Rapunzel from Tangled: Psychoanalytic Character Analysis

Introduction

Tangled, released in 2010 by Walt Disney Pictures, is a 3D computer-animated American musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. This paper presents a psychological analysis of the film's main character, Rapunzel, examining her psychoanalytic profile, the stressors and conflicts she experiences, and the ways in which she copes with them.

Film Summary

Tangled tells the story of a young, naïve girl named Rapunzel. Long ago, a baby girl named Rapunzel was born to a king and his queen. This baby possessed golden hair with incredible, mystical healing powers. Rapunzel was, however, kidnapped by an older woman called Gothel, who raised her in a hidden tower. Meanwhile, a thief named Flynn Rider stole something of value from the castle, and the king's guards pursued him. Flynn stumbled upon the tower and used it as a hiding place. Rapunzel struck the thief with a frying pan and secretly hid the bag he had been carrying. Upon waking up, Flynn found himself strapped to a chair with Rapunzel's hair. Rapunzel offered a deal: if he agreed to take her outside so she could see the world, she would return his bag. Flynn agreed, and they both enjoyed the adventure despite being chased by the guards and Mother Gothel. After a couple of days, Flynn and Rapunzel managed to escape.

While in town, Rapunzel realized she was the missing princess and was later separated from Flynn. Mother Gothel captured her, and Flynn came to her rescue. He was badly wounded by Mother Gothel, and before Rapunzel could respond, Flynn cut her hair, causing it to lose its magic. As a result, Mother Gothel rapidly aged and turned to dust, leaving Rapunzel free and Flynn near death. Flynn was luckily healed by one of Rapunzel's teardrops. He returned her to the castle, and the king and queen were overjoyed. That night, the entire kingdom celebrated Rapunzel's return (Gandhi, 2016).

Having been locked away in the tower for her entire life, Rapunzel had no interaction with the outside world and only knew Mother Gothel. Her prolonged social isolation made it difficult for her to adapt to new surroundings after escaping with Flynn, and she had to learn to interact with other people for the very first time.

Character Analysis: Rapunzel's Self-Concept and Identity

Rapunzel was chosen for this character analysis because she has been in isolation since birth, interacting with no one other than Mother Gothel throughout her daily life. Gothel, once a beautiful woman, is now an aged narcissist who restores her beauty and youth using Rapunzel's golden magical hair. Gothel epitomizes the worst form of abusive, violent, and deceptive narcissistic personality behavior. She is animated proof that the degree of abuse escalates as victims are drawn further into her manipulative world. Her passive-aggressive character is evident throughout the story: "Rapunzel, you're getting kind of chubby… Oh, just kidding… Don't take me so seriously," she says with a laugh. Gothel uses passive-aggressive "gaslighting" in the song "Mother Knows Best" to convince Rapunzel of falsehoods. Gaslighting refers to the brainwashing and manipulation of an individual, resulting in self-doubt and a loss of identity and even reality (Strubler, 2019). Because her "mother" has always made her question herself, Rapunzel has no stable sense of identity or self-worth.

Rapunzel's lack of self-worth is central to understanding her character. We understand ourselves through the self-concept, and because we are social creatures, this understanding originates from comparisons with other individuals. A process known as reflected appraisal was identified in 1912 by sociologist Charles Cooley. It states that through comparison with others, we nurture a self-concept that mirrors how we wish others to perceive us. If others do not make us feel appreciated and accepted for our qualities, we become subconsciously limited by our reflected appraisal — and vice versa. This self-appraisal process begins in the earliest years of childhood. Children are, in a sense, blank slates without a pre-formed identity; they learn to judge and identify themselves based on how they are treated by others. Criticism and praise are the evaluations children take into account when developing a sense of self. Because children cannot yet form independent self-views, they trust the judgment of their significant others — normally parents and siblings (Price, 2013).

Rapunzel arrived in the world with a blank sense of self. The only impressions imprinted on her mind were those placed there by Mother Gothel. Gothel emotionally damaged her and diminished her sense of self through insensitive remarks designed to make her think less of herself. The act of comparing ourselves to others also sets our goals and expectations. When people around us succeed, we naturally want to emulate them. This kind of comparison is viewed as positive and boosts self-confidence when others support it. However, within reference groups where goals fail to meet social expectations, individuals may feel diminished and abandon their aspirations, leading to a negative self-concept and the inability to pursue their dreams (Price, 2013). Rapunzel has no one to compare herself to in order to gauge her worth. She believes she must live in the tower for the rest of her life — until death.

Like Freud, Erik Erikson developed a theory of personality development, proposing various stages of psychosocial development. For Erikson, each stage presents a psychosocial challenge with one of two possible outcomes. According to his theory, the main objective of adolescence is the realization of ego identity rather than genital sexuality. The primary focus should be on who we perceive ourselves to be and what we believe in, rather than on sexual interests. He argued that social relations are more important determinants of personality than sexual desires. The nature of the mother-child relationship, in his view, matters far more than the details of the feeding process or any sexual feelings that contact with the mother might arouse. He also argued that human beings are, to a great extent, the architects of their own personalities. Erikson's framework grants more power to the ego than Freud's does. While Erikson's theory holds that we are capable of making genuine choices, Freud's suggests that what we perceive as choices are actually rationalizations of compromises forced upon us by internal conflicts (Rathus & Nevid, 2020).

Applying Erikson's eight stages of development, Rapunzel is at the identity versus role confusion stage. She has progressed through the majority of the earlier stages, but because she is frequently isolated, she cannot easily form a solid identity — she lacks regular exposure to external stimuli. Nevertheless, she identifies with the floating lanterns released on her birthday each year, and this serves as a foundation for her identity formation. Without actually witnessing the lanterns in person, however, her identity formation remains incomplete. The moment she finally sees them in person represents the completion of her new identity. Up until that point, she maintains a sweet, gentle personality, though there are occasional flickers of something more. It is only after her new identity is complete that Rapunzel transforms from a passive character into a more dynamic, well-rounded individual. Her new self-concept empowers her to strengthen herself and grow as a person.