sidney rosenblatt in his essay, "thumbelina and the development of female sexuality" believes the tale may be analyzed from the perspective of freudian psychosexual development. he believes the story is one of female masturbation. thumbelina herself, he posits, could symbolize the clitoris, her rose petal coverlet the labia, the white butterfly "the budding genitals", and the mole and the prince the anal and vaginal openings respectively.