Early in the morning Gretel had to go out and hang up the kettle full of water, and light the fire. "First we´ll bake," said the old dame; "I´ve heated the oven49 already and kneaded the dough." She pushed Gretel out to the oven, from which fiery flames were already issuing. "Creep in," said the witch, "and see if it´s properly heated, so that we can shove in the bread." For when she had got Gretel in she meant to close the oven and let the girl bake, that she might eat her up too. But Gretel perceived her intention, and said: "I don´t know how I´m to do it; how do I get in?" "You silly goose!" said the hag, "the opening is big enough; see, I could get in myself," and she crawled toward it, and poked her head into the oven. Then Gretel gave her a shove that sent her right in, shut the iron door,50 and drew the bolt. Gracious! how she yelled, it was quite horrible; but Gretel fled, and the wretched old woman was left to perish miserably.51
Gretel flew straight to Hansel, opened the little stable-door, and cried: "Hansel, we are free; the old witch is dead." Then Hansel sprang like a bird out of a cage when the door is opened.52 How they rejoiced, and fell on each other´s necks, and jumped for joy, and kissed one another!
And as they had no longer any cause for fear, they went in the old hag´s house, and here they found, in every corner of the room, boxes with pearls and precious stones.53 "These are even better than pebbles," said Hansel, and crammed his pockets full of them; and Gretel said: "I too will bring something home," and she filled her apron full. "But now," said Hansel, "let´s go and get well away from the witch´s wood." When they had wandered about for some hours they came to a big lake.54 "We can´t get over," said Hansel; "I see no bridge of any sort or kind." "Yes, and there´s no ferry-boat either," answered Gretel; "but look, there swims a white duck;55 if I ask her she´ll help us over," and she called out:
"Here are two children, mournful very,
Seeing neither bridge nor ferry;
Take us upon your white back,
And row us over, quack, quack!"
The duck swam toward them, and Hansel got on her back and bade his little sister sit beside him. "No," answered Gretel, "we should be too heavy a load for the duck: she shall carry us across separately."56 The good bird did this, and when they were landed safely on the other side, and had gone for a while, the wood became more and more familiar to them, and at length they saw their father´s house in the distance. Then they set off to run, and bounding into the room fell on their father´s neck. The man had not passed a happy hour since he left them in the wood, but the woman had died.57 Gretel shook out her apron so that the pearls and precious stones rolled about the room, and Hansel threw down one handful after the other out of his pocket. Thus all their troubles were ended, and they lived happily ever afterward.58
My story is done. See! there runs a little mouse; anyone who catches it may make himself a large fur cap out of it.59
1. Forest: The forest is a recurrent image in German fairy tales, in part because over a quarter of the country is comprised of forest land. In the Grimms´ tales, the forest is a supernatural world, a place where anything can happen and often does.
According to Jungian psychology, the forest is a representation of the feminine principle and is identified with the unconscious. The foliage blocks the sun´s rays, the sun being associated with the male principle. The forest symbolizes the dangerous side of the unconscious, its ability to destroy reason (Cirlot 1962) and (Matthews 1986).
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2. Woodcutter: Woodcutter was one of the lowliest, least paying occupations (Matthews 1962). Jack Zipes explores the tale as a story of triumph of the working or plebian class over the higher class. The family is ultimately victorious over poverty and the witch -- who like the richer and higher classes -- has more than enough storage of food and treasure that could be shared to lessen the suffering of the lower classes. The "hatred which the peasantry felt for the aristocracy as hoarders and oppressors" is represented by the killing of the witch (Zipes 1979).
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3. Hansel: In the original manuscript of the story, the brother was referred to as Little Brother. The Grimms´ chose the name Hansel for the character and included it in the first edition of their tales. Hansel is a common name used for a male character in German folktales. Hansel is essentially the same as "John Doe" representing an anonymous or "everyman" character.
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4. Gretel: In the original manuscript of the story, the sister was referred to as Little Sister. The Grimms´ chose the name Gretel for the character and included it in the first edition of their tales. Gretel/Gretchen is a form of the name Margaret, or Margarita in Latin, meaning "pearl." It is also a common name used for a female character in German folktales. Gretel is essentially the same as "Jane Doe" representing an anonymous or "everywoman" character.
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5. Famine: The famine is an addition to the fifth edition of the tale by the Grimms. They added it as a justification for the parents´ actions (Rolleke 1988).
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6. Bread: Bread plays an important role in this story. It appears in many forms with several metaphoric meanings.
Bread is the food of the poor. It is also seen as the most basic life-sustaining food (Matthews 1962). The struggle to provide bread for the children illustrates the family´s poverty and quest for basic survival.
The story is one of transformation for the children from childhood to adulthood. The bread itself symbolizes transformation. "The path from the production of the grain to the bread is a path of transformation of a natural product into a specifically human form of nourishment" (Dieckmann 1986).
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7. Be rid of them: Maria Tatar states that in poverty-stricken families child abandonment and infanticide were not unknown practices even up to the time when the Grimms were collecting their stories in the early 1800s (Tatar 1987).
Many psychologists, including Bruno Bettelheim, consider this tale to be about children´s fear of abandonment and their oral greed. Children have a fear of abandonment by their parents. They are also orally greedy and fear starvation from their parents if they are overly greedy. The tale supposedly helps them come to term with these fears. Many psychologists have not considered the opposite themes of parental abuse and poverty until recently. One of the earliest articles on the topic is:
Hoyme, James B. "The ´Abandoning Impulse´ in Human Parents." The Lion and the Unicorn. 12:2. December 1988. 32-46.
I also recommend Maria Tatar´s commentary found in:
Tatar, Maria. Off With Their Heads!: Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987.
Buy the book in paperback.
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8. Alone in the wood: Julius Heusher states that the woods represent the loss of security and previous values (Heuscher 1974).
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9. She left him no peace till he consented: In the Grimms´ source text, both parents agree to abandon the children. The Grimms added the description of the father´s reluctance, perhaps due to their own father worship and patriarchal viewpoints.
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10. Husband: The father/husband´s role in the tale is an interesting one. While the father is usually the birth father of the children, he has different levels of responsibility for the abandonment across versions of the tale. In some versions he willingly leaves the children in the forest. In other versions, he ineffectively protests their abandonment. The textual hint that the wife´s wishes will win over the children´s safety comes from the word choice of "husband" over "father" to describe the man´s primary role.
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11. Heard: Some critics have considered Hansel and Gretel to be a subversive tale, encouraging children to eavesdrop on their parents, trespass, commit murder, and steal property. The children are not ideal role models in the conservative sense, but one can credit them for being survivors in a harsh world. If they had not done these things, they would most likely be dead.
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12. Step-mother: The image of the evil stepmother occurs frequently in fairy tales. She is associated with jealousy and cruelty (Olderr 1986). "In masculine psychology, the stepmother is a symbol of the unconscious in a destructive role" (von Franz 1970). The stepmother figure is actually two sided, in that while she has destructive intentions, her actions often lead the protagonist into situations that identify and strengthen his or her best qualities.
The stepmother is a convention added by the Grimms in their successive editions of the tale of Hansel and Gretel. The original draft of the story has both the birth mother and father deciding to abandon the children.
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13. I´ll be able to find a way to escape, no fear: Hansel takes the leader role at the beginning of the tale, comforting his sister and working to save their lives. He is the dominant character while Gretel follows him. Later, Gretel will become the leader by killing the witch and finding a way home across a lake. Gretel´s growth through adversity is an interesting progression through the story.
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14. Moon: In the time before electric lighting, a full moon would be the best source of outdoor light at night.
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15. White pebbles: Pebbles symbolize justice. In ancient Greece, a vote with a white pebble indicated that the voter thought the suspect was not guilty. White pebbles have also been used as gravesite gifts to ensure rebirth of the spirit (Olderr 1986).
Dieckmann explains that the pebbles represent the children´s rigidity and their refusal to change (Dieckmann 1986).
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16. God will not desert us: Bruno Bettelheim discusses the religious themes in the tale as representing the culture in which it was created orally. He assumes that the religious aspects are included since religion was a central to daily life when the story was first created (Bettelheim 1976). However, Bettelheim did not do his research because most, if not all, of the religious symbols and comments such as this one were added by the Grimms in their second edition of the tales. Jack Zipes has some interesting commentary on the change of emphasis in the story from essentially nonreligious or pagan children to devoted Christians battling the evil incarnate in the form of a witch (Zipes 1997).
It is also important to note that since their earthly father has abandoned them, the Grimms have the children turn to God the Father to save them (Zipes 1997).
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17. Daybreak: In the time before strong artificial light, the work day for the lower classes would begin at dawn with daytime´s free, natural light. An early start also allows the parents to lose the children deeper into the woods before they find their own way home.
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18. Looked back at the house: Hansel is looking back at the house so he can place the pebbles along the path. However, looking back is an important concept in many stories. One of the most famous stories is of Lot´s wife who is turned to salt when she turns and looks back at the city her family is fleeing, an act she has been forbidden to do. Consequently she is turned into a pillar of salt.
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19. Kitten: Cats are associated with the feminine (von Franz 1970). In this instance, the cat on the roof may represent the dead biological mother, especially since the kitten was added by the Grimms who changed the mother into a stepmother.
Julius Heuscher believes that the kitten represents the children´s need to stay close to home (Heuscher 1974).
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