"" Jung identifies the motif of the dual mother, which has descended from ancient mythology and religion. This idea can be applied to "Snow White,"" and indeed to modern culture in general. Jung mentions as an example of this: "godfathers- and "godmothers,"" who are in place of good and evil fairies who magically "adopt- [children] at birth with blessings or curses.(p. 58) This idea would seem to apply to the fairytale, in that the stepmother represents the "evil- fairy, and the dead mother the "good."" The idea of the dual mother reaches far back into antiquity and transcends many different cultures (but to go into detail on this would be to deviate from the point of the essay). This supports the idea of a collective unconscious. Jung asserts that deriving from our remotest ancestors, there slumber in all of us subconscious memories.(p.60). Perhaps, then, fairytales can be said to be appealing to this collective unconscious, hence their enormous popularity. The dual mother is just one example of psychological theory in practise, there are many symbols in "Snow White,"" which correspond with the analysis of psychoanalysts. .
One of these symbols, to be found in the story, is that of the number three. The significance of this number is explained by Bettelheim thus: in the unconscious, the number three stands for sex, because each sex has three visible sex characteristics: penis and the two testes in the male; vagina and the two breasts in the female.(p.219). He also explains that the number three symbolizes the oedipal situation,(p.219), as there are three people involved in a relationship tinged with sexuality.(p.219). The number three occurs at the beginning of the story with the three drops of blood on the white snow. This can be interpreted as a kind of premonition, foretelling corruption of innocence. The colours themselves are highly significant. The red of the blood can be associated with menstruation, childbirth and defloration, as all involve bloodshed, and the white of the snow is a symbol of purity and innocence.
