The story of Hansel and Gretel from The Brothers Grimm tells a story of abandonment.
A stepmother persuades the father to leave the children to the woods.
They find their way to the witch's gingerbread house.
Cannibalistic witch wishes to eat them,
But together they manage to kill the witch,
Take her treasures and live the rest of their lives together with their father.
Demonizing the stepmother has its origin in demonizing the parental figure.
When a parent remarries,
There is sometimes an assumption that the new stepparent is jealous to the child from the attention of the spouse.
In the world of fairy tale,
The witch or the evil stepmother can represent the child's inner fears of all the things that the stepparent might do to them in all their jealousy.
The strong connection between Hansel and Gretel was based on the tight bond between the two brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
These two German academics were some of the best known folktale collectors of the 19th century.
Brothers were born in the town of Hanau,
Jacob in 1785 and Wilhelm in 1786.
In 1796 their father Philip died to pneumonia,
Plunging the family into poverty.
Jacob was the oldest living son and at the age of 11 he was forced to take on the adult responsibilities.
After the passing of their grandfather,
Brothers could only rely on each other and became very close and they remained that way throughout their lives.
In the fairy tale,
The age difference between Hansel and Gretel is not revealed,
But in the beginning of the story Hansel is described to be the clever one.
He is the one who throws stones to the bad so they can find their way back to home and he is always comforting his sister who is easily scared.
It is in the end of the story when Gretel becomes more empowered.
Witch has captured her brother and is about to cook him and that is when Gretel pushes the witch to the oven.
Hansel and Gretel is the self-portrait of brothers Grimm,
Two brothers who could overcome anything together.
Gretel is both a victim and a hero in the story.
She is given typical female traits of the time,
She completely relies on her brother to make all the decisions,
But in the moment when she is unable to turn on her brother for help,
She must take action.
In the first version of Hansel and Gretel it was the mother who wanted to abandon the children.
Brothers Grimm had very close relationship to their own mother and this was the reason why the mother of the fairy tale was turned into a stepmother.
Time period when Hansel and Gretel takes place was known for the hard living conditions of the peasants.
It was not unheard for parents to abandon their children to the forest because there was not enough food for everyone.
Witch of the story represents the grudge the children feel towards the wicked stepmother.
They are abandoned into the woods so that she would have more food to eat and they find the gingerbread house owned by a woman who does not want to share her treats,
But instead wants to eat them.
Stepmother eating the children represents her control over the father.
