Traditionally it’s the woman who wishes for the child in ‘Snow White’, so again Carter seems to be subverting the fairy tale genre here. With a woman the temptation is to assume her desire is maternal but with a man we are forced to consider whether his desires are paternal or sexual (or, in this delightful little horror story, a mixture of the two). Either way, it seems to point at some dissatisfaction with his wife and what she is unable to provide.