The Bloody Chamber Summary and Analysis of "The Snow Child"
Buy Study Guide
Summary
The story opens in the dead of winter. A Count and Countess are riding horses through freshly-fallen snow when the Count wishes, "I wish I had a girl as white as snow." Then they come upon a hole in the snow that is filled with blood and the Count wishes, "I wish I had a girl as red as blood." Seeing a raven, he wishes again, "I wish I had a girl as black as that bird's feather." Just then, "the child of his desire" appears at the roadside. She has white skin, a red mouth, and black hair, and she is totally naked. He takes her onto his horse. The jealous Countess begins to plot how she will get rid of the girl.
First, the Countess tries to trick the girl into dismounting so that she can desert her in the snow. She drops her glove and tells the girl to fetch it, but the Count says, "I'll buy you new gloves." Suddenly, the Countess's furs jump from her shoulders onto the girl's. Next, the Countess tries to make the girl drown in a pond. She throws her diamond brooch into the pond and tells the girl to fetch it, but the Count defends the girl. Then the Countess's boots jump from her feet onto the girl's feet. The Count pities his unclothed wife but does nothing. Then they come to a flowering rose bush and the Countess orders the girl to pick a flower for her. The Count says, "I can't deny you that," so the girl picks a rose. She pricks her finger and falls down dead.