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For the opera, see Hänsel und Gretel (opera). Hänsel und Gretel is an Opera by Engelbert Humperdinck (Humperdinck himself described it as a Fairy opera. For various films, see Hansel and Gretel (film).
Artwork by Arthur Rackham, 1909.
Artwork by Arthur Rackham, 1909. Arthur Rackham ( 19 September 1867 &ndash 6 September 1939) was a prolific English book illustrator

Hansel and Gretel (German: ''Hänsel und Gretel'') is a fairy tale of Germanic origin, adapted by the Brothers Grimm and earlier by Giambattista Basile. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. A fairy tale or fairy story is a fictional Story that may feature folkloric characters (such as fairies, enchantments]] often involving The Brothers Grimm ( German: Die Gebrüder Grimm) Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Giambattista Basile (1566 or 1575 – February 23, 1632) was an Italian Poet, Courtier, and Fairy tale collector

Contents

Plot synopsis

Hansel and Gretel are the children of a poor woodcutter. Hans is a masculine given Name. In German Danish Dutch Norwegian Icelandic and Swedish originally it is short for Johannes ( John) but is also recognized in Sweden Margaret is a female first name The name derives from the Greek Margarita, a Pearl, in the feminine and margaros, the Mother-of-pearl Fearing starvation, the wood cutter's wife (variably called the children's mother or stepmother), convinces him to lead the children into the forest and abandon them there. Hansel and Gretel hear her plan and gather white pebbles to leave themselves a trail home. After their return, their mother convinces the wood cutter to abandon them again due to food shortages; this time however, they can only leave a trail of breadcrumbs. Unfortunately, the various animals of the woods eat their trail of breadcrumbs, causing Hansel and Gretel to become lost. (The story up to this point is identical to Perreault's Le Petit Poucet. "Hop o' My Thumb" (French Le Petit Poucet) is a literary Fairy tale by Charles Perrault (1628-1703 )

Lost in the forest, they find a house made of ginger bread and candies, with sugar windows. Unable to resist, they begin to eat it. The inhabitant of the house, an old woman, invites them in and prepares a feast for them. The table is covered with candy, nuts, pancakes and other sweets. The woman, however, is a witch who has built the house to entice children to her, so that she may fatten and eat them. She locks Hansel in a cage, and makes Gretel her servant. While she prepares to cook Hansel, she orders Gretel to fetch her candies and fats to force feed Hansel. Unable to do anything, Gretel weeps bitterly and does as she is told. In the cage, Hansel finds a thin bone from the previous occupant. When the witch tells Hansel to stick out his finger (so she can tell if he is fat enough to eat), he deceives her by sticking out the bone instead. The woman has poor eyesight and is very old, and thus cannot see that Hansel's "finger" is actually a bone. Days pass by, but the witch cannot perceive how fat Hansel is getting. She gets frustrated and decides to eat him anyway, "be he fat or lean. " She tells Gretel to climb into an oven to be sure it is ready to bake, but Gretel guesses that the witch intends to bake her, and tricks the witch into climbing into the oven, closing it behind her.

Taking jewels from the witch's house, they set off for home to be reunited with their father. After reuniting with their father, they all live happily ever after.

Analysis

Hansel and Gretel, illustrated in a 1927 story anthology
Hansel and Gretel, illustrated in a 1927 story anthology

The tale as we know it from Brothers Grimm was meant to be a pleasant fable for middle-class consumers of the 19th century; the original however was probably an admonishment of the hardships of medieval life. [1] Because of episodes of famine, war, plague and other reasons, abandoning children in the woods to die or fend for themselves was not unknown, in particular during the crisis of the Late Middle Ages. A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation Around the start of the 14th century a series of events began that brought centuries of European prosperity and growth to a halt Many critics have posited that the tale likely stemmed from historical instances of abandonment caused by famine; see the works of Jack Zipes and Maria Tatar for example,[2] with the obvious message of not accepting the seeming generosity of strangers. Jack David Zipes is a Professor of German at the University of Minnesota whose Publications and Lectures on Fairy tales have transformed research

In the first editions of the Grimms' collection, there was no stepmother; the mother persuaded the father to abandon their own children. This change, as in Snow White, appears to be a deliberate toning down of the unpleasantness, for children. Snow White (in Low German Sneewittchen; in High German Schneeweißchen) is the title character of a Fairy tale known from many countries in [3]

That the mother or stepmother happens to die when the children have killed the witch has suggested to many commentators that the mother or stepmother and the witch are, in fact, the same woman, or at least that an identity between them is strongly hinted at. [4] Indeed, a Russian folk tale exists in which the evil stepmother (also the wife of a poor woodcutter) asks her hated stepdaughter to go into the forest to borrow a light from her sister, who turns out to be Baba Yaga - who, though her house is anything but enticing, is also a cannibalistic witch. Baba Yaga (Ба́ба-Яга́ Баба Рога Баба Яга Баба Рога Polish, Czech, Baba Jaga Baba Roga is in Slavic folklore, a witch-like Besides the stories highlighting the endangering the children- and indeed their cleverness- they have in common a preoccupation with food: the stepmother to avoid hunger, and the witch with her house built of food and her desire to eat the children. [5]

The tale is Aarne-Thompson type 327A. The Aarne-Thompson classification system is a system for classifying folktales. [6] Another tale of this type is The Lost Children. The Lost Children is a French Fairy tale collected by Antoinette Bon in Revue des traditions populaires. [7] Although they are not classified under this type, the Brothers Grimm identified the French Finette Cendron and Hop o' My Thumb as parallels to the story. Finette Cendron (meaning in English Cunning Cinders) is a French literary Fairy tale written by Madame d'Aulnoy. "Hop o' My Thumb" (French Le Petit Poucet) is a literary Fairy tale by Charles Perrault (1628-1703 [8] The basic elements are found in tales throughout the world, although their simplicity makes it hard to tell whether a given instance is a borrowing or an independent invention. [9] At the end everyone lives happily ever after.

Notable derivatives

Popular culture

See also

Notes

  1. ^ George Gordon Coulton (1989). Molly Whuppie is a Scottish Fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales. The Witch is a Russian Fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book. Foundling-Bird is a German Fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 51 Frau Trude is a German Fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 43 Buttercup or Butterball is a Norwegian Fairy tale collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe. The Golden Stag is a Romanian Fairy tale. Synopsis An old woman told her husband that he had to lose his two children a son and a daughter by The Medieval Village. Page 326
  2. ^ Maria Tatar, The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales, p49, ISBN 0-691-06722-8
  3. ^ Maria Tatar, p 45, The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, ISBN 0-393-05163-3
  4. ^ Max Lüthi, Once Upon A Time: On the Nature of Fairy Tales, p 64, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. , New York, 1970
  5. ^ Maria Tatar, p 57, The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, ISBN 0-393-05163-3
  6. ^ Heidi Anne Heine, "Tales Similar to Hansel And Gretel"
  7. ^ Paul Delarue, The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales, p 365, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. , New York 1956
  8. ^ Maria Tatar, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, p 72 ISBN 0-393-05848-4
  9. ^ Stith Thompson, The Folktale, p 36-7, University of California Press, Berkeley Los Angeles London, 1977
  10. ^ FIS Newsflash 135. July 11, 2007

External links

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