Tuesday, January 20, 2009
I think the story of hansel and gretel originates from a time of hunger and famine, as the story says, but children weren't sent away to die. The parents may have sent them to a relative who could care for them for a while, until the family had food again, but while at this relative's house, a single older woman, the children became scared or missed home, so they fled the house and made up a threatening and frightening story about the old woman so they wouldn't have to go back. The reward of the jewels in the end may be rewarding the family for staying together.
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Here are my added details to this starting story:
ReplyDeleteDuring a time of famine and extreme poverty, a mother and father sent their two children, Hansel and Gretel, to a relative's house who could care for them. This relative was Hansel and Gretel's aunt - a single, older sister of the father. She was independently weathly having inherited money from her deceased husband, and childless so taking care of the children proved to be quite a task for her. Her house however was beautiful, ornate and odd with its gingerbread trimming and gables. Because of the house, the children thought their stay could be pretty cool. They were taken care of very well and given good food - since the aunt's first reaction to how thing they were, was to say that she had to "fatten them up!" Of course the children were frightened of this distant relative whom they had only met once and had vague, slightly scary recollections of her. The house, although fairly-edible in decoration on the outside, was spooky to the children and caused them to have bad dreams. They missed their parents very much and did not understand why they had been sent away to live with their aunt. Because of their nightmates and confusion about their parents sending them away, the children begin to believe that their aunt is truly a witch. She's strange and eccentric from living by herself for so long. So, the children leave the gingerbread house and their witchy aunt and find their way back to their parents somehow. Because of their experiences at the house and their adventures trying to find their way home, they come up with this frightening story that they tell to their parents. The aunt however is obviously concerned about them and ends up sending some of her jewels, being a weathly woman, to the family to reassure the children of her goodnaturedness.