A story about Hansel and Gretel address some of the primal human fear about abandonment, cannibalism and supernatural powers. Due to its gore, it is by
no means the best fairy tale to introduce your kid into the magic of fairy lore. On the other hand, time and hundreds of adaptations proved it's among the most popular ones. In recent years, filmmakers used it's basic plot to create a whole series of highly successful movies for grown-ups.
Yes, horror is a genre with root in folklore. What is so appealing in Hansel and Gretel? Why Bruno Bettelheim, controversial, yet extremely important figure in fairy tale theory pronounced it as an ultimate tale for kids ever? What role had brother Grimm in developing of its popularity? Let's explore...
... top 10 points about Hansel and Gretel to think about!
Which version of Hansel and Gretel is most appealing to you?
Thank you!
Stepbrothers came to mind as a question regarding fairy tales, folklore, legends and mythology because half- and step-brothers appear in ancient Hawaiian stories. That interplay even is behind the stars that Western tradition calls the square of Pegasus and that Hawaiian tradition calls the kite of Kawelo!
Mythology is full of evil mothers, not stepmothers. I wouldn't know about stebrothers.
The fourth item under the paragraph attached to the first subheading, The story was rewritten and rewritten again, advises us that "It was only in 1840, in the fourth edition of Household Tales, when Hansel's and Gretel's mother became - a step-mother. Evil step-mother is one of signature signs of classic fairy tales."
Is there something from folk or legendary or mythological cultures that makes way for evil stepmothers and evil stepsisters?
Might there be any fairy tales with evil stepbrothers?
The most popular version presents interesting dynamics where each of the siblings acts as the protector of the other for some time. I vote for this one.
Your first fact, There's a whole family of stories similar to Hansel and Gretel!, accesses one reassuring and two unsettling versions.
The version with the responsible sister seems the least unsettling and the most reassuring.
Which one would you select?
You are right, sandyspider. That's why it's called classi, isn't it? ;)
I really don't know which one I like best. The classic is always good.
Very interesting, frankbeswick. It would be nice to compare the perception about elves, dwarfs and other fairy creatures in different parts of the world. I am sure we can find them everywhere, yet they are not the same. In your country, for instance, you have numerous heroic beings, what is in tune with the history of the UK. In our country, they are much more benevolent. We have to dig very deep to find so effective arrowheads - in time of Perun, Svarun and other Slavic mythological figures.
In England people looked at the fossil belemnites, pointed seashells, found in chalk rock and thought that they were elf arrowheads that had been buried in the rock, such was the force with which they were shot. The early English had an ambiguous relationship with the elves. On one hand they believed that elves were capable of firing arrows at you and could be bad tempered enough to do so, but the English thought the elves to be wise. For instance, the only English king ever called great was Alfred,a word that means elf -wise, one who has elf wisdom.
I am so deeply involved in fairy tales, I often forget that many people believe they are just stories for children. I think Hansel and Gretel clearly suggest the opposite and the history (as much as it is available due lack of documentation) shows the same.
It really dosen't matter if we start with Perrault's Tales of Mother Goose (written for nobility on the court of Louis XIV), Straparola's Pleasant Nights (formed after Boccaccio's Decameron) or oral tradition in any country in the world - they were always made for adults in the first place.
It was only after second edition by brothers Grimm, when people started to think they are made for children too. Not exclusively, just for kids, too. Only after commercialisation at the end of 19th century children became primarly target and only after Freud's work psychologists seriously started looking for usefulness of fairy tales in development of kid's mind.
One of greatest charms of fairy tales is in their universal appeal, which is in my opinion at least partly intertwined by ther elusiveness - Tolkien's work 'On fairy tales', where even he as the master of language fails to find a decent definition, is a lovely example.
You also mentioned fairies which are not always good hearted. I agree. If we compare them with characters from fiction, we can conclude, they need to be at least a bit complex to be interesting. Black and white doesn't work in Greek drama. All memorable characters posses several shades of gray (althogh not always 50). Only after beginning of mass production and (for maximum profit necessary) simplification majority of fairy tales started presenting good fairies and bad witches.
It's a natural development. Every adult, who ever tried to explain something a bit more complex to a kids, knows how fast we start simplifying, even for the price of 'truth'.
Uff, I should make a full wizz on that subject ... Thanks, frankbeswick, for commenting!