}}</ref> Theron said about the character: "At first, I didn't really understand why she was evil or losing her mind, but once I understood that it wasn't just the fact that her mortality relied upon finding Snow White, and that knowing that and not being able to do anything and being stuck in a castle. Well, I think that would be maddening for somebody like her. It reminded me a lot of [[Jack Nicholson]]'s character in ''[[The Shining (film)|The Shining]]''{{--}}that idea that you're stuck in this place and you can't escape it, that [[cabin fever]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a385918/snow-whites-charlize-theron-evil-queen-like-the-shining-character.html |title='Snow White's Charlize Theron: 'Evil Queen like The Shining character' - Movies News |publisher=Digital Spy |date=2012-06-07 |access-date=2014-07-05}}</ref>

[[File:Julia Roberts 2011 Shankbone 3.JPG|thumb|upright|left|[[Julia Roberts]] in 2011]]

In the 2012 comedy fantasy film ''[[Mirror Mirror (film)|Mirror Mirror]]'', [[Julia Roberts]] plays Queen '''Clementianna''',<ref name="md" /> a comical and sympathetic version of the character framing the film's plot through her ironic and cynical prologue and epilogue narration where she insists on presenting it as her story.{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|pp=118-119}} She is a cold and narcissistic woman who married the king and bewitched him into a savage beast using a magic necklace. The Queen spends her time organizing lavish parties in the palace and buying expensive dresses while neglecting the kingdom which has caused the people to struggle and live in poverty due to high taxes imposed on them by her. She uses a magic mirror to talk to a much younger reflection of herself (played by Lisa Roberts Gillan) who often warns her not to use her magic for selfish short-sighted purposes. Such as using total control over their husband and Prince Alcott or turning her servant Brighton into a cockroach as punishment. In her attempts to kill her 18-year-old stepdaughter Snow White, the Queen creates two wooden puppets to attack the dwarves' home as well as commanding the Beast to attack. Once Snow defeats the beast, the Queen begins to rapidly age as her reflection states that she must pay the price for her use of magic. When Snow White then refuses the poisoned apple when offered by the crone-queen at her wedding, Clementianna herself eats it and dissolves, while the mirror portal shatters.{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|pp=118-126}}{{sfn|Holston|Winchester|2018|pp=259-260}} 

One character in ''Mirror Mirror'' calls Clementianna a "good old-fashioned, plain, traditional psycho crazy." Director [[Tarsem Singh]] explained that the mirror world is the Queen's own delusion: "She's just insecure ... about beauty, about things that are passing her by, and now she wants power. If she looks into the mirror ... she enters the landscape, which is a mindscape, and in there is a house, inside which are many mirrors, and in those mirrors she just talks to herself. So it's actually just her talking to herself. She's just bad, but wants to outsource the evil and say 'That thing told me'."{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|pp=119-124}}

[[File:Maribel Verdú - Seminci 2011 (2).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Maribel Verdú]] in 2011]]

[[Maribel Verdú]] plays '''Encarna''', the evil stepmother of Carmen(cita) Villalta also known as Blancanieves (Snow White) in the 2012 Spanish "Gothic melodrama" silent art film ''[[Blancanieves]]'' that transplants the story to the 1920s [[Andalusia]] and strips it of any magic elements. The film's screenwriter and director [[Pablo Berger]] described her as the "worst stepmother in the history of cinema".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95469dBdeoIC&pg=PT218|title=Maribel Verdú|first=Nuria|last=Vidal|date=September 13, 2012|publisher=PLAZA & JANÉS|isbn=978-84-01-35387-1 |via=Google Books}}</ref> After personally murdering her husband and her own lover, who did not kill Blancanieves, Encarna eventually poisons her at a bullfighting ring and is then herself killed by the dwarf bullfighters when they trap her with a raging bull.<ref name=inter1>Jack Zipes, "The Great Cultural Tsunami of Fairy-tale Films" (''Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney'').</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aCglDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA113|title=The Dynamics of Masculinity in Contemporary Spanish Culture|first1=Lorraine|last1=Ryan|first2=Ana|last2=Corbalan|date=November 3, 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-315-30266-9 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=66YQDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA69|title=The Multilingual Screen: New Reflections on Cinema and Linguistic Difference|first1=Tijana|last1=Mamula|first2=Lisa|last2=Patti|date=June 30, 2016|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|isbn=978-1-5013-0286-2 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t_rJEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2008|title=Spanish Horror Film and Television in the 21st Century|first1=Vicente Rodríguez|last1=Ortega|first2=Rubén Romero|last2=Santos|date=July 20, 2023|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-000-96542-1 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbXrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31|title=Subversive Spanish Cinema: The Politics of Performance|first=Fiona|last=Noble|date=July 23, 2020|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-350-15246-5 |via=Google Books}}</ref> In ''Lilet Never Happened'', also released in 2012, Snow White's witch-mother figure is represented by the Filipino woman who sold by her own daughter Lilet (who sees herself as Snow White and is called by this name) into a [[Manila]] child prostitution ring.<ref name=inter1/>

2012 also saw the release of multiple low-budget "blockbuster" Snow White films. In ''[[Grimm's Snow White]]'', the evil queen's name is '''Queen Gwendolyn''' (played by [[Jane March]]).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V6OZieUbOEC&pg=PA81|title=Branca de neve|isbn=978-85-63993-31-1 |via=books.google.com |last1=Autores |first1=Vários |date=April 2012 |publisher=Editora Évora }}</ref> She plans to marry Prince Alexander, so she must kill her stepdaughter Snow White who loves him as well. When she attempts to forcibly marry Alexander, Snow White manages to break free and decapitate her before the ceremony can be finished. ''[[Snow White: A Deadly Summer]]'' is a modern-day re-imagining of the story as a slasher horror film where [[Maureen McCormick]] plays '''Eve''', the psychopathic woman who wants Snow's father all for herself, and her own mirror image "told" her she needs eliminate her Snow to achieve this.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/31631/snow-white-a-deadly-summer-2012/|title=Snow White: A Deadly Summer (2012)|date=March 8, 2012|website=Dread Central}}</ref>

[[File:Charlize Theron Cannes 2015 2.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Charlize Theron]] in 2015]]

Theron reprised her role in the ''Snow White and the Huntsman'' sequel, ''[[The Huntsman: Winter's War]]'' (2016), in which the Queen was revealed to have hidden part of herself in the Mirror. Allowing her to be restored to life by her younger sister, the [[The Snow Queen|Snow Queen]]-like "ice princess" Freya. Freya learns that Ravenna had killed her child whom the Mirror said would grow up more beautiful than Ravenna. The sisters fatally duel each other, enabling Eric to break the Mirror as Ravenna shatters into pieces.{{sfn|Holston|Winchester|2018|pp=261-262}}{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|pp=133-137}}

==== Live-action series ====

In the Snow White episode of the 1984 television series ''[[Faerie Tale Theatre]]'', [[Vanessa Redgrave]]'s Queen argues with the film's narrator about the plot. She is ultimately punished with a spell that drives her to insanity by preventing her from ever seeing her reflection again.{{sfn|Zipes|2011|p=124}}

In the 1987-1988 television series ''[[The Charmings]]'', a sequel to the fairy tale, '''Queen Lillian White''', portrayed by [[Judy Parfitt]], returns from a bottomless pit to cast a powerful curse on Snow White and her family. This curse banishes them all (including the Queen herself and her Magic Mirror) a thousand years into the future, where they live as the titular Charmings in the 20th-century [[Burbank, California]]. The Queen is forced to live with Snow White, while trying to return to their own world.<ref name="lat" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o5W1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA50|title=Women of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television: An Encyclopedia of 400 Characters and 200 Shows, 1950-2016|first=Karen A.|last=Romanko|date=October 11, 2019|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-3848-5 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EDsYAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA8|title=Television Introductions: Narrated TV Program Openings since 1949|first=Vincent|last=Terrace|date=November 7, 2013|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-9250-7 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70szDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA194|title=Single Season Sitcoms of the 1980s: A Complete Guide|first=Bob|last=Leszczak|date=May 16, 2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-2384-9 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The main villain of the 2000 miniseries ''[[The 10th Kingdom]]'' is '''Christine White''', more commonly referred to as the Evil Queen and portrayed by [[Dianne Wiest]]. Two hundred years after the events of the original Snow White fairy tale, the original Evil Queen, who had been left for death, uses her mirrors to spy on Earth, where she finds Christine Lewis, a troubled former socialite whose husband Tony lost their fortune through bad investments and whose daughter Virginia was unplanned. After almost killing her daughter in a psychotic break, Christine joins the Queen (now an undead hag known as the Swamp Witch) in the realm of the Nine Kingdoms to be groomed as an apprentice and to be her successor. Christine then inserts herself into the House of White, first as the nanny of Snow White's grandson, Prince Wendell White, and later as his stepmother. She's then imprisoned for the murder of Wendell's father. As ''The 10th Kingdom'' begins, she escapes to act as antagonist until her death by Virginia.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iYu5AAAACAAJ | isbn=978-1-57566-537-5 | title=The 10th Kingdom | date=2000 | publisher=Hallmark Entertainment Books }}</ref>

[[File:Lana Parrilla Photo Op GalaxyCon Richmond 2022 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Lana Parrilla]] in 2022]]

In all seven seasons of the 2011–2017 American TV series ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]'', the Queen, also known as '''[[Regina Mills]]''' (the mayor of the modern-like town of Storybrooke, her creation) and portrayed by [[Lana Parrilla]], transforms from an antagonist into a central character.{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|p=91}} Regina saves Snow White's life when they are younger, leading to Regina's unwilling marriage to Snow's father. When Snow inadvertently causes the death of Regina's true love, Regina grows vengeful and becomes the Evil Queen. After years of failing to kill Snow White, the Evil Queen eventually casts the Dark Curse, provided by her mentor Rumpelstiltskin, sending all the fairytale characters to the real world and erasing their true memories. During the curse, Regina adopts a son, Henry. Later, Regina's curse is broken by Snow White's daughter, Emma (Henry's biological mother), and Regina decides to try and redeem herself for her son. In time, Regina manages to make amends with Snow White, Emma, and her other enemies. She also meets her long-lost half-sister, Zelena the Wicked Witch, and falls in love with [[Robin Hood]]. In the fifth season, following Robin's death, Regina uses Dr. Jekyll's serum to separate herself from the darkness within her, creating the Evil Queen as a separate individual. In the seventh season, set many years later, Regina is crowned the Good Queen when the realms are united. Regina's character had been shaped by the toxic influence of her literally-heartless witch mother Cora, herself a major character in the show, through a generational cycle of youthful trauma (the cause of Cora's own evilness to begin with).{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=71-83}}

==== Animation ====

An early yet notable{{sfn|Smoodin|2012|p=22}} animated adaptation is ''[[Snow White (1933 film)|Snow White]]'' (1933), a ''[[Betty Boop]]'' series cartoon short in which the Queen is a vain and conniving witch who resembles [[Olive Oyl]]. When she is defeated, her mirror explodes in a puff of magic smoke that changes her into a hideous dragon that chases the protagonists until the Queen's own former guard grabs the dragon's tongue and turns her inside out, revealing her skeleton.<ref name=lat/>{{sfn|Zipes|2011|pp=214, 121}}

Another early American animation, ''[[Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs]]'' (1943), is a controversial<ref name="md" /> World War II propaganda short that reimagines all the story's characters as African-Americans. The "mean ol' queen" of the story (voiced by [[Ruby Dandridge]] and Danny Webb), a parody of the Disney character,{{sfn|Slethaug|2014|p=214}} plots to murder "So White" out of jealousy for the handsome "Prince Chawmin," representing food hoarders at the time of war [[Rationing in the United States|rationing]].

In the 1960 series ''[[Popeye the Sailor (TV series)|Popeye the Sailor]]'', the episode ''Olive Drab and the Seven SweaPeas'' has the [[Sea Hag]] as the Evil Queen{{sfn|Greene|2021|p=236}} responsible for stealing the gold from the king's boat, and it is up to [[Olive Oyl|Princess Olive]] to find it. The Sea Hag plans to put the princess to sleep with a can of cursed spinach, but [[Popeye|Prince Popeye]] discovers her plan and easily defeats her.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/show/popeye-the-sailor-1960/season/1/episode/92|title=Popeye the Sailor - S1 • E92 - Olive Drab and the Seven Sweapeas|date=October 10, 1960|via=watch.plex.tv}}</ref>

The Wicked Queen is voiced by [[Melendy Britt]] in the 1980 [[Filmation]] animated television film ''[[A Snow White Christmas]]'', a loose sequel set years after the events of the fairy tale in which the long defeated Queen is accidentally revived after having been enclosed in ice for many years. Determined to get rid of the now ruling Queen Snow White and King Charming, as well as their teenage daughter (who is also named Snow White), the Queen freezes the entire kingdom. The young princess escapes and enlists the help of the seven friendly giants. Each time, the Queen's attempts to harm the second Snow White with her evil magic are foiled by the new protectors of the princess. Eventually, the Queen resorts to disguise herself as an old giant woman to trick Snow White into smelling the scent of a poisoned flower. Having found Snow White dead, the enraged giants seek revenge and attack the Queen's castle. While they are fighting her demon minions, the magic mirror rebels against the Queen and destroys her once and for all. With the Queen's final demise, her spells are broken and all of her victims return to life.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzuyCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|title=Having a Wonderful Christmas Time Film Guide|first=Terry|last=Rowan|date=April 27, 2014|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-312-14045-5 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rLujEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA47|title=The Christmas Encyclopedia, 4th ed.|first=William D.|last=Crump|date=December 22, 2022|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-4759-3 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BUvTYfLP624C&pg=PA337|title=Television Specials: 5,336 Entertainment Programs, 1936-2012, 2d ed.|first=Vincent|last=Terrace|date=July 3, 2013|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-7444-8 |via=Google Books |ref=CITEREFTerrace2013Jul03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMJkAAAAMAAJ|title=Television Drama Series Programming: A Comprehensive Chronicle, 1982-1984|first=Larry James|last=Gianakos|date=April 20, 1987|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-1876-7 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WxngAAAAMAAJ|title=The Christmas Encyclopedia|first=William D.|last=Crump|date=April 20, 2006|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-0-7864-2293-7 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=us9kAAAAMAAJ|title=Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-five Years, 1962-1987|first=George W.|last=Woolery|date=April 20, 1989|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-2198-9 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

In the "Snow White" episode of the 1987 anime series ''[[Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics]]'', an arguably "subtly feminist" retelling of the original stories,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XD7JEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA36|title=A Cultural History of Fairy Tales in the Modern Age|first=Andrew|last=Teverson|date=July 15, 2021|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-350-28760-0 |via=Google Books}}</ref> the Queen's plots involve first the Huntsman and then the lace, but the later attempt involving the poison apple and a magical disguise is enabled by an old witch serving her. After Snow White eats the apple, the Queen leaves the Seven Dwarfs' house and is attacked by Snow White's friend Klaus and the Prince, fighting them off until many many wolves come to their aid, and the narrator recounts that the Queen fought "like a lioness" until they finally killed her.

Another Filmation production, ''[[Happily Ever After (1989 film)|Happily Ever After]]'', came out in 1990 as in unofficial sequel to the Disney film.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALmJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA33|title=Film Cartoons: A Guide to 20th Century American Animated Features and Shorts|first=Douglas L.|last=McCall|date=September 11, 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-0966-9 |via=Google Books}}</ref> In it, the late Queen's brother, the equally evil wizard Lord Maliss, arrives in the kingdom to avenge his sister on those responsible for her demise: Snow White and Prince Charming, abducting the latter just as they are about to marry.<ref>{{cite news|title= MOVIE REVIEW : 'Happily Ever After': Sadly Disappointing |work= Los Angeles Times|date=1993-05-28|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-28-ca-40661-story.html|access-date=2012-05-29|first=Kevin|last=Thomas}}</ref> Due to pressure by Disney lawyers,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/6a5ee916f0d5b4ff867b685de070889c|title=Non-Disney 'Snow White' Sequel Has Unhappy Box-Office Opening|date=1993-06-01|publisher=Apnewsarchive.com|access-date=2014-03-20}}</ref><ref>"SNOW WHITE REVISITED: THE QUEEN'S DEAD, BUT CONFLICT ISN'T BANISHED". ''Dayton Daily News''. May 28, 1993.</ref> the Queen herself does not appear in person and is only shown via a portrait and a bust statue. The film begins with her monster minions partying and celebrating her death, and Lord Maliss is eventually destroyed after being turned into a stone statue.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtRZAAAAMAAJ|title=The Emperor's Old Groove: Decolonizing Disney's Magic Kingdom|first=Brenda|last=Ayres|date=April 20, 2003|publisher=P. Lang|isbn=978-0-8204-6363-6 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The 1991 Australian animated film ''[[The Magic Riddle]]'' combines the story of Snow White with several other fairy tales<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2QJ2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA144|title=Australian Animation: An International History|first1=Dan|last1=Torre|first2=Lienors|last2=Torre|date=November 2, 2018|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-95492-9 |via=Google Books}}</ref> in which the villain is generically known as The Widow ([[Robyn Moore (Australian voice actor)|Robyn Moore]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/07/the-magic-riddle-rewatched-a-fairytale-mishmash-told-with-chaotic-energy|title=The Magic Riddle rewatched – a fairytale mishmash told with chaotic energy|first=Luke|last=Buckmaster|work=the Guardian |date=February 6, 2016|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> She plans to marry her biological daughter, Bertha, to the handsome young Phillipe, but he is in love with her stepdaughter Cindy (a figure combing Snow White with [[Cinderella]]) who is aided by her grandmother. Following the advice of her magic mirror, the stepmother disguises herself as a salesman and visits the grandmother in the woods, tricking her into entering a castle where she becomes trapped inside it. Later, Phillipe and the Dwarfs find themselves confined in the castle as well. The stepmother, wearing another disguise devised by her magic mirror, hypnotises Cindy with a magic apple to fall asleep, but accidentally falls into a well during the commotion. Eventually, Cindy and Phillipe's wedding is held at what used to be her stepmother's house, where she and her daughter are to serve as maids just as Cindy used to.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/The_Magic_Riddle?id=99EFB65695B091AEMV|title=The Magic Riddle - Movies on Google Play|website=play.google.com}}</ref>

In the 1994-1995 anime television series ''[[The Legend of Snow White]]'', '''Lady Crystal'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tatsunoko.co.jp/en/works/the-legend-of-snow-white/|title=THE LEGEND OF SNOW WHITE}}</ref> (クリスタル,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tatsunoko.co.jp/works/the-legend-of-snow-white/|title=白雪姫の伝説}}</ref> sometimes misspelled as "Chrystal"; voiced by Mari Yooko<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmoaAQAAIAAJ|title=Kinema junpō|date=1995 |via=books.google.com}}</ref>), a ruler of a neighboring kingdom famed for her beauty, comes to marry King Conrad. As in the fairy tale, she turns out to be an evil and jealous woman who uses witchcraft to eliminate her rivals and obtain what she desires most: beauty and power. The series vastly expands the story to fill its 52 episodes.<ref>Jonathan Clements, Helen McCarthy, ''The Anime Encyclopedia: A Century of Japanese Animation'' (page 763).</ref> After the king leaves to war, Queen Crystal, aided by her bat familiar, attempts to kill Snow White, but the princess ends up in the care of the Seven Dwarfs. Crystal then tries to take the life of Snow White several times, including with a cursed comb while in the guise of an orphan girl Marie. During the final attempt, she instead uses an apple to put her rival in an enchanted sleep in order to take over her youthful body for her own. Eventually, the Queen turns out to be an unknowing puppet of the demon in her mirror. Snow White's fiancé Prince Richard manages to kill Helene in a desperate fight, saving not only his beloved but also saving Crystal from the evil influence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.jp/白雪姫の伝説/dp/B085XG23GH|title=Amazon.co.jp}}</ref>

In the 2007 animated film ''[[Shrek the Third]]'', the Evil Queen she (voiced by [[Susanne Blakeslee]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catholicexchange.com/usccbs-review-of-shrek-the-third/|title=USCCB's Review of Shrek the Third|first=U. S. Conference of Catholic|last=Bishops|date=May 25, 2007|website=Catholic Exchange}}</ref> later the voice actresses of the Disney's Evil Queen in ''Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/48085/kingdom-hearts-birth-by-sleep/credits/psp/|title=Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep credits (PSP, 2010)|website=MobyGames}}</ref>) is a minor antagonist recruiter by the villain of Prince Charming to help him take over Far Far Away, but redeems herself by the end, making amends with her stepdaughter and saying she always wanted to start a spa in France.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zLTEISVOKk8C | isbn=978-0-06-122870-4 | title=Shrek the Third: The Junior Novel | date=3 April 2007 | publisher=HarperCollins }}</ref> She also appears in the [[Shrek the Third (video game)|''Shrek the Third'' video game]] where Shrek and Pus have to fight their way through her castle in a game-exclusive scenario.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/shrek-the-third|title=SHREK® THE THIRD|date=March 2, 2007|website=GamesIndustry.biz}}</ref>

In the 2008 animated film ''Bratz Kidz Fairy Tales'', the Wicked Queen (voiced by Marcy Goldberg<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/peliculas-series/peliculas/bratz-kidz-fairy-tales-47598/actores|title=Reparto de Bratz Kidz: Fairy Tales (película 2008). Dirigida por Phil Weinstein|first=La|last=Vanguardia|date=April 20, 2025|website=La Vanguardia}}</ref>) plots to get rid of Snow White (Jade) to become the fairest in the land. She teams up with the witch from Rapunzel to have the Big Bad Wolf eat the girls. But when the Queen and the Wolf end up lost in the woods, the Wolf, having grown hungry, eats her instead.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.primevideo.com/detail/Bratz-Kidz-Fairy-Tales/0LTQ8EA9MRWK65I2Y9MEAMGL4U|title=Prime Video: Bratz: Kidz Fairy Tales}}</ref>

In the 2009 animated film ''[[Happily N'Ever After 2: Snow White—Another Bite @ the Apple]]'', [[Cindy Robinson]] voices the would-be Queen, '''Lady Vain''', who is aided by [[Rumpelstiltskin]] and plots to seduce [[Old King Cole|King Cole]] in order to rule the kingdom herself. Wanting Snow White removed from the kingdom, she uses magic to turn everyone in the kingdom against her. Nevertheless, Snow White manages to foil Lady Vain's marriage ceremony and expose her as a witch.{{sfn|Zipes|2011|pp=118}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.primevideo.com/-/pl/detail/Happily-NEver-After-2-Snow-White/0M2CE0P0KZLJXM4WSOH1CX7LWL|title=Prime Video: Happily N'Ever After 2: Snow White}}</ref>

In the episode "[[Four Great Women and a Manicure]]" (2009) of the animated series ''[[The Simpsons]]'', [[Lisa Simpson]] tells her version of the tale of "Snow White", with [[Lindsey Naegle]] in the role of the Queen. As in the classic story, the Queen asks the Huntsman ([[Groundskeeper Willie]]) to kill Snow White (Lisa), and later disguises herself as an old woman after discovering that she is still alive in order to poison her with the apple. After succeeding, she meets the dwarves, and flees from them through the window, encountering the forest animals outside, who end up devouring her.<ref>{{Cite episode |series=[[The Simpsons]] |number=20 |season=20 |title=[[Four Great Women and a Manicure]] |date=May 10, 2009 |network=[[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]}}</ref>

[[Gina Gershon]] voiced '''Queen Regina''' in the English version of the 2019 Korean animated film ''[[Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs]]''. In it, she is brought to King White's castle accused of being a witch for punishment, but the king falls in love with her. After Regina marries King White and becomes the new queen, people begin to disappear. The king finds out that she is indeed an evil witch and sends Snow White away to safety and to bring help, before Regina comes for him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXr-ln_ItY8|title=RED SHOES AND THE SEVEN DWARFS &#124; King White's diary [HD]|date=April 6, 2020|via=YouTube}}</ref> When Snow White steals the red shoes that grant immortality and youth to Regina and escapes the castle, the witch tries to find her using the Magic Mirror and her ally Prince Average. Eventually, she hunts down Snow White in the woods, disguises herself as the young [[Merlin]], takes Snow White back to the castle, and uses a magic apple to turns her into a magic tree. However, the real Merlin comes to the rescue as he kills the Queen with his magic and restores both the princess to her human form.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://raisingchildren.net.au/guides/movie-reviews/red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs|title=Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs|first=Australian Council on Children and the|last=Media|website=Raising Children Network}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.primevideo.com/-/pl/detail/Red-Shoes-and-the-Seven-Dwarfs/0PI04WWEI41Q1XYCJ7PAYVUL4G|title=Prime Video: Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs}}</ref> The antagonist of the 2021 (now discontinued) mobile game sequel ''Red Shoes: Wood Bear World'' was Regina's sister, also an evil witch.<ref>https://x.com/RedShoes_en/status/1437853658885021697 {{Bare URL inline|date=June 2025}}{{Better source needed|reason=Tweets are usually unacceptable as sources.|date=August 2025}}</ref>

=== Literature ===
====Long-form====

The Evil Queen's character has been given various names and characterisations by modern authors. In [[Adèle Geras]]' ''Snow White'' retelling ''Pictures of the Night'' (1992), for instance, the protagonist is plagued by a series of mysterious accidents that she believes are being caused by her jealous, malevolent stepmother '''Marjorie'''. In [[Laurence Anholt]]'s children's book ''Snow White and the Seven Aliens'' (1998), the jealous '''Mean Queen''' is a former famous pop star who was the lead singer of The Wonderful Wicked Witches. In ''Black as Night'' (2004), [[Regina Doman]]'s adolescent novel set in modern New York City, '''Elaine''' is an egocentric stepmother to Bear (the prince figure) rather than Blanche (Snow White). In ''My Fair Godmother'' (2009), a romantic comedy novel by [[Janette Rallison]], the evil queen is named '''Queen Neferia'''. In [[Sarah Pinborough]]'s novel ''Charm'' (2013), the evil witch queen '''Lilith''' awakens Snow White from her glass coffin with a kiss.{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=92}} In [[Jane Yolen]]'s ''Snow in Summer: Fairest of Them All'' (2011), the Queen is a dark magic-using stepmother simply called '''Stepmama'''. In [[Louise Simonson]]'s ''Snow White and the Seven Robots: A Graphic Novel'' (2015), the Queen exiles the child genius scientist Snow White "so she cannot grow up and take the Queen's place as the most intelligent person on the planet."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capstonepub.com/library/products/snow-white-and-the-seven-robots-a-graphic-novel/|title=Snow White and the Seven Robots: A Graphic Novel|work=Capstone Library|access-date=5 January 2015}}</ref> Danielle Paige's ''Stealing Snow'' (2016) features an evil king instead of a traditional queen figure.{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=87}} In Melissa Bashardoust's revisionist novel ''Girls Made of Snow and Glass'' (2017), a secretly loving relationship between '''Mina''' (the Snow Queen) with her stepdaughter Lynet (Snow White) saves them both.{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=88}}
<!-- these works may be given their own paragraphs if one wants to write more about them, preferably with references --> 

In [[Tanith Lee]]'s and [[Terri Windling]]'s ''White as Snow'' (2000), mixing "Snow White" with the tragic myth of [[Demeter]] and [[Persephone]], the queen figures's name is '''Arpazia'''. She is a mad princess who wants to rid of her rape-daughter Coira, eventually leading to her own death caused by a bastard son of her rapist (an enemy king and cult leader) and a cryptic (and possibly apocalyptic) ending. The story was noted by Jack Zipes for its darkness, violence, cynicism, and immorality of all characters.{{sfn|Zipes|2013|p=136-139}}

[[Gregory Maguire]]'s 2003 historical novel ''[[Mirror, Mirror (novel)|Mirror Mirror]]''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NztwUkRLficC|title=Mirror Mirror|first=Gregory|last=Maguire|date=March 17, 2009|publisher=Harper Collins|isbn=978-0-06-174804-2 |via=Google Books}}</ref> reinvents the fairy tale by casting the historical figure of '''[[Lucrezia Borgia]]''' in the role of Evil Queen.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.harpercollins.ca/9780061762833/mirror-mirror/|title=Mirror Mirror - Gregory Maguire - Downloadable audio file|website=HarperCollins Canada}}</ref> Bianca de Nevada (Snow White) is born as a child of a minor noble Vicente de Nevada in the 15th-century [[Renaissance Italy]]. After her father is forced to embark on a quest for a magical apple tree by [[Cesare Borgia]], Bianca is left in the care of the beautiful and vain Lucrezia who becomes jealous of her lecherous brother Cesare's interest in the growing child. The seven dwarves are the creators of the quicksilver mirror, which makes the ruthless Lucrezia increasingly paranoid and insane.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gregory-maguire/mirror-mirror-4/|title=MIRROR MIRROR &#124; Kirkus Reviews|via=www.kirkusreviews.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OmUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA77|title=The Advocate|first=Here|last=Publishing|date=December 9, 2003|publisher=Here Publishing|via=Google Books}}</ref>

In [[Mette Ivie Harrison]]'s novel ''[[Mira, Mirror]]'' (2004), the titular Mirra was a young apprentice witch who was enchanted by her elder sister and a fellow apprentice '''Amanda''' into a magic mirror so Amanda could transform herself into the most beautiful woman in the world. Amanda becomes a Queen, but later mysteriously disappears, while the story of Mirra continues.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1zxLAAAACAAJ | isbn=978-0-14-240643-4 | title=Mira, Mirror | date=2006 | publisher=Speak }}</ref>

In [[Gail Carson Levine]]'s novel ''[[Fairest (novel)|Fairest]]'' (2006), '''Queen Ivi''' is an insecure 19-year-old new queen assisted by Skulni, the mysterious, evil creature living in Ivi's magic mirror. The cold-hearted and power-hungry Ivi blackmails the protagonist Aza, an ugly 15-year-old girl, into becoming her singing voice in order to preserve her own reputation, and later plots Aza's death, who saves herself by becoming beautiful when she uses Ivi's potion on herself. Eventually, it turns out that Ivi's actions have been manipulated by Skulni. Saved by Aza from being trapped in the mirror, Ivi turns away from her evil ways, loses her magically created beauty, and is sent away by the king to a remote castle.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ETtzEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA144|title=Fantasy Art and Studies 12: Fantasy Fiction and Fairy Tales / Fantasy et contes de fées|date=May 31, 2022|publisher=BoD - Books on Demand|isbn=978-2-901099-22-2 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BGEoFnPEr1gC | isbn=978-0-545-11176-8 | title=Fairest | date=2006 | publisher=Scholastic }}</ref>

In [[Jim C. Hines]]'s ''Princesses'' series (2009–2011) chronicling the adventures of Snow White, Princess Danielle Whiteshore ([[Cinderella]]), and former Princess Talia Malak-el-Dahshat ([[Sleeping Beauty]]), Snow White's mother, '''Queen Rose Gertrude Curtana of Alessandria''', was a powerful and cruel witch who trained her daughter in magic to later attempt transferring her soul into her daughter's body, but was thwarted when Snow White proved to be more capable than she had revealed. Snow was banished from her kingdom for the crime of killing her mother. Rose was tortured to death by having her feet burned by the dwarves, here elemental spirits that Snow can summon for aid at the cost of losing seven years of her life as 'payment' for their services, before they killed her. In ''The Stepsister Scheme'', Rose is returned to life when her ghost is summoned by Danielle's stepsisters (believing her to be their now-deceased mother), possessing the elder sister Stacia to acquire a new body for herself, but she is finally defeated when the three princesses confront her with the aid of the seven dwarves.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OVyJEAAAQBAJ|title=The Stepsister Scheme|first=Jim C.|last=Hines|date=January 6, 2009|publisher=Astra Publishing House|isbn=978-1-4406-5869-3 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The fourth novel, ''The Snow Queen's Shadow'', merging the tales od Snow White and Snow Queen,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780756406745 | title=The Snow Queen's Shadow by Jim C. Hines }}</ref> reveals that her magic mirror was created by her imprisoning a demon and binding it to her service, suggesting that the mirror's role in the original story was motivated by the demon attempting to create a set of circumstances that would allow it to escape, with the protagonists returning to Rose's former castle to rediscover the secrets she used to bind the demon in hopes of exorcising it after it possesses Snow White.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlqJEAAAQBAJ|title=The Snow Queen's Shadow|first=Jim C.|last=Hines|date=July 5, 2011|publisher=Astra Publishing House|isbn=978-1-101-51683-6 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

[[P. W. Catanese]]'s novel ''The Mirror's Tale'' (2010) in the series ''Further Tales Adventures'' is a sequel to the fairy tale, taking place in the former castle of '''Rohesia''' a hundred years later. Before she went mad and became known as the Witch-Queen, Rohesia had been using her magic for healing. Her fate is unclear and mysterious, but her ghost does shows up to heal a poisoned character.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Obkb-_4gKJsC|title=The Mirror's Tale: A Further Tales Adventure|first=P. W.|last=Catanese|date=May 11, 2010|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4391-1307-3 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

In [[Tom Holt]]'s parody ''Snow White and the Seven Samurai'' (2010), the wicked queen's magic mirror is run by an operating system, which, when hacked, crashes so disastrously that not only the queen's plot against Snow White is foiled but all sorts of stories get tangled. In the main storyline, Snow White becomes vicious and hires the titular seven samurai to murder the queen, who is protected by the dwarfs and some other characters and is trying to restore the system.{{sfn|Zipes|2016|pp=131-132}}

In the children's book trilogy ''Hald Upon a Time'' by [[James Riley (writer)|James Riley]] (2010–2013), a girl from the real world, sets out to rescue grandmother, who the protagonists believe is Snow White. She is soon revealed as the Wicked Queen and the true antagonist of the series.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jamesrileyauthor.com/half-upon-a-time-series|title=HALF UPON A TIME|website=JAMES RILEY}}</ref>

The antagonist of [[Marissa Meyer]]'s ''[[The Lunar Chronicles]]'' (2012–2015), '''Queen Levana''', is the ruler of the moon, aunt of the protagonist Cinder, and stepmother of Princess Winter. Severely scarred from childhood burns, she either wears a veil or uses her psychic abilities to glamour herself with extreme beauty to ask her disfigurement while desperately desiring to be loved, which she can only achieve by magic means. ''Fairest'', a prequel novella, focuses on her backstory.{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=70}}

In ''The Wishing Spell'' (2012), a children's novel in [[Chris Colfer]]'s series ''[[The Land of Stories]]'', the Evil Queen has bee  spared by Snow White. She escapes her imprisonment, recovers her magic mirror and reunites with the Huntsman at a remote castle. The Queen desires to complete the Wishing Spell and seeks and sends her new Huntress (the original Hunter's daughter) to collect the ingredients for it. She captures the protagonists Conner and Alex, and reveals to them her tragic story. Her real name was '''Evly''' and she was once engaged to a man named Mira. When Evly refused to serve [[Sleeping Beauty|an evil enchantress]], Mira was cursed to be trapped inside a mirror. Evly killed the enchantress but could not break the curse. She had also her heart cut off and turning it to stone, so she could only feel emotion when she was holding it. Evly then stole the throne, killing Snow White's mother and marrying the King, but Mira's condition began to deteriorate until he became a bland reflection as he became enamored with Snow White rather than the Queen. Using the Wishing Spell, the Queen manages to free Mira, but he is no longer capable of living outside the mirror and dies in her arms, and they both are consumed by the mirror which then shatters. It is later revealed that Snow White herself had let her escape the dungeon, knowing the Queen's story.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qk1qFxx3A4oC|title=The Wishing Spell: Book 1|first=Chris|last=Colfer|date=July 17, 2012|publisher=Hachette Children's Group|isbn=978-1-4055-1791-1 |via=Google Books}}</ref> In the sequel, ''The Enchantress Returns'' (2015), Conner and Alex manage to restore the mirror and contact Evly, but find out that she has become insane and the mirror's curse is in process of taking over her soul completely, just as it did with Mira.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xyPv7Sz7gf0C|title=The Enchantress Returns: Book 2|first=Chris|last=Colfer|date=August 6, 2013|publisher=Hachette Children's Group|isbn=978-1-4055-1792-8 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

[[Helen Oyeyemi]]'s novel ''Boy, Snow, Bird'' (2014) is a rendition of "Snow White" set in 1950s [[New England]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Oyeyemi |first=Helen |url=https://www.npr.org/2014/03/09/287335293/boy-snow-bird-takes-a-closer-look-into-the-fairy-tale-mirror |title='Boy, Snow, Bird' Takes A Closer Look Into The Fairy Tale Mirror |publisher=NPR |date=2014-03-09 |access-date=2014-05-05}}</ref> Oyeyemi said she wrote a wicked stepmother story because she "wanted to rescue the wicked queen from Snow White, because she seemed to find being a villain a bit of a hassle in a lot of ways. She wasn’t very efficient – it took her three tries to kill Snow White, for example. And I had read [[Barbara Comyns]]' ''The Juniper Tree'', which is a retelling of the fairy tale from the perspective of the wicked stepmother, as well, so I began to see a way that I could do it for myself."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/books/dwarfing-snow-white-a-qa-with-helen-oyeyemi |title=Dwarfing Snow White: A Q&A with Helen Oyeyemi &#124; National Post |publisher=Arts.nationalpost.com |date=2014-03-25 |access-date=2014-05-05 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140505194424/http://arts.nationalpost.com/2014/03/25/dwarfing-snow-white-a-qa-with-helen-oyeyemi/ |archive-date=2014-05-05 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Donna Jo Napoli]]'s historical fiction novel ''Dark Shimmer''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EHnWBQAAQBAJ|title=Dark Shimmer|first=Donna Jo|last=Napoli|date=September 8, 2015|publisher=Random House Children's Books|isbn=978-0-375-98917-9 |via=Google Books}}</ref> (2015) reimagines "Snow White" in medieval Venice, focused on the backstory of the Evil Queen figure. '''Dolce''' is an innocent, kind woman who grew up thinking she was hideous. Her mood swings and attempts to murder her beloved teenage stepdaughter are the result of [[mercury poisoning]] from her past work as an apprentice mirror maker, transforming her into '''"The Wicked One"'''. The book's point of view shifts between Dolce and her stepdaughter Bianca.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780385746557 | title=Dark Shimmer by Donna Jo Napoli }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hbook.com/story/review-of-dark-shimmer|title=Review of Dark Shimmer|first=Sarah|last=Berman|website=The Horn Book}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.slj.com/review/dark-shimmer|title=Dark Shimmer|last=NAPOLI |first=Donna Jo|website=School Library Journal}}</ref>

[[C. J. Redwine]]'s retelling ''The Shadow Queen'' (2016) features '''Queen Irina''' as an usurper draining life force from not only people but the land itself, reminiscent of ''Snow White and the Huntsman''. Both works are also similar in some other aspects, such not featuring a traditional mirror and their evil queens commanding armies of soldiers made of shard of glass or ice.{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=71, 81}}

[[Gena Showalter]]'s ''The Evil Queen'' (2019), features '''Everly Morrow''', a high school girl obsessed with mirrors who learns that she is prophesied to become the eponymous character in another world of the fairytale realm of Enchantia and tries to avert her destiny.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gena-showalter/the-evil-queen/|title=THE EVIL QUEEN &#124; Kirkus Reviews|via=www.kirkusreviews.com}}</ref> The story continues in the ''Forest of Good and Evil'' series.

====Short-form====

The Queen has been featured in many short stories. In the "Snow White" chapter of Merseyside Fairy Story Collective's (edited by Jack Zipes) ''Don't Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North America and England'' (1986), the evil queen is ousted by popular revolution. [[Priscilla Galloway]]'s collection of short stories ''Truly Grim Tales'' (1999) includes a version of "Snow White" told from the wicked stepmother's point of view. In the erotic short story "Gold, on Snow", published by Alison Tyler in ''Alison's Wonderland'' (2010), the jealous Queen spies on her stepdaughter in the house of the dwarves.

[[Robert Coover]]'s satirical erotic short story "The Dead Queen" (1973) re-tells the fairy tale from the perspective of the Prince, deeply disappointed with Snow White and her creepy sexual relationship with the dwarves. At the Queen's funeral after her fiery execution, as she is buried in Snow White's former glass coffin, he suddenly realized that the Queen had loved him and had died for him. In desperation, he attempts bring her back to life by kissing her mutilated corpse, but in vain.

In the titular story "Red as Blood" from Tanith Lee's 1983 collection "[[Red as Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer]]", the Witch Queen is trying to stop the real villain, her stepdaughter Bianca, who is actually a vampire. Lee reimagined the tale of Snow White again in "Snow-Drop" (1993), a story set in modern times where a circus performer murders a younger rival.{{sfn|Zipes|2013|p=136}}

Mexican author [[Carmen Boullosa]]'s short story "Blancanieves" (1992) explores the concept of female sexuality, focusing on the relationship between the Queen and the forester (the hunter), and the 'love' triangle between the two and Blancanieves (Snow White). In it, the sexually aggressive Queen dominates the Huntsman, who, within his narrative, blames his sexual weakness on the magic potion that he was forced to drink.{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=70-71}}

In [[Neil Gaiman]]'s "[[Snow, Glass, Apples]]" (1994), resembling Lee's revisionist treatment of the tale in "Red as Blood", in the Queen (serving as its narrator) is a tragic hero protagonist who struggles desperately to save the kingdom from her secretly vampiric and serial killer stepdaughter with demonic powers. The Queen fails in her plot to rid of Snow White after first having tried to befriend her. At the end of the story, it all turns out to be a recollection by the Queen as she is roasted alive inside an enormous kiln on the orders by Snow White and the Prince.{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=79-80}}

[[James Finn Garner]] included another satirical take on "Snow White" in his collection ''[[Politically Correct Bedtime Stories]]'' (1994) in which the Queen accidentally bonds with Snow White during the apple scene. Forgetting that the apple in question was poisoned, she shares it with Snow White and both fall comatose to the floor. When the dwarfs discover this, they decide to sell Snow White to the Prince so he can have sex with her. However, when they try to move the two women's bodies, they break the spell and the women awaken, angry and disgusted at what they overheard. The Queen then declares that the dwarfs are trespassers, throwing them out of her forest, and she and Snow White later open a spa for women on the same spot.

"Snow Night", a short story published in [[Barbara G. Walker]]'s ''Feminist Fairy Tales'' (1996), the King's [[Master of the Hounds|master of the hunt]] tries to incite jealousy in the Queen towards her stepdaughter after having been rejected by Snow Night. However, the Queen laughs off her magic mirror's answer, claiming that people go through cycles and that it is impossible to challenge the will of nature. The story suggests that the traditional version of the tale was actually invented by the exiled and crazed huntsman, now imprisoned in a distant country. In the preface, Walker wrote: "Snow White's stepmother seems to have been vilified because (a) she resented being less beautiful than Snow White, and (b) she practiced witchcraft. One might suspect that female beauty was really a larger issue for men than for women, because male sexual response depends to a considerable degree on visual clues. ... A queen who was also a witch would have been a formidable figure, adding political influence to spiritual mana. Snow White's stepmother therefore seems to me a projection of male jealousies. As re-envisioned in this story, she may seem more true to life."<ref>''Feminist Fairy Tales'', page 20.</ref>

"The Tale of the Apple" in [[Emma Donoghue]]'s collection ''[[Kissing The Witch|Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins]]'' (1997) has the Queen who awakens Snow White from her slumber because she yields to her desire for the princess. The preceding antagonism between them had been inadvertently caused by her husband.{{sfn|Santos|2023|p=61-62}} 

"The True Story", a revisionist short story by [[Pat Murphy (writer)|Pat Murphy]], published in the collection ''Black Swan, White Raven'' (1998), tells a story of a queen who sent her daughter away to avoid the incestuous advances of her pedophiliac and abusive husband, the King. The princess is cared for by seven witches in the forest, and when the king dies, she is brought back to rule the kingdom in her own right, instead of at the side of a prince.

==== Comics ====

In the [[DC Universe]], the '''[[Queen of Fables]]''' is a scheming, villainous witch who, in her youth, wrought hell on earth until she was trapped in a book by her own stepdaughter, Snow White. Centuries later, she was freed accidentally by Snow White's descendants and has since faced many [[Justice League]] superheroes like [[Superman]] and [[Wonder Woman]], who the Queen thought was Snow White due to her great beauty.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7f4vDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT251|title=Wonder Woman and Philosophy: The Amazonian Mystique|first=Jacob M.|last=Held|date=February 21, 2017|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-119-28074-3 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

In the long-running Italian erotic comic series ''[[Biancaneve]]'' (1972–1986), the beautiful but evil witch '''Queen Naga''' (later just Naga) is the recurring main antagonist, loosely inspired by the Disney character. She is initially married to Kurt, the king of Kurtlandia and Snow White's father.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elvifrance.fr/images/couvertures/ContesMalicieux/Biancaneve.htm|title=Biancaneve|website=www.elvifrance.fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1W4dAQAAMAAJ|title=La scuola dei fumetti|first=Rita|last=Tripodi|date=April 20, 1974|publisher=Tattilo|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWsWAQAAIAAJ|title=Guida al fumetto italiano|first=Gianni|last=Bono|date=April 20, 2002|publisher=Epierre|via=Google Books}}</ref> Eventually, Naga and Snow White reconcile and even briefly marry (issues 34–35).

[[Kazuki Nakashima]]'s manga series ''Lost Seven'' (2009,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mag-garden.co.jp/comics/6090/|title=LOST SEVEN 1|website=マッグガーデン}}</ref> originally published in a play form in 1999<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ronso.co.jp/book/lost-seven/|title=LOST SEVEN &#124; 論創社|date=October 20, 1999|website=論創社 &#124; 社会科学・人文書、思想・哲学、歴史、文学、ミステリ・推理小説、芸術、演劇・戯曲・台本の新刊書籍・本の案内・販売の論創社}}</ref> and filmed as a theatrical performance that same year<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vi-shinkansen.co.jp/stage/243/|title=公演一覧 &#124; 劇団☆新感線 オフィシャルサイト|website=www.vi-shinkansen.co.jp}}</ref>) features '''Queen Rose''', also known as The Witch of the Mirror, as a former court magician who usurped the throne and killed all members of the royal family except for Snow White, who managed to escape. She also seems to plan to open a portal to the demon realm through a magic mirror, here called Sefirot Glass and crafted by Snow White's own family. Queen Rose is killed by seven warriors trying to restore the Snow Queen to the throne, but as the castle crumbles she manages to rescue her own young child, Red Rose (Lady Rose), who ten years later becomes the teenage (anti)heroine of the series.

In [[Bill Willingham]]'s comic book series ''[[Fables (comics)|Fables]]'' (2002–2015), the mother of the protagonist Snow White's and her sister Rose Red is the witch Lauda, the sole survivor of her 12 sisters who all killed each other in her youth due to a curse (Lauda herself killed the final sister). When she is ordered to kill Snow by the King, she fakes her daughter's death and arranges for her to live with Lauda's sister-in-law (who has killed her brother), the widowed '''Queen of the Silver Realm''', a distant land (Snow's mother helped her to achieve this position) who speaks with Lauda through an enchanted mirror. Years later, her aunt is enraged by the fact that Snow is lovelier than her and decides to kill her herself in a manner similar to the fairy tale (first ordering the hunter and then delivering a poisoned apple).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-gZCgAAQBAJ|title=Fables (2002-) #96|first=Bill|last=Willingham|publisher=Vertigo|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OuIZCgAAQBAJ|title=Fables (2002-) #133|via=books.google.com |last1=Willingham |first1=Bill |ref=CITEREFWillingham133}}</ref>

In the four-part comic book series ''Muppet Snow White'' (2010) of ''[[The Muppets]]'' franchise, [[Miss Piggy]] takes the role of the Evil Queen in the story.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mymodernmet.com/david-petersen-muppet-fairy-tales/ |title=The Muppets Recreate Classic Fairy Tales |author=Pinar Noorata |date=April 26, 2012 |website=My Modern Net }}</ref>

===Other works===
[[Marius Petipa]] and [[Arseny Koreshchenko]]'s 1903 ballet ''[[The Magic Mirror (ballet)|The Magic Mirror]]'', melds the Brothers Grimm tale with the Russian variant ''[[The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights]],'' which features no magic elements. After the evil deeds of the envious Queen (originally played by Marius Petipa's daughter [[Marie Petipa]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ttmUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA318|title=Marius Petipa|isbn=978-0-19-065931-8 |via=books.google.com |last1=Meisner |first1=Nadine |date=May 2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref>) against the Princess are exposed and the King threatens her with imprisonment, she has an attack of insanity, admits what she ordered be done and falls dead.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://petipasociety.com/the-magic-mirror/|title=The Magic Mirror|date=August 3, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2l-1AAAAIAAJ|title=Studies in Dance History|date=1992 |via=books.google.com}}</ref>

In [[Robert Walser (writer)|Robert Walser]]'s 1904 opera ''[[Schneewittchen (opera)|Schneewittchen]]'' (and [[João César Monteiro]]'s 2000 film ''Branca de Neve'' based on it<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QBGMDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA154|title=Impure Cinema|isbn=978-0-85772-306-2 |via=books.google.com |last1=Nagib |first1=Lúcia |last2=Jerslev |first2=Anne |date=24 October 2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury }}</ref>), the fairy tale is subverted. The story begins when adolescent, weak Prince revives Snow White, but instead of marrying her, he falls in love with her mother (not stepmother here), the beautiful Queen. The Prince is led to believe the villain being the apple poisoning is the Huntsman, who too is the Queen's lover, while the King is oblivious of everything. The story centers on the conflict between the Queen and Snow White, and ends when the two make peace at last, and conspire to convince the King that he is not being cucked.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NdOFeFA2m50C&pg=PA32|title=Provocation from the Periphery|isbn=978-3-8260-3264-6 |via=books.google.com |last1=Heffernan |first1=Valerie |date=2007 |publisher=Königshausen & Neumann }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vhMsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA80|title=Clairvoyant of the Small|isbn=978-0-300-22064-3 |via=books.google.com |last1=Bernofsky |first1=Susan |date=January 2021 |publisher=Yale University Press }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MDBiDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT206|title=Benjamin, Adorno, and the Experience of Literature|isbn=978-1-351-59296-3 |via=books.google.com |last1=McCall |first1=Corey |last2=Ross |first2=Nathan |date=27 June 2018 |publisher=Routledge }}</ref>

[[File:SnowWhite20.jpg|thumb|upright|Queen Brangomar and Witch Hex in an illustration for ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1912 play)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'']]

In the 1912 play ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1912 play)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'',<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UaqNswEACAAJ | isbn=978-1-5468-7283-2 | title=Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Broadway Play of 1912 | date=22 May 2017 | publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform }}</ref> written by "Jessie Graham White" ([[Winthrop Ames]]), Queen Brangomar is jealous of Prince Florimond's love of Snow White. Brangomar summons '''Witch Hex''' (Hexy), a powerful godmother. In the end, Snow White forgives the Queen and, despite objections from the hunter (Berthold) who wants Brangomar dead, lets her go away unharmed. In the play's 1916 cinematic adaptation, the silent film ''[[Snow White (1916 film)|Snow White]]'', '''Queen Brangomar''' (played by [[Dorothy Cumming]]) and the Witch are two separate characters, and it is the latter who demands to have the heart of Snow White. Having first disguised herself as a hag to give Snow White a poisoned comb, the Queen later actually changes her sex to turn herself into a pieman in the scenario where the apple is replaced by a pie. In the end, Brangomar is punished by being turned into a peacock.<ref name="lat">{{cite web |title=Snow White through the years - Timelines - Los Angeles Times |date=30 March 2012 |url=http://timelines.latimes.com/snow-white-through-years/ |access-date=2014-01-11 |publisher=Timelines.latimes.com}}</ref> (In another cut, she simply vanishes from the film).{{sfn|Smoodin|2012|p=45}} Elements from these versions of "Snow White", in particular the 1916 silent film, inspired Walt Disney's animated adaptation after he saw the film at a young age in 1917<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ciVSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1916|title=The Disney Revolt: The Great Labor War of Animation's Golden Age|first=Jake S.|last=Friedman|date=July 5, 2022|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=978-1-64160-722-3 |via=Google Books}}</ref> and two decades later bought rights to the play.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_oJEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA109|title=The Cultural Legacy of Disney: A Century of Magic|first1=Robyn|last1=Muir|first2=Emily|last2=Aguiló-Pérez|first3=Hannah|last3=Helm|first4=Rebecca|last4=Rowe|date=August 6, 2024|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-6669-4917-9 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

In [[Mattel]]'s [[Ever After High]] franchise, one of the lead character of the franchise is '''Raven Queen''', the daughter of the original Evil Queen, along with Snow White's daughter [[Ever After High#Characters|Apple White]]. Raven is a rebel, frustrated with her destiny to become a new queen of evil, and wishes to go her own way. Most people see her as evil and mean, but she is actually misunderstood: she wishes to be herself and strives to rewrite her own chapter, thereby proving that evilness is not hereditary.{{sfn|Schwabe|2019|p=2}} The Evil Queen herself is locked up in Mirror Prison and often insults the things Raven talks about, including Raven's father, the Good King.

==See also==
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
*[[Black Annis]]
*[[Wicked fairy (Sleeping Beauty)]]

==References==
===Works cited===
*{{cite book|last=Greene|first=Heather|date=2021|title=Lights, Camera, Witchcraft: A Critical History of Witches in American Film and Television|publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide, Limited|isbn=9780738768809}}
*{{cite book|editor-last1=Greenhill|editor-first1=Pauline|editor-last2=Matrix|editor-first2=Sidney Steve|date=2010|title=Fairy Tale Films: Visions of Ambiguity|publisher=Utah State University Press|isbn=9780874217827}}
*{{cite book|editor-last3=Zipes|editor-first3=Jack|editor-last1=Greenhill|editor-first1=Pauline|editor-last2=Magnus-Johnston|editor-first2=Kendra|date=2015|title=Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney: International Perspectives|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415709309}}
*{{cite book|last=Haase|first=Donald|date=2007|title=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=9780313334412}}
*{{cite book|last1=Holston|first1=Kim R.|last2=Winchester|first2=Tom|date=2018|title=Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Sequels, Series and Remakes: An Illustrated Filmography, Volume II (1996-2016)|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786496853}}
*{{Cite book|title=The Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth-Century Representations|first=Diane|last=Purkiss|date=1996|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415087612}}
*{{cite book|last=Santos|first=Cristina|date=2023|title=Untaming Girlhoods: Storytelling Female Adolescence|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9780429958274}}
*{{cite book|last=Schwabe|first=Claudia|date=2019|title=Craving Supernatural Creatures: German Fairy-Tale Figures in American Pop Culture|publisher=Wayne State University Press|isbn=9780814341971}}
*{{cite book|last=Slethaug|first=Gordon E.|date=2014|title=Adaptation Theory and Criticism: Postmodern Literature and Cinema in the USA|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=9781623560287}}
*{{cite book|last=Smoodin|first=Eric|date=2012|title=BFI Film Classics: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan (on the behalf of the British Film Institute)|isbn=9781844574759}}
*{{cite book|last=Zipes|first=Jack|date=2011|title=The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781135853952}}
*{{cite book|last=Zipes|first=Jack|date=2013|title=Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781135204341}}
*{{cite book|last=Zipes|first=Jack|date=2015|title=The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=9780191004162}}
*{{cite book|last=Zipes|first=Jack|date=2016|title=Grimm Legacies: The Magic Spell of the Grimms' Folk and Fairy Tales|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9780691173672}}

===Citations===
{{incomplete citations|date=March 2025}}
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|editor-last1=Le Clue|editor-first1=Natalie|editor-last2= Vermaak-Griessel|editor-first2=Janelle Steve|date=2022|title=Gender and Female Villains in 21st Century: Fairy Tale Narratives from Evil Queens to Wicked Witches|publisher=Emerald Publishing Limited|isbn=9780874217827}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Queen (Snow White)}}

{{Snow White}}

[[Category:Evil Queen| ]]
[[Category:Female characters in fairy tales]]
[[Category:Female literary villains]]
[[Category:Fictional cannibals]]
[[Category:Fictional fortune tellers]]
[[Category:Fictional German people]]
[[Category:Fictional murderers of children]]
[[Category:Fictional stalkers]]
[[Category:Fictional queens]]
[[Category:Fictional shapeshifters]]
[[Category:Fictional characters who use magic]]
[[Category:Literary archetypes]]
[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1812]]
[[Category:Witchcraft in fairy tales]]