Hansel & Gretel

Introduction

The inseparables of the fairy story found among the tales of the brothers Grimm. Hänsel was a woodcutter's son and Gretel a little girl found in the forest. When starvation threatened the household, the woodcutter, at his wife's behest, abandoned the children in the forest. Hänsel laid a trail by which they found their way home, but they were subsequently again cast adrift. After several escapes from the wiles of a wicked fairy, Hänsel was at last transformed into a fawn and taken with Gretel to the king's castle, where Hänsel was restored to human form and enabled to marry Gretel. The story forms the basis of Humperdinck's opera (1893) of this name (Zipes, 12-15).

In Hänsel und Gretel, Humperdinck brought Wagnerian harmony and motivic development to bear on simple folk tunes (traditional and newly invented). The opera was a brilliant and immediate success, and though it proved an unrepeatable one, it became the only German opera between Parsifal and Salome to survive in the international standard repertory.

The Harz Mountains, near the Ilsenstein peak, long ago. Hänsel (ms) and Gretel (s) have forgotten their chores as they romp and play. Gertrude, their mother (ms), scolds them and sends them to pick strawberries in the woods. Peter, their father (bar), returns and is horrified to learn where they have gone; in the forest lives a wicked witch, who bakes children in her oven and eats them. The two rush out to find their children. As evening falls, Hänsel and Gretel are lost in the forest and afraid. A friendly Sandman (s) sprinkles their eyes and after saying prayers the two fall asleep, guarded by fourteen angels through the night. A Dew Fairy (s) heralds the morning, and the children discover a candy house surrounded by a row of gingerbread children. Starting to eat, they are captured by the Gingerbread Witch (ms; sometimes sung by a man), who puts them under a magic spell, locks Hänsel up to fatten him and orders Gretel to help with the housework. With bravery and ingenuity the two outwit the witch, break her spell, and push her into the oven where she soon becomes gingerbread herself. Gretel frees the gingerbread children, the parents arrive, and all join in a hymn of thanks (Ward, 1-26).

Discussion

Folklore is an important part of tradition. In general terms, folklore comprises part of the culture, customs, and beliefs of a society, based on popular tradition and handed down generally by the spoken word or by demonstration. In some instances, the term, folklore, is restricted to oral tradition only to separate it from the written literature. Folklore may include music and dance and various art forms. Stories, sea chanteys, ancient rituals, folk dances, and even barn decorating with hex signs may be passed from generation to generation.

"Hansel and Gretel" is a European fairy tale from among the many collected by the brothers Grimm during the 19th century. It recounts the story of a pair of children left to fend for them in a ...