Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel

"Hansel and Gretel" by Darstellung von Alexander Zick.

Author Anonymous Published 1812-??-?? Type Fiction, Short story Genre Fairy tale, Horror Themes Drama, Horror Age Group Teen

Hansel and Gretel is a fairy tale first published in the 1812 compendium Children's and Household Tales which was compiled by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The tale is derivative from several earlier tales, with the main plot estimated to have come about around 1500. All of these versions are in the public domain.

In the story, a woodsman and his wife have two children named Hansel and Gretel. There is a famine, so the mother suggests abandoning the children in the woods so they won't have additional mouths to feed. The father initially refuses, but eventually agrees. Hansel leaves a trail of pebbles which lets them find their way home, so the parents abandon them even further into the woods. Unable to leave pebbles, Hansel leaves breadcrumbs, but the birds eat them. Lost in the wilderness, the children stumble upon a house of made of gingerbread (in earlier versions of the story, it's plain bread), which they begin to eat. It is owned by a witch who lures them into her house, imprisons them, and plans on eating them. Hansel is locked in a cage and fattened up. When asked to check the temperature of the oven, Gretel pretends like she doesn't know how, so the witch shows her by leaning into the oven, and Gretel pushes her in and locks the door, burning her alive. Hansel and Gretel then discover the witch's house is filled with precious stones, so they take them and eventually find their way back home. The father is happy to see the children, and even happier now that they've brought jewels he can sell so they'll never go hungry again, oh yes, and the mother is dead.

Personal

Own?	Compilation book.
Read?	Margaret Raine Hunt translation.
Finished	2025-02-21.

Having been gifted a compilation of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales, I started reading through those I was familiar with. Although I don't think I ever read this version, I knew from other adaptions that the story was pretty dark as I remembered being disturbed by it as a child. I was still shocked at how messed up it actually is.

Review

Overall:

Good

• The children are both clever and courageous and successfully outwit the villains.
• If you assume that the story was written simply to give children nightmares, then the author certainly succeeded.
• A later edition published by the Grimm Brothers replaces the biological mother with a stepmother. This results in yet another fairy tale with a dead mother and evil stepmother, but at least lessens the severity of filicide.

Bad

• Though the remorse the father feels after abandoning his children is nice, he still willingly leaves his children to die horribly in the woods, so he's not exactly admirable.
• The witch is described as "godless." I know the word is entirely literal, but I still don't approve of equating atheism with being evil.
• The duck which carries the kids across the lake doesn't fit with the story, nor does the "catch the mouse and make a fur cap ending." Similarly, Hansel looking back and seeing the sun shining on the chimney of their house seems like it would serve as a beacon to find their way back home, but they just sort of find their way home without any help. These appear to be vestiges of earlier version that should have been modified or removed by the Grimm brothers.

Ugly

• Most fairy tales feature a moral, but this story is lacking. The kids aren't punished for disobedience, they're just abandoned to their deaths because the family has fallen on hard times. What is a child supposed to learn from this?
• The cruel mother just mysteriously dies at the end without explanation. It's nice that she gets her comeuppance, but it would be nicer if it were done in a thematic manner.

Media

Illustrations

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  "Hansel and Gretel" by Darstellung von Alexander Zick, circa 1900.

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  Book illustration by Otto Kubel.

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  Book illustration by Otto Kubel.

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  Book illustration by Otto Kubel.

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  Book illustration by Otto Kubel.

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  Book illustration by Otto Kubel.

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  Book illustration by Otto Kubel.

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  Book illustration by Otto Kubel.

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  Book illustration by Otto Kubel.

Representation

Strong female character?	Pass	Gretel overcomes her fear and outwits the evil witch.
Bechdel test?	Pass	Gretel and the witch talk about something other than Hansel for a few sentences.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	The setting implies everyone is white.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Adaptions

The gingerbread house and witch appear in King's Quest.

Links