The Magic Mirror
The magic mirror of the queen in the Grimms' fairy tale 'Snow White' (KHM 53) is a speaking mirror that answers truly when its owner asks who is the fairest in the land. Each time the queen consults it, the mirror replies that she is fairest of all, until the day it names Snow White, and from that answer springs the queen's jealous persecution of the girl. The mirror thus acts as the story's engine and moral judge, an impartial voice that exposes the truth the queen cannot bear. In the Grimms' version the queen meets her end at Snow White's wedding feast, where she is forced to dance in red-ho