Charlotte and her mother were very close.  Although Charlotte’s mother had to work every day, she still maintained a very close relationship with her daughter.  Every day when she got home they would play together with her dolls.  They would often by play “palace”, where Charlotte was the little princess and  her mother was the queen.  Charlotte’s most tender and loving memories were of playing with her mother.

Mary died of the fever when Charlotte was 6, leaving her feeling lost and alone.  Charlotte didn’t have anyone to play with anymore.  Her queen was gone.

A year later her father decided to remarry.  When marrying Alice, Leo, Charlotte’s father wasn’t looking to replace her mother, but rather to fill a void in his heart.  He was having trouble keeping his house and raising Charlotte on his own.

Alice wasn’t really an evil-stepmother.   She did try to connect with Charlotte, but was pushed out because she was seen as an intruder who was trying to replace someone very much loved.  Eventually, Alice kinda gave up on trying to be close with Charlotte, which in turn made Charlotte hate her even more.

Charlotte sank into this crazy depression, and uses her imagination and memories of being a princess with her mother to get out of it.  She imagines herself as a princess named Snow White.  Unfortunately she can’t bring her mother, the queen back, but she can imagine her living family as characters in her fantasy.  Her stepmother takes on the role of the villain who is trying to take the family’s wealth for herself.