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What about her apples?
Well, being lazy, I’ll paste here some thoughts I had written about that back in the first season:
In the season finale, “A Land Without Magic”, Regina asks Snow “Did you know that apples stand for health and wisdom?” which is quite true. European art traditionally depicts an apple as the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge described in the book of Genesis. Adam and Eve were happy in the Garden of Eden before eating the apple but after they gained knowledge from eating it they were banished from paradise. The apple plays a similar role in other cultures. In Greek mythology, Hera, the queen of the gods, grew apples. Eris, the goddess of discord, threw one of these apples onto a table occupied by Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. The apple was said to be intended “for the fairest of all” and all three goddesses immediately disrupted the peaceful feast by fighting for the apple. When Prince Paris of Troy awarded the apple to Aphrodite, Hera and Athena sought revenge by supporting the Greeks against the Trojans in the Trojan War as described in Homer’s Iliad.
So the apple reminds us that knowledge leads to a loss of innocence and to conflict. This theme is reminiscent of Henry’s loss of innocence when he discovers that Regina has another life as a vicious killer and she is not just the loving mother who cared for him when he was little. His newly acquired knowledge, symbolized by the apple, must lead him into conflict with her that will eventually culminate in him choosing to eat the poison apple turnover in order to protect Emma in episode 21, “An Apple Red As Blood”. If Henry winds up living with Emma he will have earned his escape from Regina through courage and half a lifetime of tears.
(The original, more long-winded post is at http://www.onceuponatimespace.com/q3HenryLvRegina.html )
Yes!
[adrotate group="5"]Well, if you want to talk apples I think the focus should not be on the fruit but on that tree of hers.
1. Curious is it not that the tree wilts and withers until she cracks open her mummy’s spell book.
2. Consider that Emma promised to come back for the rest of the tree.
3. Interesting that the only person to have a bite from one of the apples is Rumple in the Pilot.
4. The apple tree can also be seen in Regina’s necklace pre-2×05, the Storybrooke coat-of-arms and this next one needs close observation the picture of an apple tree in MM’s apartment (which can be seen when Henry descends the stairs in 2×17 “Welcome to Storybrooke”.
If we a take a mythological look at the symbolism of trees, the most common assoc. would be the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, the Bodhi tree of wisdom under which the Buddha sits.Custodian of Graham's darts, Rumple's spindle and Robin's quiver
She also said to the genie that the tree was the only thing she kept from her homeland in “The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree” < I've actually taken that to mean, it represents her childhood before she became corrupted by magic.
By the by as far as dream catchers go the single hoop with feathers is just one variation:
Custodian of Graham's darts, Rumple's spindle and Robin's quiver
It’s interesting that Regina, Neal and Emma all have connections to dreamcatchers. I understand why with Neal, because he’s had repeated nightmares about him falling through the portal and Rumple going back on his deal. The dreamcatcher was left behind in the motel room where she stayed with Neal and Emma also used it in the present to see if Regina was really guilty of killing Archie.
Why would Regina have an affinity for them though?
Why would Regina have an affinity for them though?
That’s a really good question. In my head people who use dreamcatchers are those with pasts that actively haunt them, awake and asleep. Neal and Emma both had pretty horrific upbringings that have had lasting psychological repercussions. They also have yet to find their “happy ending” (no shippinh goggles here, promise. Talking about them individually not together!). The same can be said for Regina. She’s constantly haunted by her past both as tortured child and as conflicted Evil Queen. She has no “happy ending” yet.
Snow on the other hand I don’t think has ever been seen with a dream catcher but she has her happy ending with Charming. The same might be true of Belle and Rumple even though Rumple obviously has a pretty tortured past.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"This is all really interesting stuff. I especially love the unicorn stuff. Had never really put that together before, and I love how it fits with Robin’s lion, too.
I “like them apples” as the saying goes! That was really interesting TimeSpacer and I missed it in season 1 so glad you posted it here.
They have toned down the apple theme a lot. We had a winking reference with Pan asking Henry why he does not like them, then the William Tell thing, but it is still interesting. I know they will never give Regina a daughter to name, but Apple worked for Gwyneth Paltrow.
RG: that would make sense, as there are many similarities between all the “children” who suffered at the hands of their selfish parents, which means, Emma, Neal, Regina and probably Rumple and Hook.
What do we make of the bright blue Blazer over the red scarf for her wardrobe? (Besides that I hate it and think it looks like something I would wear, unstylish shopper at discount chain stores that I am 🙂 Obviously, she is not in full black, but also it is business like rather than seductive like the Evil Queen and even many Mayor Mills outfits. Maybe that is the point, she is dressing suburban (though more upscale) Mom.
“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
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