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Hansel and Gretel (Template:Lang-de) is a fairy tale of Germanic origin, adapted by the Brothers Grimm and earlier by Giambattista Basile.

Plot synopsis

Hansel and Gretel are the children of a poor woodcutter. Fearing starvation, the wood cutter's wife (variously 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 again convinces the wood cutter to abandon them; 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.

Lost in the forest, they find a house made of bread (later versions call it gingerbread), with sugar windows, which they begin to eat. The inhabitant of the house, who is an old woman, invites them in and prepares a feast for them. 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 cages Hansel, and makes Gretel her servant. While she prepares to cook Hansel, 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, whose wife has since died of evilness. "Then all anxiety was at an end, and they lived together in perfect happiness."

Analysis

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. 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.

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.^[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. 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.^[6] Another tale of this type is The Lost Children.^[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.^[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]

Notable derivatives

Engelbert Humperdinck wrote a 1893 opera, Hänsel und Gretel, based on the fairy tale.
A Book of Witches (1966), by Ruth Manning-Sanders.
The novel The Magic Circle by the author Donna Jo Napoli.(1995)
The Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode Gingerbread features Hansel and Gretel.
In Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters, Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax discuss one of Granny's ancestors, Black Alice. Nanny Ogg tells Magrat that she was "shoved into her own oven by a couple of kids".
Hansel and the witch (called Frau Totenkinder, translating to Ms. Dead children or 'Killer of Children') both appear as characters in the comic book series Fables, written by Bill Willingham, which was first published in 2003. Gretel also appears but only in flashbacks.
Junko Mizuno did Hansel and Gretel as the second part of her fractured fairy tales manga stories.
Trial by Journal by Kate Klise is inspired by the Hansel and Gretel tale. The main character Lily Watson recalls how she and Perry Keet once played Hansel and Gretel in a school play. Priscilla the Gorilla begins to paint pictures of scenes in Hansel and Gretel, one being a picture of a candy house saying "LAW Remember me". Believing that Perry is somehow trying to communicate to her beyond the grave, Lily leaves an advertisement in the newspaper saying something along the lines of, "Hansel, are you trying to contact me? Gretel."

Popular culture

In Germany, there is a foundation set up to help abused children called the 'Hänsel+Gretel' foundation. German cross country skier Claudia Künzel donated her 4 x 5 km relay gold medal from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City to benefit the foundation in the summer of 2007.^[10]
The Simpsons, a television show, once parodied the story.
In The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Billy and Mandy turn Pinnochio into a wooden seat which the evil witch of Hansel and Gretel sits on (and breaks due to her weight).

References

^ George Gordon Coulton (1989). The Medieval Village. Page 326
^ Maria Tatar, The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales, p49, ISBN 0-691-06722-8
^ Maria Tatar, p 45, The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, ISBN 0-393-05163-3
^ Max Lüthi, Once Upon A Time: On the Nature of Fairy Tales, p 64, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., New York, 1970
^ Maria Tatar, p 57, The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, ISBN 0-393-05163-3
^ Heidi Anne Heine, "Tales Similar to Hansel And Gretel"
^ Paul Delarue, The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales, p 365, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York 1956
^ Maria Tatar, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, p 72 ISBN 0-393-05848-4
^ Stith Thompson, The Folktale, p 36-7, University of California Press, Berkeley Los Angeles London, 1977
^ FIS Newsflash 135. July 11, 2007

External links

Project Gutenberg e-text
SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages: The Annotated Hansel and Gretel. Includes an annotated version, literary history, public domain artwork, modern analysis, bibliography and book gallery.
Hansel and Gretel. Aimed at young children: Story and Game

[1] George Gordon Coulton (1989). 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

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