The annotations for the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale are below. Sources have been cited in parenthetical references, but I have not linked them directly to their full citations which appear on the Hansel and Gretel Bibliography page. I have provided links back to the Annotated Hansel and Gretel to facilitate referencing between the notes and the tale.
I have included the Grimms' notes to the tale as translated by Margaret Hunt followed by SurLaLune's textual annotations.
The Grimms' Notes For the Tale
From different stories current in Hesse. In Swabia it is a wolf which is in the sugar-house. See in Caroline Stahl's Stories, p. 92. The house of sweetmeats (see further on). Also Pröhle's Kinder-und Volksmarchen, No 40. Bechstein, vii. 55. The Eierkuchauschen, in Stöber's elsass. Volksbuch, p. 102. In Danish the Pandekagehuset (see further on). In Swedish, Cavallius, pp. 14, 26. In Hungarian, Stier, p. 43. In Albanian, Hahn, 164, 165. In Servian, Wuk, No 35. The story of Der Fanggen, from the Oberinnthal in Zingerle's Kinder und Hausmarchen p. 51. Oberlin gives a piece, in the dialect of the district of Luneville, in his Essai sur le patois. Clearly allied too, especially in the beginning, is Nennillo and Nennilla in the Pentamerone (5-8), and so is the first part of Finette Cendron in D'Aulnoy, No. 11. In this there are three King's children who are twice brought home by the cleverness of the youngest; the first time by a thread which had been given to her by a fairy, the second by strewn ashes; the third time, the two elder provide an expedient and scatter peas, but the pigeons eat them, and the children cannot find the way back. In a Tyrolese story, Zingerle, p. 138, as here, the boy who is imprisoned reaches out a bit of stick to the man-eater, instead of his finger; but in a Swedish story his captor is a giant (Cavallius, 31). Hansel is connected with Thumbling (No. 37 and 45), and thus appears in the German stories. There are six children; he is the seventh. When they are in the forest with the man-eater, they have to comb his hair, but Thumbling springs in among it, pulls it, and always comes back again. Afterwards there is the changing the seven crowns during the night for the seven red caps. Thumbling puts all the purses of money and valuables into the seven-league boots. To this group also belongs a Tyrolese story in Zingerle, p. 235, of the Thumbling Hansel. The old German fable (Altd. Wälder iii. 178, 179) of the twelve who go to the giant (Turse), and who are previously warned by his wife, and told to go into the bedroom, is only altered so far as concerns the moral.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884, 1892. 2 volumes.
SurLaLune Annotations
Note: While I have referenced some of Bruno Bettelheim's analysis of this tale in the annotations, I have left out most of his main points. First, most of his theories are centered on the final Grimms' version of the tale which is more literary creation than oral fairy tale, even by the Grimms' standards. The Grimms substantially altered the tale to suit their personal agenda. An excellent table comparing the changes and their timeline is available in:
de Vos, Gail and Anna E. Altmann. New Tales for Old : Folktales As Literary Fictions for Young Adults. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1999.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
Also, while many scholars have written refutations of Bettelheim's analysis, a particularly salient (and at times humorous) article is recommended in connection with Hansel and Gretel:
Hoyme, James B. "The 'Abandoning Impulse' in Human Parents." The Lion and the Unicorn. 12:2. December 1988. 32-46.
I also recommend Maria Tatar's commentary found in:
Tatar, Maria. Off With Their Heads!: Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
1. Forest: The forest is a recurrent image in German fairy tales, in part because over a quarter of the country is comprised of forest land. In the Grimms' tales, the forest is a supernatural world, a place where anything can happen and often does.
According to Jungian psychology, the forest is a representation of the feminine principle and is identified with the unconscious. The foliage blocks the sun's rays, the sun being associated with the male principle. The forest symbolizes the dangerous side of the unconscious, its ability to destroy reason (Cirlot 1962) and (Matthews 1986).
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2. Woodcutter: Woodcutter was one of the lowliest, least paying occupations (Matthews 1962). Jack Zipes explores the tale as a story of triumph of the working or plebian class over the higher class. The family is ultimately victorious over poverty and the witch -- who like the richer and higher classes -- has more than enough storage of food and treasure that could be shared to lessen the suffering of the lower classes. The "hatred which the peasantry felt for the aristocracy as hoarders and oppressors" is represented by the killing of the witch (Zipes 1979).
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3. Hansel: In the original manuscript of the story, the brother was referred to as Little Brother. The Grimms' chose the name Hansel for the character and included it in the first edition of their tales. Hansel is a common name used for a male character in German folktales. Hansel is essentially the same as "John Doe" representing an anonymous or "everyman" character.
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4. Gretel: In the original manuscript of the story, the sister was referred to as Little Sister. The Grimms' chose the name Gretel for the character and included it in the first edition of their tales. Gretel/Gretchen is a form of the name Margaret, or Margarita in Latin, meaning "pearl." It is also a common name used for a female character in German folktales. Gretel is essentially the same as "Jane Doe" representing an anonymous or "everywoman" character.
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5. Famine: The famine is an addition to the fifth edition of the tale by the Grimms. They added it as a justification for the parents' actions (Rolleke 1988).
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6. Bread: Bread plays an important role in this story. It appears in many forms with several metaphoric meanings.
Bread is the food of the poor. It is also seen as the most basic life-sustaining food (Matthews 1962). The struggle to provide bread for the children illustrates the family's poverty and quest for basic survival.
The story is one of transformation for the children from childhood to adulthood. The bread itself symbolizes transformation. "The path from the production of the grain to the bread is a path of transformation of a natural product into a specifically human form of nourishment" (Dieckmann 1986).
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7. Be rid of them: Maria Tatar states that in poverty-stricken families child abandonment and infanticide were not unknown practices even up to the time when the Grimms were collecting their stories in the early 1800s (Tatar 1987).
Many psychologists, including Bruno Bettelheim, consider this tale to be about children's fear of abandonment and their oral greed. Children have a fear of abandonment by their parents. They are also orally greedy and fear starvation from their parents if they are overly greedy. The tale supposedly helps them come to term with these fears. Many psychologists have not considered the opposite themes of parental abuse and poverty until recently. One of the earliest articles on the topic is:
Hoyme, James B. "The 'Abandoning Impulse' in Human Parents." The Lion and the Unicorn. 12:2. December 1988. 32-46.
I also recommend Maria Tatar's commentary found in:
Tatar, Maria. Off With Their Heads!: Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
8. Alone in the wood: Julius Heusher states that the woods represent the loss of security and previous values (Heuscher 1974).
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9. She left him no peace till he consented: In the Grimms' source text, both parents agree to abandon the children. The Grimms added the description of the father's reluctance, perhaps due to their own father worship and patriarchal viewpoints.
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10. Husband: The father/husband's role in the tale is an interesting one. While the father is usually the birth father of the children, he has different levels of responsibility for the abandonment across versions of the tale. In some versions he willingly leaves the children in the forest. In other versions, he ineffectively protests their abandonment. The textual hint that the wife's wishes will win over the children's safety comes from the word choice of "husband" over "father" to describe the man's primary role.
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11. Heard: Some critics have considered Hansel and Gretel to be a subversive tale, encouraging children to eavesdrop on their parents, trespass, commit murder, and steal property. The children are not ideal role models in the conservative sense, but one can credit them for being survivors in a harsh world. If they had not done these things, they would most likely be dead.
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12. Step-mother: The image of the evil stepmother occurs frequently in fairy tales. She is associated with jealousy and cruelty (Olderr 1986). "In masculine psychology, the stepmother is a symbol of the unconscious in a destructive role" (von Franz 1970). The stepmother figure is actually two sided, in that while she has destructive intentions, her actions often lead the protagonist into situations that identify and strengthen his or her best qualities.
The stepmother is a convention added by the Grimms in their successive editions of the tale of Hansel and Gretel. The original draft of the story has both the birth mother and father deciding to abandon the children.
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13. I'll be able to find a way to escape, no fear: Hansel takes the leader role at the beginning of the tale, comforting his sister and working to save their lives. He is the dominant character while Gretel follows him. Later, Gretel will become the leader by killing the witch and finding a way home across a lake. Gretel's growth through adversity is an interesting progression through the story.
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14. Moon: In the time before electric lighting, a full moon would be the best source of outdoor light at night.
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15. White pebbles: Pebbles symbolize justice. In ancient Greece, a vote with a white pebble indicated that the voter thought the suspect was not guilty. White pebbles have also been used as gravesite gifts to ensure rebirth of the spirit (Olderr 1986).
Dieckmann explains that the pebbles represent the children's rigidity and their refusal to change (Dieckmann 1986).
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16. God will not desert us: Bruno Bettelheim discusses the religious themes in the tale as representing the culture in which it was created orally. He assumes that the religious aspects are included since religion was a central to daily life when the story was first created (Bettelheim 1976). However, Bettelheim did not do his research because most, if not all, of the religious symbols and comments such as this one were added by the Grimms in their second edition of the tales. Jack Zipes has some interesting commentary on the change of emphasis in the story from essentially nonreligious or pagan children to devoted Christians battling the evil incarnate in the form of a witch (Zipes 1997).
It is also important to note that since their earthly father has abandoned them, the Grimms have the children turn to God the Father to save them (Zipes 1997).
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17. Daybreak: In the time before strong artificial light, the work day for the lower classes would begin at dawn with daytime's free, natural light. An early start also allows the parents to lose the children deeper into the woods before they find their own way home.
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18. Looked back at the house: Hansel is looking back at the house so he can place the pebbles along the path. However, looking back is an important concept in many stories. One of the most famous stories is of Lot's wife who is turned to salt when she turns and looks back at the city her family is fleeing, an act she has been forbidden to do. Consequently she is turned into a pillar of salt.
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19. Kitten: Cats are associated with the feminine (von Franz 1970). In this instance, the cat on the roof may represent the dead biological mother, especially since the kitten was added by the Grimms who changed the mother into a stepmother.
Julius Heuscher believes that the kitten represents the children's need to stay close to home (Heuscher 1974).
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20. White: White symbolizes light, innocence and purity (Matthews 1986). White is also associated with faith and peace. It is a recurring color in this version of the tale and is frequently mentioned. With the exception of the witch's red eyes, it is the only color mentioned.
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21. Fire: Fire is associated with life, warmth and spirit. In some traditions it is also the "bringer of consoling thoughts, driver away of evil terrors" (Matthews 1962).
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22. Heard the strokes of the axe: The Grimms added this disturbing element of the parents' trickery to the tale. Their reasoning is unknown. Earlier versions glossed over the decision to abandon the children without details of the planning or method used.
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23. By the hand: This is one of the few popular tales in which two siblings work together with affection and concern. Another tale is Snow White and Rose Red in which the two sisters are described as often exploring the forest hand in hand.
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24. New threepenny bits: Threepenny bits were coins worth three pence (or pennies) in Britain.
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25. Naughty children: Note the stepmother's defense mechanism of blaming the children for their absence to avoid her own incrimination. The stepmother is continually abusive in her language towards the children, calling them naughty, donkeys, fools, and lie-abeds. The Grimms added most of this language to intensify her nasty character.
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26. If a man yields once he's done for, and so, because he had given in the first time, he was forced to do so the second: The Grimms are preaching their own philosophy concerning a man's role in his home. Once again, their patriarchal view is emphasized in the story. This patriarchal element is thought to be one reason why the tale was so popular after its publication.
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27. Barred the door: Before the common use of door knobs and intricate locks, doors were often secured by placing large pieces of wood or metal, usually in the shape of a bar, across the door. These bars were often heavy and difficult for a small child to lift, especially with the stealth needed in this situation.
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28. Crumb: Note that just as bread provides life sustaining sustenance, the children are now depending on it to save their lives beyond it's true purpose.
Bettelheim states: "Starvation anxiety has driven him [Hansel] back, so now he can think only of food as offering a solution to the problem of finding his way out of a serious predicament" (Bettelheim 1976). Unfortunately, Hansel appears to have forgotten that birds will eat bread crumbs and destroy his trail.
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29. Pigeon: Pigeons are birds having a heavy body and short legs. They can be wild or domesticated (WordNet). Since pigeons are often domesticated birds, they are associated with the desire to return home in dream interpretations.
Pigeons are considered death omens in some superstitions. "A strange pigeon, especially if white, alighting on the house or flying in front of one indicates death" (Opie & Tatem 1989).
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30. Birds: Birds are predominant throughout this story. They keep the children trapped in the woods by eating the breadcrumbs. A bird leads the children to the witch's house. A bird also provides the final means of their escape by helping them cross the water (Tatar 2002).
A bird can symbolize air, wind, time, immortality, the female principle, aspiration, prophecy, love, and freedom (Olderr 1986).
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31. Third: Three symbolizes hope and resolution of conflict. It is generally a favorable number (Olderr 1986). Three is a popular number in fairy tales, usually offering change or resolution in the third instance of a certain event or series of actions. Since it is the third morning in the story, we know that Hansel and Gretel are about to have a new experience.
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32. Snow-white bird: Following an animal in a forest and being led to a confrontation with an evil being occurs in other tales (von Franz 1970). Because the bird represents salvation, joy, and peace through its color, Dieckmann states that the children are supposed to meet the witch with positive results. The encounter is for their good (Dieckmann 1986).
Julius Heuscher believes the white bird or dove symbolizes the need to never forget home after one has left it (Heuscher 1974).
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33. Cottage was made of bread and roofed with cakes, while the window was made of transparent sugar: Note that gingerbread is not used in the description of the house, only bread. Germany's rich tradition of creating gingerbread houses and other items has caused the house to be described as gingerbread in subsequent rewritings and tellings. To read an excellent history of gingerbread as a food, visit The History of Gingerbread.
Cake is the food of the rich, a symbol of feasting and plenty (Olderr 1986). In a land where bread is a precious food, cake would be a luxury beyond the children's imaginations. Sugar would also be a precious commodity in time of famine, especially appealing to children with their reputation for sweet tooths.
The witch's cottage is one of the more popular elements in illustrations of the tale. To see several illustrators' visions of the house, visit the Illustrations of Hansel and Gretel page.
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34. A regular blow-out: Blow-out is a colloquialism from the UK meaning "An excessive spree of drinking, eating, spending or sex" (Duckworth 2003). Andrew Lang considers phrase this to be an example of Hansel's vulgarity in a footnote to the story in The Blue Fairy Book.
The children would get physically sick if they gorged on the house after being near starvation for so long.
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35. "Nibble, nibble, little mouse,/Who's nibbling my house?": Note the woman's gentle words despite Hansel and Gretel's wanton destruction of her house. The children are literally eating her out of house and home, but she is not upset. She only becomes abusive later after she has locked up Hansel and is sure of her prey.
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36. "Tis Heaven's own child,/The tempest wild,": The children are trying to make the woman believe the wind is causing the noise outside her house. I prefer Jack Zipes' translation of the children's reply for clarity:
"The wind, the wind; it's very mild,
blowing like the Heavenly Child" (Zipes 2001).
37. Ancient dame leaning on a staff: The woman has the appearance of a venerable grandmother or village wise woman. The children are placated by her harmless appearance.
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38. No ill shall befall you: This promise provides a sense of foreboding. Hansel and Gretel's good fortune seems too good to be true and it is.
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39. Old witch: Belief in witches exists in nearly every culture worldwide (Leach 1949). In Jungian psychology, the witch is a personification of evil which eventually consumes itself. The witch symbolizes the destructive power of the unconscious (Luthi 1976).
According to Hans Dieckmann's Jungian interpretation of the tale, the witch is evil incarnate with no hint of good in her (Dieckmann 1986).
Jack Zipes finds it interesting that the children never blame their parents for their abandonment. He states that the witch symbolizes the feudal system with her greed and treasures. When the children kill her, the story shows the "hatred which the peasantry felt for the aristocracy as hoarders and oppressors" (Zipes 1979).
In other tales of the "Children and the Ogre" Aarne-Thompson classification, the children do not necessarily encounter a witch. The villain may be a giant, ogre, or other monster. You can read more on the Tales Similar to Hansel and Gretel page.
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40. She killed, cooked, and ate him: The witch is a cannibal. Cannibalism is one of the most reviled crimes in the world. It is considered the quintessential expression of savagery and evil. Charges of cannibalism have long been used as justifiable reasons for enslaving or destroying a population or person.
Gerhard Mueller discusses cannibalism in his criminological analysis of the tale. He cannot find laws concerning cannibalism and its punishment in Europe during the Middle Ages. However, he finds it interesting that cannibalism appears often in fairy tales such as this one. He states that "in the minds of the people, cannibalism lived on, if only as a nightmare" (Mueller 1986).
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41. A regular feast-day: A feast-day is a day designated for feasting usually associated with a religious holiday or festival. Feast days are often associated with the Roman and Anglican churches. For example, the Feast of the Circumcision is a feast day celebrating the circumcision of Jesus; it is celebrated on January 1st (WordNet).
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42. Red eyes, and cannot see far: Red eyes are an image associated with sorrow and with demonic fury. Eyesight is associated with mental perception, indicating that the witch's poor eyesight means poor reasoning ability, which allows Hansel and Gretel to best her (Olderr 1986). The Grimms are setting up the circumstances for Hansel and Gretel's escape from the witch.
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43. A keen sense of smell: The giant in Jack and the Beanstalk is another popular fairy tale villain with a keen sense of smell.
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44. When he's fat I'll eat him up: Fat on animal meat is considered to add flavor and tenderness to the meat. Lean meat is considered tough and less of a delicacy in culinary circles.
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45. Finger: "The forces of the unconscious that can emerge without warning and hinder efforts of the conscious" are represented by the finger (Olderr 1986).
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46. Bone: A bone can represent either life or death. It also represents the indestructible part of man (Olderr 1986). At this point in the story, Hansel's life is in greatest jeopardy. His fate is not known, but the trickery and symbolism associated with the bone foreshadows that he will survive the danger presented by the witch.
Joyce Thomas comments on the trickery and imagery of the bone. The bone provides the imagery of deprivation and starvation, one of the primary themes of the tale. Also, the bone Hansel uses "imitates the fate awaiting his flesh (the bone could well be the gnawed remains of the cage's previous occupant)" (Thomas 1989).
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47. Fattened so slowly: Trickery is one of the most popular methods for dealing with the evil in fairy tales. This implies that the trickster has experienced and accepted evil within him or her self, allowing "insight into the strategy of the adversary" (Jacoby 1992).
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48. Kind heaven help us now!: Gretel prays for heavenly assistance. Once again, these religious references were added by the Grimms.
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49. Oven: Hans Dieckmann's Jungian analysis interprets the oven as a womb symbol or symbol of birth and transformation (Dieckmann 1986).
Derek Brewer considers the oven to be both an ally as a form of destruction and a trap as a symbol of the witch/mother's womb. Consider this provocative statement from Brewer: "The womb will be a tomb if the growing individual is forced back into it" (Brewer 1980).
Jack Zipes also points out that the story of the oven as a means of execution in a German tale has been particularly disturbing for adults since the Holocaust (Zipes 1997). In 2003, author Louise Murphy wrote, The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, a book set during WWII and the Holocaust using elements from Hansel and Gretel.
50. Iron door: Superstition has long credited iron with the power of driving away witches and evil spirits (Waring 1978). Locking the witch behind the oven's iron door perhaps prevents her from escaping.
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51. Perish miserably: Burning occurs often in fairy tales. It is symbolic of purification (Matthews 1986). The witch being burnt can also represent evil destroying itself (Luthi 1976).
Gerhard Mueller, who has studied the criminological aspects of several tales, considers the death by fire to be suitable for the witch. In the Middle Ages, the charge of witchcraft was punished by fire. In other words, the witch's demise supports the due process of law in real life during the time of the tale (Mueller 1986).
In The Magic Circle, by Donna Jo Napoli, the Hansel and Gretel tale is told from the witch's perspective. The witch is under a spell that makes her eat children. She crawls into the oven knowing that Gretel will push her in and burn her, thus freeing her from the life she despises.
52. Then Hansel sprang like a bird out of a cage when the door is opened: Here we have more bird imagery with this simile describing Hansel's release from the stable.
Gretel is not the only fairy tale sister to rescue her brother. Also read Brother and Sister and The Six Swans on SurLaLune to read tales in which sisters rescue their brothers from spells or death.
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53. Pearls and precious stones: Hansel and Gretel feel no guilt for taking the witch's treasure, similar to Jack with the Giant's treasure in Jack and the Beanstalk. The witch's attempt to kill them and subsequent death is implied as justification for taking the jewels.
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54. Lake: Bettelheim considers the crossing of the water to be a journey to a higher level of existence for the children. He finds the crossing to be similar to the rite of passage represented in baptism or other riturals associated with new beginnings (Bettelheim 1976). In my opinion, this is one of the few elements of Bettelheim's analysis for the tale that "holds water," pun entirely intentional.
Water is a symbol of the feminine and of the unconcious in psychoanalysis (Matthews 1986).
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55. White duck: According to Diann Rusch-Feja, the duck represents a maternal replacement since it represents a feminine aspect in Germanic tradition along with swans and geese (Rusch-Feja 1995). The duck rescues the children when their own mother figures fail them.
The duck is a sign of fidelity and of freedom from worry (Olderr 1986). The "helpful animal" is a fairly common fairy tale motif.
The duck was added by the Grimms. It was not in the version of the tale they originally collected.
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56. Carry us across separately: Gretel appears to have achieved a new maturity with her defeat of the witch. She no longer needs to hold Hansel's hand, but can cross the lake separate from him. This also shows that she is thinking beyond her own needs and considering the abilities of someone--or something--else. She does want to overburden the duck, a compassionate thought when she has had few previously.
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57. The woman had died: The stepmother's death allows the children to come home to live with their father and share their new wealth without the threat of the stepmother. Her death also serves as a punishment for her ill treatment of the children.
Many critics state that the witch and the stepmother actually represent the same character or threat to the children. The witch is an extension of the horrible stepmother. The death of the witch also means the stepmother is dead. Their deaths are simultaneous in the story. The stepmother wanted to kill the children so that they would not eat the food she needed to survive. The witch's purpose was even more malignant. She wanted to kill the children so she could eat them as a delicacy, not even for survival since she had plenty food to sustain her.
In Brother and Sister, the tale blatantly makes the stepmother the evil witch who persecutes the children. There is no differentiation between the stepmother and the witch.
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58. They lived happily ever afterward: The Grimms changed the story considerably to try to justify the father's redemption and ability to live "happily ever after." However, many critics, such as Hans Dieckmann, find the ending disturbing and even unethical. "The father, who was too weak to resist the evil suggestion of his wife and with her abandoned the children in the forest, is not only not punished for his highly immoral way of acting but even gets to enjoy the treasures the children bring back" (Dieckmann 1986). Also note that part of their happiness centers on their acquisition of material wealth.
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59. My story is done. See! there runs a little mouse; anyone who catches it may make himself a large fur cap out of it: This ending reflects the oral sources from which the tale came. Storytellers would often end or begin their tales with short verses to set or change the tone of the audience. Verses at the end of the tale often contained a moral or a request for money as a tip for the story provided. Here the verse effectively ends the tale and makes a small attempt to lift the overall somber and scary tones of the story despite its happy ending.
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Special thanks to Danielle Green Barney who gathered many of the symbolism annotations when SurLaLune was an infant.
