Into the Woods Observation

In the second act, Rapunzel confronts the Witch telling her how she ruined her chances of being happy. One if the reasons she said was, "You locked me in a tower for 14 years". This would make Rapunzel only 14 years old (I think the film changed it to 16 years according to the leaked script).

Now if the Witch took Rapunzel when the baker was only a "babe". That would make him around the age of 15-16.

Now, I know this is a fairy tale, and there is no need to over think. I just thought this was very interesting, and strange.

Also, if the Witch banishes Rapunzel to the desert, and she fetches her after the transformation, how does she get to Rapunzel. I mean, the Witch lost her powers, and I doubt she would just walk to desert (that is unless the dessert is fairly close to the Kingdom).

Again, I know I'm over thinking, I just thought it was interesting, funny, and strange.

Further comment in re: Rapunzel:

Personally, I am fond of viewing Rapunzel's captivity and her relationship to the Witch in this way... After the Witch claimed Rapunzel, she took her and hid her away somewhere in the wood - a cabin or a cave maybe - and, perhaps, one additional reason that the Baker's father left in his grief was try to find his missing daughter. As Rapunzel neared puberty and her curiosity about the world grew, and so did her ability to leave, the Witch panicked and resorted to the tower as a last measure to not only keep Rapunzel safe from the harms of the world, but to keep her close by... Very much an extreme act, but rooted firmly in a feeling experienced by virtually every parent as their child grows.

Quite simply put, you are reaching to create plot hopes where none exist. Th libretto specifies that the Witch pops out at characters, frequently surprising them, but no wprd in the script even hints at the Witch having the skill to teleport. A Magical Being does not posess ALL power, they posess a power or set of powers and you are projecting a power onto her the script actually VERY CLEARLY AND EXPRESSLY states she does not have. If she did, why would she have to climb Rapunzel's golden hair?
I think you will argue her disappearance in Last Midnight as her teleporting, but that is not the case... The Witch has surrendered the remaining Magic Beans and, as with what happened previously, she is being cursed by her Mother. She DOES say after a confrontation with the Giantess that if she still had her powers, she would not be "stuck here" with the other characters, but I take that to clearly mean stuck there at the mercy of a Giant with no way to defend herself and defeat her.

The phrasing of your Narrator theory makes little sense and would defy the entire story beforehand where each characters travels and adventures and crossed paths affect each of the others. You also seem to believe the Narrator to be a benevolent, God-like figure who is creating the story, when in fact the Narrator is quite the opposite. He is just standing outside of the story to tell it to us. He also has a VERY specific identity laid out and stated clearly in early drafts of the show with only one very brief segment of dialogue remaining to hint at what was a more major plot point.

Yes, Chair! That particular line change is pobably the most "needed" change in the dialogue from the current revised version. I only have the original, published libretto at hand, so that one escaped my memory.
If we are being super technical about the time frame as far as when the Witch goes to fetch Rapunzel, I was say it is likely a bit less than 9 months, as she would have had been pregnant before being banished and because the Baker's Wife, who becomes pregnant AFTER that banishment, is still visibly pregnant after the Witch, Rapunzel and her Prince return. the Central Park production had a wonderful effect where the Wife becomes visibly and heavily pregnant as soon as the Witch transformed, but THAT drove me absolutely bonkers because it totally ignores that time frame.

Very true about Grimm's tales always having a healthy dose of nonsense... As far as her noticing, that always struck me in relation to the magic we DO see. We do not really see the Witch use magic for casual purposes... I mean, as I said before, she manually climbs up to Rapunzel and THAT is a strain to her. She generally only uses it to freighten and harm. The one exception that springs to mind is bringing Milky-White back to life... even that is completely self serving and a desperate move as the clock is about to strike 12. Perhaps regaining her beauty left her in SUCH a happy place that she was not out unleashing havoc and terror on others and Rapunzel just broke that in two,

Re: European serring:
Seeing as how the Grimms were German and German, the forest setting for most of their tales - and by proxy, Into the Woods - would be the fabled Black Forect

You don't lock a daughter in a tower before the onset of menses.

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While we're on the subject (sort of), has anyone considered that fact that The Mysterious Man might also be the long-lost father of Jack? The script says he reacts in disgust when Jack mentions his mother, then he runs and hides when he hears her coming. Is Jack the Baker's half-brother?

Except that after the Witch takes Rapunzel she curses the father so that his "family tree would always be a barren one... you too, son." So if the Mysterious Man is fathering children after the curse it would mean it wasn't a very effective curse and the Baker and his Wife are having other issues.

The Wicth does not teleport HERSELF, which was the previously expressed theory. It was never in her powers. She is teleported by the curse and magic of someone else, so the Witch does not do it. It is done TO her as part of a punishment, which she deems better than remaining there at the mercy of the Giantess.. Hence why teleporting to where Rapunzel was banished is out of the realm of possibility for her ever.


Yes, Rapunzel could have been impregnated after Agony, meaning it was her first OR second encounter with her Prince. Remmber, it does happen within two days.

The Witch cursed the Baker and his remaining family. The Witch viewed Rapunzel as her daughter, just as Rapunzel viewed the Witch as her Mother. She loved her daighter and no intention of cursing her until she felt betrayed by her. You need to apply the logic of "family" as including adoption, not nuclear / bilogical family.

As far as the Mysterious Man fathering Jack, that is really an element of how it is cast. If you cast Jack as YOUNG, it is illogical. If you cast Jack as roughly the same age as a Baker in his late 20s, making them contemporaries, it is entirely possible. The show does tread heavily in the topic of infidelity. Again, Jack's age is never specified in the script aside from his describing himself as "a man now" and she says that he is "still a boy" in her eyes. I assume we all know realnlife AND fictional male characters with far too great of an attachment to their mothers at far too late of a stage in life and mothers who refuse to let go.

Showface, you make incorrct assumptions and an error or two.
The Baker's Wife has a crush on CINDERELLA'S PRINCE, though she does xpress that Rapunzel's Prince is handsome.
No, the Baker never reunites with his sister, but he comes close.
Yes, the Narrator IS the Baker's son. It was written expressly so in an early draft but the direct statements / plot point were lost as the show was trimmed and written BUT there is one articaft of that left.. When the Baker begins telling the tale to his infant son before the finale, it is the exact wording used by the Narrator to start the show. That is NOT an accident.

Yes, her mother teleported her. That's what I meant.

I suppose the Witch could have just cursed the Baker and his father's side of the family, not Rapunzel's. But I would think she wouldn't want Rapunzel to have kids either, as she wanted her to stay as just her child...forever?

The Narrator can't be the Baker's son if he gets killed by the Giant!

Well if we really wanna be real about about Rapunzel's age, it is very easy to to figure it out. That tower looks like it's at least 30 feet high so her hair is at least 25 feet long. 25 x 12 inches = 300 inches. Humans normally grow 6 inches of hair per year. 300/6 = 50. Rapunzel is at least 50 years old. :)

Ok broadwayguy2 maybe you're right.

^
We overlook those faults because the Witch is just awesome!

Especially when she is played by the likes of Bernadette Peters, Julia McKenzie, Donna Murphy, and Meryl Streep!