Hansel and Gretel

In Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm, the portrayal of women is portrayed in two different ways. Gretel is your typical young girl who is dependent of the males in her life. She is seen in the story has a helpless female who needs the help or reassure of Hansel in order to feel safe. She is your typical damsel in distress at the beginning and middle of the story. She is afraid and is constantly crying due to the fear of starving and being abandoned. By the end of the story she becomes strong and is the savior of her brother and shows great signs of courage. The other women of that are in the story which are the mother/stepmother and the witch. They are presented as evil women of the story. The mother/stepmother is selfish and shows no signs of remorse when she abandons the children in the woods. She is not even happy when the children return the first time she and the children's father leave them in the woods. The evil witch is a carnivore she eats children who come to her house or find their way there. She is blind but has a great sense of smell.I believe that it is due to these features Gretel was able to trick her and push her into the oven.



This story's biggest dilemma was that food was scarce which was what decided the fate of Hansel and Gretel. The fact that they were poor is what led the parents to take drastic measures and the lack of food made the children fall into the dangerous hands of the witch.