For two centuries, the treasury of the world author’s fairy tale includes the works of Jacob and William Grimm. The brothers collected and processed more than two hundred folklore works of European peoples, among which are quite popular Cinderella, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Bremen Town Musicians, Little Red Riding Hood and many others. Despite the fact that the authors are often accused of describing excessive cruelty, they remain beloved for many generations of children, as they teach life endurance and the ability to withstand adversity, good and mutual support, and the pursuit of justice.
Features of art processing
The contribution of the Grimm brothers to the development of the world, and in particular the German, literary tale is truly invaluable. The main advantage of their works is that the authors, borrowing the plot in folklore, almost completely preserved the content, ideological concept, composition, characteristics of characters and speech of the characters. This is confirmed, for example, by “Hansel and Gretel” - a fairy tale in German, which is distinguished by its maximum proximity to the source. The authors only slightly changed the linguistic form, making the work more fun and readable. Such an approach was fundamental in the processing of a folk tale, as it allowed to convey the peculiarities of the lifestyle of Europeans mainly during the Middle Ages.
The basis of the plot of the gingerbread house
According to the surviving information, the Grimm brothers heard a tale of two children with the names Hansel and Gretel from Dorothea Wilt - she later became the wife of Wilhelm. The folklore product differs from the author’s version known to us in that the little heroes were sent to the forest, condemning their inevitable death, their mother and father. The Grimm brothers somewhat softened the plot of the fundamental principle, introducing the image of a stepmother, who put pressure on her limp husband. By the way, a work with a similar plot can be found in the collection of another German storyteller, L. Bechstein, as well as in folk poems and songs, which testifies to the great popularity of the story of the gingerbread house among the people.
As for the cruel act of the parents, then, most likely, it has quite real circumstances under it. In 1315-17, a terrible famine erupted in Europe, including in Germany, the consequences of which were felt for another five years. Historians note that at this time there were quite possible cases of cannibalism, which are mentioned by the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel” - this refers to the episode with the witch. In addition, similar stories can be found in some European stories about children who, by chance, find themselves in the hands of terrible cannibals and who, as a result, managed to prevail over them thanks to their fearlessness and ingenuity.
The work on the gingerbread house was included in the first collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, published in 1812, and translated into many languages. The best Russian arrangement was a text edited by P. Polev.
Meet the heroes
Hansel and Gretel, brother and sister, were the children of a poor lumberjack. They lived at the edge of the forest with their father and unkind stepmother. But here came the difficult times when there was nothing to buy bread for. And one night they heard their parents talk. In response to the father’s complaint that there was no food left, the stepmother offered to take her brother and sister to the forest and leave them alone. At first, the lumberjack was indignant: the heart wasn’t stony — to condemn native children to inevitable death. Then everyone will have to die - that was the woman's answer. Still convinced her husband’s evil stepmother that it was impossible to do otherwise.
The sister burst into tears upon learning of the fate awaiting them, and her brother began to calm her down and promised to come up with something. Thus begins the famous fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm “Hansel and Gretel”.
The first trip to the forest
The boy waited until his father and stepmother fell asleep, dressed, and went outside, where he collected stones that shone in the moonlight.
Early in the morning, parents gathered in the forest for firewood, woke the children and took them with them. On the way, Hansel quietly threw a pebble - he typed them full pocket. So we got to the thicket. The lumberjack made a fire, and the stepmother ordered the children to go to bed and promised to return after them in the evening. Hansel and Gretel — the fairy tale here repeats the stepmother’s cruelty motif, popular in European folklore — remained alone at the fire. All day they heard deafening blows in the forest, and hoped that it was his father chopping wood. In fact, the branch banged by the parents tied to the tree.
At lunch, the children ate a piece of the bread they had been given in the morning and soon, tired, fell asleep. When they opened their eyes, it was already dark night. The sister burst into tears again, and her brother began to reassure her: "Here comes the month, and we will find the way home." And indeed, in the moonlight the pebbles glistened, and by morning Hansel and Gretel were already at their own door.
Meeting with parents
The stepmother, who let the children in, scolded them for walking too long in the forest. Father was glad that they returned alive.
But soon the situation became even worse. And again, brother and sister heard the parents' already familiar argument. The lumberjack resisted for a long time, but, losing once, succumbed to persuasion, and this time. Hansel and Gretel again thought about their future. The fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm, in this way, like any other from the group of magic, is based on a repetition of the same event. But his brother failed to collect the pebbles this time - the prudent stepmother closed the door for the night, and he could not go out into the street. His sister was even more afraid, but the boy promised to come up with something. And in the morning, when the stepmother again gave them a piece of bread and ordered them to go with her and her father to the forest, he broke his serving in his pocket and began to sprinkle crumbs on the road.
Get lost
For a long time the lumberjack and stepmother walked through the forest until they fell into such a wilderness where they had never been before. And again, the parents left the children alone by the fire, and they went home. But at night, when the moon came up, Hansel and Gretel could not find the way, since the birds were gluing all bread crumbs. It was morning, and then evening, and they all wandered through the forest. Only by dinner the next day, tired and hungry, the children saw a snow-white bird on a tree. She sang so well that the children listened, and then followed after her. And suddenly a hut appeared ahead, past which the hungry Hansel and Gretel could not pass.
The tale, the brief content of which you are reading, is built according to all the laws of the genre. The walls of the wonderful house that suddenly appeared before the eyes of the children were made of bread, the roof was made of delicious gingerbread, and the windows were made of sugar. Thus, a sweet house from a fabulous country of plenty called Kokan is mentioned here. It was often mentioned in folk traditions and beckoned by the fact that there was nothing to do in it yourself, since all the food grew directly on the trees.
The history of gingerbread houses
Although the plot about a delicious hut at the beginning of the 19th century could not be considered unusual, it was after the publication of the tale "Hansel and Gretel" in Germany and in several other European countries that a new tradition appeared. For two hundred years, housewives have been baking gingerbread houses for Christmas and decorating them with colorful glaze, candied fruits, berries, etc. They put sweetness on the festive table, send it to various exhibitions and competitions, and, of course, give them out to children. The main thing is that you can first admire such a gingerbread, and then enjoy a great taste.
Meeting with the witch
But back to the fairy tale that the Grimm brothers recorded. Hansel and Gretel - a brief summary gives a general picture of what was happening at that moment - seeing such abundance, we decided to feast on. Brother broke a piece from the roof, and my sister decided to try the window. They ate sweets with pleasure, when suddenly they heard a rather pleasant voice from the hut. And a little later, a very ancient old woman appeared on the threshold. The children were frightened at first, but she reassured them right away, then led them into the house, generously treated them and put them to bed on a soft bed under a snow-white blanket. Tired and exhausted children thought that they were in a real paradise. Hansel and Gretel did not yet know that they were visiting a wicked witch. Her dream and favorite delicacy was some child. And although this old woman with red eyes was very poorly seen, she perfectly felt the human smell. And the bread house decorated with sweets became a bait for such children as Hansel and Gretel. Thus, the tale largely repeats the plots of the famous cycle “Children and the Eater”, which is included in the international index of folklore works of this genre.
“There will be a tidbit”
In the morning, the witch examined the sleeping children and decided that a boy with ruddy and chubby cheeks would be very good for lunch. You just need to feed him a little more. She locked Hansel awake in a crib behind a lattice door, and Gretel ordered her brother to be fattened so that he would become fatter. This went on for four weeks, during which the sister prepared the most delicious dishes for her brother, while she ate the leftovers. The resourceful Hansel all this time managed to deceive a poorly seeing witch. When she came to check how much her “future lunch” had recovered, he slipped a bone in her hand instead of his finger, and she still could not understand why the boy was still so thin. But once the old woman’s patience ended, and she decided to definitely eat Hansel, the path is not even bold enough, the very next day. And the girl had to apply water, in which her own brother would then be prepared. “It would be better if the wild animals in the forest torn us apart, then we would have died together,” she sobbed.
Witch managed to cheat
The next morning, the old woman decided to get rid of Gretel, and then proceed to her brother. She melted the stove and ordered the girl to get into it to see if the heat was ready for baking bread. Gretel began to fulfill the witch’s demand, when she suddenly realized what the old woman really wanted from her. And she was not mistaken: she really was just preparing to close the damper and fry the girl. “I don’t know how to get there,” the sister said. Angry witch scolded her and began to show how to get into the oven. At this moment, Gretel pushed her forward, and then immediately closed the shutter. So she saved from inevitable death both herself and her brother. And the old woman, who appeared in the furnace, howled terribly and burned to the ground. Thus, the winners in this confrontation with the cannibal witch are Hansel and Gretel.
The tale of a brother and sister, apparently, also has a connection with the ancient traditions of European peoples and some tribes. Thus, many linguists often associate the episode of the burning of a witch with a fairly common initiation rite, the essence of which was the transition of a teenager to adulthood, the person’s entry into some secret society, or his initiation into the number of shamans, leaders. This is also not a new motive for the Brothers Grimm, since it is found in many other folk and author's tales, including, for example, S. Perrot's “Boy with a Finger”.
The freed children examined the hut and found in it many precious stones and pearls. They took them with them and went to look for a way out of this witch forest.
So, thanks to ingenuity and resourcefulness, we were able to get rid of the hated cannibal witch Hansel and Gretel. The tale ends with a description of their journey home.
Happy return
After a couple of hours, the children went out to an unknown lake, but did not see a bridge or a boat nearby. Only the duck swam. A girl turned to her with a request to transport them to the other side, and very soon her brother and sister were in a familiar forest. And here it was easy for them to find the way to the lumberjack’s house. They rushed, happy, to his father and rushed to his neck. The lumberjack was very happy when he saw that his children were alive and unharmed, because he did not know a minute of peace and joy after parting with them.
It turned out that his wife died unexpectedly - this fact allows many linguists to identify the images of the evil stepmother and witch who decided to take revenge on the hated children. And from that time the lumberjack and his children healed happily and well. And the family was saved from need by pearls and precious stones, which Hansel and Gretel brought from the forest hut.
The author of the tale ends the story of mutual support and brotherly love, which allowed the heroes to cope with all the hardships and safely return to their father's house.
The story of the adventures of a brother and sister in art
Today, Hansel and Gretel are known throughout the world. The tale of them is included in the collected works of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and is translated into many languages. In addition, her characters have repeatedly become heroes of works of other art forms. So, in 1893 the opera of E. Humperdink appeared, written specially for Christmas. Repeatedly prepared theatrical productions of a fairy tale. Many famous artists did not remain indifferent to the work .
With the advent of cinema, scriptwriters also turned to the famous plot. Among the films that are quite popular today is the fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel" in English, filmed in 1988. The authors slightly changed the initial version: the children, at the request of their mother, went into the forest for berries and got lost, after which they ended up in the gingerbread house of the sorceress Griseldy. Another option is the 2012 American film, based on the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel”, in which the father, tormented by remorse, sets off in search of children.
In 2013, an action movie appeared telling about what happened to the heroes after they returned home. And although the plot of the film has little to do with the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, he emphasizes that interest in the plot remains in our time.