By: Simone Jackson
The Brothers Grimm collected this tale from German oral stories at the end of the 18 th century/ beginning of the 19 th century. The Grimms collected their version of the story from Dortchen Wild, who later became Wilhelm Grimm’s wife, from the town of Cassel. Even though it is of Germanic origin, there are very similar tales from other Euro countries. The original version is thought to be an admonishment of the hardships in life in medieval times, but the Grimm’s version was meant to be a pleasant tale aimed at the middle class. It was not uncommon to hear of abandoning children due to famine, war, plague or other reasons during those times.
The first version from 1812 refers to the mother-figure as the mother. The final version from 1857 refers to the mother-figure as the wife or stepmother. The children escape from the witches cottage with the help of a white duck who ferries them across a pond in the final version. Hansel and Gretel incorporates child abandonment, neglect, and abuse, as well as cannibalism.
The brother is more of the leader and the brave figure who leads the two until he is entrapped, then Gretel shows her bravery. Hansel uses a bone as his finger to trick the witch. The children find their way back home, bringing the witch’s riches with them. The mother/stepmother dies.
Garganta la Olla version by Florencia Herrero The mother dies right away in the story and is filled by the stepmother. The sister is the heroic, brave figure who leads the two. Gretel uses ashes instead of pebbles at first. The witch right away tells the children she’s going to them instead of luring them in and tricking them. Instead of using a bone to trick the witch, the children use their pinky fingers. After defeating the witch, the children live in her cottage until the father finds them. In this version, the stepmother lives and comes to love the children for bringing riches home.
Comes from primarily lower class female storytellers and brings up concerns of family life in Spain. The tale resonates with the Spanish people as they can relate the story to family loyalties and the hardships of deciding between a spouse and children and providing for their families during hard times. It can also relate to the quarrels between families about resources related to food, often involving inheritance. In this Spanish version, the storyteller, Florencia Herrero, believes that the story tells about how one can balance the loyalties in the family, as at the end of her tale, the stepmother loves the children as if they were her own once they overcame hard times.
The stepmother can be compared to the witch in the story. In the Brothers Grimm final version, both the stepmother and the witch say the line “Get up, lazybones!” making the connection between the stepmother and the witch. The stepmother persuades and insists the father to get rid of the children until he finally concedes.
In all tellings, the evil mother is eliminated and either dies, or completely changes. The stepmother dying in the Grimms tale during or around the same time the witch dies strongly hints that they are the same, or that they are strongly linked evils. The change from mother to stepmother in the Grimms first and final version may have been because of a mother abandoning her own children is seen as unthinkable, thus making the stepmother a more appropriate figure. In the Spanish version of the tale, the mother dies right away and is replaced by an evil stepmother, but she changes from evil to good once the children bring home riches.
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