Religious

According to Marie Louise von Franz a skinned bear hanging in a butchers shop, which was once common, looked exactly like a clumsy human being. Thus, in folklore "the bear tends to be the bewitched prince, or the man who has been cursed to walk about in a bearskin"(Von Franz, 54). Early followers of Wotan, were called the Berserks meaning Bearskins or Bearshirts. Von Franz ascertains that to "go berserk" carries a negative connotation and means "to be capable of getting into a great rage which touches on an ecstatic religious experience"(55). Reaching this experience gives a person the feeling of completeness in which one voices their actual true opinions. This idea of holy rage is admitted in Christian theology where it was permitted in Crusades when a person fought for salvation, and also when a priest worked himself in a holy wrath to fight sin(Von Franz, 55).

In the Grimm's version of Bearskin the protagonist is a soldier who no longer can channel his holy rage as a result of the end of the war. As a test of his spiritual strength, the devil makes a deal with him on the terms of winning the young man's soul. The soldier must not wash, shave, cut his finger nails, or say the Lord's prayer for seven years. In essence, Bearskin must give up his spirituality by giving up prayer while wearing a constant reminder of his holy wrath upon his back. Moreover, without his spirituality he cannot practice his rage filled acts. If he did it would either have to be for non-religious purposes and he would be condemned for his acts, or if his rage did have religious reasons he would have to relinquish his soul to the devil for breaking their deal.

Feminist

Marie Louise von Franz further posits that a priest's act of wearing a robe is representative of a patriarchal order in which there is a declaration of war against the feminine element. Furthermore, it is representative of a male dominated society because there are no such thing as priestesses(46). Therefore, the first two sisters are so much against Bearskin because they feel the insult of what the skin represents. However, the third sister chooses to be passive and wait to marry Bearskin despite his appearance. Not until the protagonist sheds his patriarchal skin is the third sister able to marry him. This suggests that men and women are on a more equal level because they are able to come to a sort of compromise at the end of the tale. However, because the first two sisters were outright against this patriarchy and are condemned to hell this suggests that the male dominated society still exists.

For more information on Kay F. Stone (on whose work this analysis was based), click here.