Hansel and Gretel
Synopsis:
H&G's stepmother schemes to abandon them in the woods to avert her and her woodcutter husband's starvation. When they find their way home, she orders the woodcutter to again leave them in the woods to die.
They find their way to an old hag's cottage, who captures them and enslaves them, intending to fatten them up for later consumption. Gretel kills the witch by shoving her into the oven, H&G ransack her crib and make off with the valuables. They find their way back to their father (the wicked stepmother [why are stepmothers always wicked?] having died), and live happily ever after on the loot.
Child abuse and neglect, cannibalism, homicide, and robbery all rolled up into a children's story. No wonder kids have nightmares.
Naturally, the modern version found in many children's books reads a bit differently.
Synopsis:
H&G's stepmother schemes to abandon them in the woods to avert her and her woodcutter husband's starvation. When they find their way home, she orders the woodcutter to again leave them in the woods to die.
They find their way to an old hag's cottage, who captures them and enslaves them, intending to fatten them up for later consumption. Gretel kills the witch by shoving her into the oven, H&G ransack her crib and make off with the valuables. They find their way back to their father (the wicked stepmother [why are stepmothers always wicked?] having died), and live happily ever after on the loot.
Child abuse and neglect, cannibalism, homicide, and robbery all rolled up into a children's story. No wonder kids have nightmares.
Naturally, the modern version found in many children's books reads a bit differently.
