Snow White’s Characterization in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Vera Southgate and Regis Maine: A Comparison from Liberal Feminists’ Perspectives

. Subjek


INTRODUCTION
Women in society have been experiencing unequal treatment due to their genders which arouses women's actions to fight for opportunities. The role of men is more dominant and seems to be more important than women (Gunawati et al., 2021;Wibawa, 2020). Thus, the ideology of feminism concerns the life struggles of women to encounter the patriarchal culture and reach gender equality (Riskayani et al., 2021;Suwastini et al., 2020Suwastini et al., , 2023. According to previous study, the specific purposes for reaching gender equality in feminism have been generated (Suwastini, 2013). Liberal feminism, as one stream of feminism, believes that women and men should have the equal right to choose to be equal to men (Suwastini, 2013;Tong, 2017). However, a stereotype about women is called the concept of "Feminine Mystique". Women are bound by the assumption that they do not need to be educated, build a career, or use their suffrage. Moreover, gendered binary opposition explains that one quality of a particular trait is more precious than the opposing qualities (Blangsinga et al., 2021;Mihira et al., 2021). The dichotomies between masculinity and femininity have differentiated the nature of men and women (Blangsinga et al., 2021;Kostas, 2021). Therefore, the perception and prove that women are unsatisfied with being homemakers and doing domestic work. However, they also wish to do what men do, such as build their careers or gain experience and education.
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a famous fairy tale retold in many different versions. The original tales were written by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm in 1812 and published in Grimm's Fairy Tales. This tale was also adapted into a movie by Walt Disney, which aired in 1937 for the first time (Oktaviani & Arimbi, 2015;Saraswati, 2014). However, Walt Disney modified the original story to attract the consumer and for the movie's appropriateness for children. Walt Disney also published the written movie adaptation in the form of a Comic published in Disney Comics, which was written by Regis Maine in 2016. In 2008, the story was also retold by Vera Southgate with illustration pictures published by Ladybird Company. Due to the story being retold by different writers, the story has undergone several changes, especially in the characterizations of the main character. According to previous study characterizations of the main character shape the standard for the audiences since it conveys persuasive messages (Rismayanti, 2004). Therefore, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," which has many versions, has attracted many researchers to research the story.
There are some studies that conducted analysis. First, a close textual analysis to examine three popular versions of the story (Gunawati et al., 2021). The study focuses on the differences and the unique variants of those versions. This study found that each version presents a particular culture because their productions are separated by many years in three different cultures, which caused changes in each character. Other study applied a qualitative method to examine the distortion occurring in two different versions of the story, including the version of Walt Disney and Universal Pictures (Saraswati, 2014). This study found that each version makes many plot changes from the original version written by the Grimm Brothers due to the different target audiences. The Disney movie targeted children to make it simpler and easier to understand. Meanwhile, the other targeted different audiences, reducing and adding the original version to gain more audiences. Next study focused on examining the female lead characters, including Ravenna and Snow White, on revealing their representations and the implicit messages of the story (Oktaviani & Arimbi, 2015). It is revealed they were depicted with masculine and feminine traits, strengthening women's power.
The most obvious distinction occurs in their characterizations of the main character, Snow White, given by the writers. Character or figure that plays an important role and often appears in the story (Knauf, 2018;Sekeh, W et al., 2019). This character shows up again and again in the story. According to previous study characterization is defined as creating fictional characters resembling real humans through direct and indirect characterization (Piscayanti, 2010). Direct characterization is the way of creating the characters through the statement of what they look like, whereas indirectly through actions, dialogues, appearances, and thoughts (Liansari et al., 2021;Widasuari et al., 2020). However, Snow White's characterizations revealed that women depended on men as the male characters always helped Snow White encounter her life problems. Snow White's stories revealed the perspectives about gender where men dominated women in society, which emphasized the ideology of feminism. Meanwhile, feminism is an awareness of women's exploitation and oppression in the family, at work, and in society (Jacobsen, 2011;Jothi & Chanthiramathi, 2019;Srimulyani, 2013).
According to previous study summarized, liberal feminists should be androgynous, meaning they must possess both positive femininity and positive masculinity (Tong, 2017). It is used to break the fallacy of the perspectives about men and women and to reach gender equality (Bem, 1974;Prentice & Carranza, 2002). Snow White's story has been retold in many different versions, which differ from each other due to the distinctive characterizations of the main character. Besides, the characterizations of the main character, which depicted the dichotomies between masculinity and femininity, which have differentiated the nature of men and women, have attracted the researcher to compare the characterizations of Snow White between the story by Vera Southgate and Regis Maine. This research will analyze and compare the characterizations of the main character based on feminists' perspectives.

METHOD
This research is conducted through a textual analysis of feminists' perspectives. The subject of this research is Snow White, the main character in two different versions of Snow White's story. The object of the research is Snow White's characterizations. Thus, this research focuses on the different characterizations of Snow White as the main character in the stories represented by two writers: Vera Southgate and Regis Maine. The first attempt in this research is reading the stories, followed by data identifications and classifications of the different characterizations of the main characters. After collecting the characterizations of Snow White, the analysis will be continued by comparing the characterizations of the main characters in the stories based on feminists' perspectives. The data analysis will be presented in three parts, including the similarities, the differences, and the comparison of Snow White's characterizations based on feminists' perspectives. The research will follow the qualitative analysis consisting of data collection, data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing (Miles & Huberman, 1994).

The Similarities of Snow White's Characterizations
Snow White's appearances in both stories indirectly revealed Snow White as the main character in the stories as a beautiful Princess. "…whose skin as white as snow, whose cheeks were bright red and whose hair was as black as ebony." (pp. 8) means that her skin complexion, rosy cheeks, and black hair were described as the reason why she was recognized as the most beautiful in the stories. Snow White's beauty is also revealed directly by the other characters. The beauty attracted the other characters, such as the huntsman, the dwarfs, the animals, and the prince, to help her. The writers also directly reveal Snow White's beauty through the narration, "…gazed at the beautiful girl…" (pp .16). At the end of the story, the prince falls in love with her. It means that at the end of the story, Snow White could live happily and peacefully as her beauty attracted the prince to marry her.
Snow White was also presented as a diligent worker for the dwarfs in which she was taking care of the dwarfs. The status of being a princess was not an excuse for doing the housework. The dwarfs willingly helped Snow White, who needed a place to live and protection from her evil stepmother. Snow White, who was presented as a diligent co-worker for the dwarfs by doing the house works was revealed indirectly through her speech and conversation with the dwarfs, "…of course, if I stayed, I would mend your clothes, clean your cottage, and I would cook for you!" (pp.26). It is in line with the assumption that women should take care of the house works while men work outside to provide a living. By accepting the offer, she has to take care of the house works so they would willingly protect her from the evil queen. Meanwhile, in Regis Maine's version, Snow White showed their personality indirectly through her action, where she voluntarily cleaned the dirty house, "I've cleaned it all up!" meaning she had finished cleaning the house. It showed that Snow White was diligent as she loved tidiness, proven through her speech, "Whoever it is needs a lesson in tidiness!". It was different from Vera Southgate's; in Regis Maine's, she offered to take care of the house works, washing, cleaning, and cooking so the dwarfs would allow her to stay in their house. It is sadly recognized that the diligent trait depicted gender inequality in workplaces because the male characters were working outside while the female character was doing the house works.
Snow White is a princess who is open about her feelings and emotions to other characters. The expressive characterization given to Snow White in the stories refers to expressing her thoughts, feelings, and emotions. It can be proven that Snow White showed this positive side as an expressive girl through her actions and her speech, "…when she told her sad tale…" (pp.18), and "I am as afraid as you are!" (pp.11). Regarding the different types of writings, both stories proved the expressivity differently. The story presents Snow White as a dependent princess, meaning that she needs support from the other characters to solve her problems. The dependent trait of Snow White was revealed indirectly in many different ways, such as through conversations "I am as afraid as you are!" (pp. 11) and actions; In Vera Southgate's, Snow White depended on the huntsman, dwarfs, and the prince which indirectly revealed through the conversation, "…the poor child wept and begged him to spare her life.". Snow White's dependence was revealed indirectly through the dwarfs' actions, "We are out all day, working…be sure let no one into the house." (pp. 18). The stereotype states that women are responsible for caring for their families by staying at home and caring for domestic work. At the same time, men are responsible for the finance of their families. It showed a contrastive perspective that liberal feminists believe women should be independent, especially in financial matters. Snow White also depended on the prince, "Come with me to my father 's palace…" (pp. 42). In addition, the actions of the dwarfs, Snow White herself, the huntsman, and the prince indirectly reveal her character as a dependent girl.

The Differences in Terms of Feminine Traits
Besides the similar traits categorized into feminine traits, Snow White in both versions was also described with several other feminine traits. Vera Southgate's Snow White was described as a weak, naïve, and selective princess. Meanwhile, by Regis Maine, she was described as a cheerful, sensitive, respectful, friendly, empathetic, shy, yielding, and irrational princess.

Vera Southgate
Snow White showed up as a weak princess in the story. Her speech indirectly revealed the characterization: "Please do not kill me." Rather than doing such a thing, Snow White, with her weak characterization, was begging the huntsman to spare her life so that she could escape from the huntsman, who would stab her with a knife. This characterization represents the negative side of Snow White as a woman. Thus, Snow White's speech begging the huntsman depicted a negative femininity that she depended on the huntsman's kindness. Snow White was a naïve princess referring to the characteristic of having a lack of experiences, wisdom, and judgments which was revealed indirectly through her thoughts, actions, and speeches.
Although she has been warned, she lets the old woman lace her corset and comb her hair which is not a good decision that puts her in danger. Her speech when she talked to the old woman saying, "I am forbidden to open the door to anyone," might arouse the old woman's effort to persuade Snow White as she knew that the dwarfs protected her. How Snow White responded to something around her, such as respecting older people, accepting the offers, and saying something which might put her in danger, depict her as a weak princess, as the first movement. It may be because a woman knows what is best for herself. With her selective trait, Snow White selected the comfiest place to rest to gain her energy, which she knew was the best thing for herself. Therefore, Snow White in Vera Southgate was not only described with negative feminine traits such as weak, naïve, and impressionable but also with a positive feminine trait such as selective. The negative traits seemed to represent the stereotype of society that women are weaker, emotional, and irrational human beings as compared to men. The speeches, actions, and the thought of Snow White in which she needed others to help her during a hard time, she carefully selected the comfiest place to rest. When she disobeyed the dwarfs and got hurt, Snow White was depicted as a weak, naïve, impressionable, and selective princess in Vera Southgate's version.

Regis Maine
It can be seen that she was described with more feminine traits as compared to Snow White in the other version. Those characterizations were revealed directly by the author and the other characters in the story and indirectly through the speeches, the conversations, and the actions of Snow White, the main character analyzed in this study. The first trait was being a cheerful girl, who was revealed directly by the author and indirectly through her speeches narration saying, "…nothing could change Snow White's happy nature…" (pp.4), which showed that she was a happy person even though she has been through tough time along her life. Besides, Snow White also said, "What a wonderful day!" (pp.8) and "...I'm so happy…" (pp.30) when she was commanded to do all the hard work in the castle, meaning that she could remain happy doing all the tasks. The action also depicts her cheerfulness, where she was happily dancing with the dwarfs after having a hard time in the forest, proven through the narration "…a party was in full swing" (pp. 28). Snow White is also described as a sensitive girl, which is revealed indirectly through the speech to the huntsman when he accompanies her into the forest. She said, "You don't seem very happy! Are you in trouble?". It showed that Snow White noticed that the huntsman looked unhappy, so she asked him if he was in trouble. Such expression is believed to express women's sensitivity. Besides, Snow White's speech when she asks the huntsman after looking at his expression shows her sensitivity as a girl. Snow White expressed deep admiration for the dwarfs as they helped, protected, and cherished her when Snow White needed some help and protection. She thanked the dwarfs for allowing her to stay in their house and take care of her before she was going to leave their house and live with the prince. Snow White's speeches show her admiration for the dwarfs, indirectly revealing the trait of being a respectful character in the story. Moreover, Snow White was also revealed as a friendly girl. It was indirectly revealed through her speeches when she greeted the bluebirds. It was indirectly revealed through her speeches when she greeted the bluebirds. She said, "Isn't the weather beautiful today, little bird?". She greeted them when she was doing her tasks cleaning the castle which meant that she was still friendly even though she had many things to do. In the first meeting with new people, the seven dwarfs in the story, she spoke with friendliness. The speeches depicted the effort she wanted to befriend them-according to Prentice & Carranza, being friendly shows Snow White with positive femininity. Snow White is presented as an empathetic person. It was revealed indirectly through their actions when she saw a lost bluebird. The other character, the old woman, directly revealed it. When Snow White saved the old woman from the animals' attacks, the old woman directly said, "You're so beautiful and kind!". Besides, it was indirectly revealed through the speeches in which she helped the lost blue bird and prevented the prince from trouble. The speech revealed the empathetic trait: "I will help you find your parents again!" (pp. 8). It means that she willingly helped it. She also put others' safety beside her happiness, proven when she forced the prince to leave, although she has been waiting so long.
The empathetic trait which was revealed through the speech saying, "I will help you find your parents again!" (pp. 8) also revealed her compassion. In the first meeting with the prince, Snow White said, "…Prince, please go!" (pp.6). It depicted that Snow White did not want the prince to have trouble because of her. Despite she wanted to be with the prince, she still forced the prince to leave her. The old woman's speech and Snow White's speeches, when Snow White helped the old woman and the lost blue bird and prevented the prince from trouble, revealed Snow White as a compassionate girl. Snow White as a shy girl in Regis, Maine' was revealed indirectly through the conversation. The conversation that reveals this trait is when Snow White meets the prince for the first time. She said, "I'm so ashamed! I was only daydreaming. It was silly make-believe!" (pp.5). It depicted that Snow White could not bear to look at the prince as she was ashamed and blushing. The prince said, "Princess, don't go! Come back!" (pp. 5). It shows Snow White ran away, although the prince wanted to talk with her. It depicted that Snow White could not bear to look at the prince as she was ashamed and blushing. Thus, the conversation between Snow White and the prince in their first meeting depicted her shy characterization. With the characterization, Snow White was described with a negative feminine trait. It was indirectly revealed through the action. The narration says, "The wicked stepmother gave Snow White all the hardest work to do, but nothing could change Snow White's happy nature." Snow White showed she was yielding since she did everything her stepmother commanded without any rejection. Snow White represents an irrational woman who believed in mythology about the miracle which could happen by doing something, which can be seen through the conversation. It was indirectly revealed through her speech when she persuaded the birds by saying, "Let's go down to the well to make a wish." Being irrational depicted the stereotyped. Therefore, the traits such as cheerful, sensitive, respectful, sensitive, friendly, empathetic, and compassionate are the positive side of the main character. However, Snow White was also presented with her negative side in the story. Besides the positive side, Snow White's characterization shows negative feminine traits such as being a shy, yielding, and irrational girl.

The Differences in Terms of Masculine Traits
Besides the differences in feminine traits, Snow White, the main character in the stories, has several different characterizations regarding masculine traits. Vera Southgate, she was also described as an impolite girl. Meanwhile, by Regis Maine, she was also described as a sociable, smart, courageous, compassionate, and brave girl. In Vera, Southgate was described with a masculine trait due to their impoliteness. It is revealed indirectly through her action when she finds the cottage belonging to the seven dwarfs for the first time. The narration saying, "There was no reply. She tried the door, and it opened, so she went inside to rest." (pp. 14) proved that she ignored the importance of having permission when entering other people's place. Instead of waiting for the owners to come outside the cottage, she just entered the cottage without permission as the door was not locked, and she has been exhausting. Snow White, in the story, is also sociable. It is indirectly revealed through the conversation between Snow White and the dwarfs. It shows that Snow White was sociable, in which she was easy to make friends. Before Snow White arrives in the little house, she already has become friends with the forest animals, which the author reveals directly by the narration saying, "And so Snow White's new friends led her to a new part of the forest" (pp.12). It shows that Snow White was sociable, in which she was easy to make friends. Sociability is one of the masculine traits categorized into positive traits.
Being a smart girl was also one of the characterizations given to Snow White in the story. Snow White's speech showed that she was trying to arouse the dwarfs' interests so that they would allow her to live in their house. The effort that she knew her needs at the time and tried to use her ability to influence others showed that she was a smart girl. Smart indicates a positive masculine trait. Thus, it shows Snow White with positive masculinity. Another masculine trait of Snow White in the story is courage. It was revealed indirectly through Snow White's speech when she seemed to be exhausted doing the hard work in the castle. Nature might motivate Snow White not to give up on a hard time. Moreover, Snow White said, "The forest must be my home from now on! But where shall I find a house here?". The speech revealed her courageous trait, meaning that she encouraged herself by accepting that she must hide from the evil queen so that she could live in the forest. How Snow White faced the hard time when she remained optimistic and accepted the fact, and not giving up has proven her characteristic of being a courageous girl. At last, Snow White was presented with bravery. It was revealed indirectly through Snow White's action when she ran deeper into the forest. The author narrated, "Snow White fled deeper and deeper into the forest…" (pp. 10). The deep forest was unusual for Snow White, a princess living in the castle throughout her life. However, she could dare to escape from the evil stepmother who wanted to kill her with the help of the huntsman. She ran deeper and deeper to find a safe place for her so the evil stepmother would never find out that she was still alive. Thus, the action that Snow White did not stop running deeper and deeper into the forest presented Snow White's bravery in the story, which showed positive masculinity.

The Comparison of Snow White's Characterizations
Based on the above explanation, Snow White in the stories was given several similar and different characterizations by Vera Southgate and Regis Maine. Those personalities were revealed in distinctive ways, such as direct and indirect characterizations. Then, these characterizations are compared based on feminists' perspectives. Therefore, the following explanation compares Snow White's characterizations by Vera Southgate and Regis Maine based on feminists' perspectives as show in Table 1. From Table 1 Snow White as the main character in the story by Vera Southgate, has less positive feminine and positive masculine traits than Snow White in the story by Regis Maine. In the story by Vera Southgate, Snow White has four positive feminine traits, including being beautiful, diligent, expressive, and selective. Meanwhile, in the story by Regis Maine, Snow White has nine positive feminine traits, including beautiful, diligent, expressive, compassionate, sensitive, respectful, cheerful, friendly, and empathetic. Vera Southgate did not describe Snow White with positive masculine traits. On the other version, Regis Maine gave four positive masculine traits to Snow White, including sociable, smart, courageous, and brave. Therefore, in Vera Southgate's story, Snow White had four positive feminine traits and zero positive masculine traits, but in the story by Regis Maine, Snow White had nine positive feminine traits and five positive masculine traits. According to those traits, Snow White in the story by Regis Maine has more liberal feminist traits than Snow White in the story by Vera Southgate.

Discussion
As the main character in the stories written by Vera Southgate and Regis Maine, Snow White has several similar characterizations. Both writers presented Snow White with positive feminine traits, such as beauty, diligence, and expression. However, both writers also presented Snow White with a negative feminine trait which is dependent. Due to the different forms of the stories presentations, where Vera Southgate presented a short story with illustration pictures while Regis Maine presented a comic, the character revelations are different (Oktaviani & Arimbi, 2015;Saraswati, 2014).
Snow White has great beauty, in which her beauty is focused on her appearance. She was admitted as the most beautiful girl in the stories with perfect features such as adorable eyes, bright skin, red lips, and black hair. Such beauty and recognition have aroused the jealousy of the other female character, the evil queen. It can be seen that both stories indirectly present Snow White with her beautiful traits through her appearances and directly through the other characters and the authors themselves. According to previous study expressive is a positive feminine trait (Gunawati et al., 2021), being a dependent woman is a negative feminine trait. Based on the stories, snow white's happiness depended on other characters since she needed them to help her solve her problems. Therefore, Snow White's characterization as a dependent princess who was always saved by the male characters deviated from the feminists' perspectives, so it is categorized as a negative feminine trait (Ahmad et al., 2019;Rice, 2021).
Base on Vera Soughtgate snow white is presented with several characterizations, such as weak, naïve, and selective. The characterization of being a weak, naïve, and selective princess was revealed indirectly through the speeches, actions, and thoughts. According to previous studies such traits are categorized as feminine traits (Prentice & Carranza, 2002;Tong, 2017). Snow White in the story seemed to support the stereotype in the first movement of feminism, which said women are weaker, emotional, and irrational human beings as compared to men (Suwastini, 2013). Meanwhile on Regis Maine yielding is one of the feminine traits categorized as a negative trait. Moreover, she was depicted as a weak woman, which confirms the patriarchal stereotype of women (Dewi et al., 2021;Suwastini et al., 2023). Snow white possesses positive femininity for being a cheerful princess due to her speeches which were also clearly narrated by the narrator. Thus, Snow White's action helped the lost bluebird and the old woman indirectly reveal her characterization of being empathetic which was also identified by previous study which is one of the positive feminine traits (Riskayani et al., 2021;Suwastini et al., 2020Suwastini et al., , 2022. Snow White in Regis, Maine was sociable, smart, courageous, and brave. Those characterizations in Regis Maine were revealed directly by the author and the other characters and indirectly through speeches, actions, and conversations. According to previous study such traits are categorized as masculine traits (Ahmad et al., 2019;Riskayani et al., 2021). The masculine traits of Snow White in Regis Maine's are liberal feminist traits as those traits presented Snow White as an androgynous woman. The concept of androgyny, explained that women should possess both positive masculinity and positive femininity to be equal to men (Kleparski & Pikor-Niedziałek, 2011;Kriswandani et al., 2019). As the main character, Snow White possessed positive masculinity and positive femininity traits.
Besides the positive traits, it can be seen from the comparison table that Snow White in the stories by Vera Southgate and Regis Maine also possessed negative traits. In the stories by Vera Southgate, Snow White has three negative feminine traits, dependent, weak and naïve. In the story by Regis Maine, Snow White also has four negative feminine traits: dependent, shyness, yielding, and irrationality. In the story by Vera Southgate, Snow White also has one negative masculine trait: impolite (Makboul, 2017;Rice, 2021). On the other side, Snow White in the story by Regis Maine did not have the negative masculine traits. Therefore, Snow White in the story by Vera Southgate, who has three negative feminine traits and one negative masculine trait, is compared to Snow White in the story by Regis Maine, who has four negative feminine traits and zero negative masculine traits.
In conclusion, Snow White in the stories possessed positive and negative traits, including positive and negative femininity and positive and negative masculinity. However, in the story by Regis Maine, Snow White possessed more positive feminine and masculine traits and fewer negative feminine and masculine traits than Snow White in the story by Vera Southgate

CONCLUSION
The concept of androgyny tells that women should possess positive femininity and positive masculinity and decrease negative femininity and negative masculinity. Based on feminists' perspectives, women can reach gender equality by being androgynous women. Snow White by Vera Southgate was described as beautiful, diligent, dependent, expressive, weak, naïve, impolite, and selective personalities. Meanwhile, Snow White by Regis Maine was described as beautiful, diligent, dependent, expressive, cheerful, sensitive, respectful, friendly, empathetic, shy, yielding, irrational, sociable, smart, courageous, compassionate, and brave personalities. Snow White's characterizations in both stories have similarities, including the beautiful, diligent, dependent, and expressive traits, and several differences. In the story by Regis Maine, Snow White possessed more positive feminine and masculine traits and fewer negative feminine and masculine traits than Snow White in the story by Vera Southgate.