Synopsis: There was a man who fell in love with a strikingly mysterious woman. He asked her every day why she had always worn a velvet ribbon around her neck. However, she never told him why. Finally, he asked her if she would take it off if he married her, to which she replied, "I might, but you'll be sorry". Soon they were wed, and he asked her every day if she would take off her ribbon. She always replied, "You'll be sorry, you'll be sorry." Finally, fed up with her, he attempted to untie it herself, only to find that it had no beginning or end, like a collar of iron. He retreated and waited for her to go to sleep. When she was finally asleep, he took scissors and cut her ribbon in two, exposing her neck. Only, when the ribbon fell from the rest of her neck, her head rolled off. Horrified, the man ran away out of their house, all while the woman cried large tears and said, "I told you you'd be sorry." There are gentler versions where the woman willingly undoes her ribbon, and some where she never takes it off at all. The ribbon's color also varies from story to story. |
Origins
The origin of the story is unknown, but it is believed to have originated in France during Revolutionary times. (circa 1790's) It did not state where exactly the story came from, but speculations arose that say this story originated in the French Revolution, and that it started around Versailles or Paris. Versailles was the home of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, and also where the Revolution was said to begin. Many people believe this makes sense due to the excessive use of the guillotine to behead people in the French Revolution. | Sources
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Values and Ideals of Revolutionary France | Archetypes |
France, in its time, was known for its barbaric ways of revolting. The French Revolution was mirroring the American Revolution, but in a far more grotesque way. Americans fought battles against the motherland to gain independence from Britain, while the French basically took their leaders and beheaded them, literally dragging Louis XVI and his wife out of the palace of Versailles because they didn't want an Aristocratic government anymore. Many French people lost their heads at the Revolutionaries' hands, some for nothing at all. With the French's fascination with beheading at this time, it wouldn't be surprising if this fairytale's origins were Revolutionary-era France. Shown above is a map of Versailles, France, and a painting of the execution of Marie Antoinette, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of France. |
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