In my opinion, the most important aspect of the tale of 'Hansel and Gretel' is the forest. Not only can it look imposing, dark and frightening from the outside but its sameness on the inside - the seemingly ongoing tree trunks, the muffled sounds absorbed by the leaves and branches and the strange animals rustling nearby but out of sight - can create a great sense of fear in adults, let alone young children, and would cultivate the sense of abandonment if lost inside. My film of 'Hansel and Gretel' would therefore place great emphasis on the forest.
The forest in Hansel and Gretel would be a pine forest, full of great evergreens - their dark color would hopefully give the film an even darker atmosphere.
Hansel and Gretel would be twins aged around 7 or 8 years old and would live with their father, the woodcutter, and their new stepmother. In order to ensure the viewers know that the stepmother is in fact their stepmother and not their real mother, Hansel and Gretel would look like their father - blonde, blue-eyed etc. compared to the dark, more witchy qualities of the stepmother.
The movie could begin with a shot of the dark forest, and a voice over (perhaps from Hansel and Gretel's real mother) warning them never to enter the forest without an adult. This fear of the forest would be paramount to the children - who would really feel the sense of abandonment and lonliness once in the forest. However then the film could move to the present day and Hansel and Gretel sitting at the kitchen table looking at a crust of bread, with the stepmother looking into an empty pantry. The father, having been injured in an accident in the forest, is lying in bed unable to work for the foreseeable future.
After a few weeks with little food and no change, the stepmother orders the children to go to the nearby town (on the other side of the forest) for a doctor. She tells them she has to stay with the father to look after him. Although scared they go into the forest and begin to follow the path. However the path comes to an end and they have to venture into the dark forest without a guide. However Hansel still has some bread left over and begins to crumble it to make a trail for them to follow on the way back.
Night falls and they still haven't reached the other side of the forest. They lay down to sleep and when they wake up the next morning all the bread crumbs have gone, eaten by birds in the early morning. They wander blindly through the forest for many days, eating berries for food until they come across a clearing with a small house. As they approach, an old crone hobbles out and says that she will go with them and help their father, once her back has healed. (However her back is not really injured - she is just faking) She keeps Hansel and Gretel locked in her house for many weeks, working them to the bone helping her get well. It is only one night when Gretel sees her chopping wood outside that she realizes it is a trick.
Hansel and Gretel then decide to escape and follow a little white bird to the outskirts of the forest. Once they get there, they are able to find their way home.
They have been gone for many months and their father is well again. However the stepmother is still alive and there is no knowing whether there will be a happily ever after.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Post #2
If I were to produce a version of Hansel and Gretel, I would set it in a European forest, most likely somewhere close to the
As for the father and the (step)mother, I believe that the woman would be thin and petite, and the father, small and lean. I would portray them in the film like this to show that they are not necessarily bad people, and that they are just behaving in such a way to give their children an opportunity that they can not provide them, and/or uphold European standards of the time.
The main problem that would feed into the Hansel and Gretel story would be that the children need to be sent forward and become independent due to some illness, most likely the bubonic plague. It is not necessarily the parent’s choice to send them away, but they want what is best for their children.
The woman/witch that they encounter in the movie could be an outcast from society who was deemed a witch and ran away. One possible situation is that she befriends them and tries to teach them her sorcery, and they run away. When they come back, the plague is gone and has killed the mother, and the children and father live together in good health.
The 3rd darkest screenplay ever
Hansel and Gretel starts, “At the edge of a great forest, there once lived a poor woodcutter with his wife and two children.” Obviously, this is the sugar-coated fairy tale version. The house should be a small wooden cottage in a dark forest. The trees should be huge; while the setting cannot be so specific as to name a place one should think wonder what part of the Black Forest this is supposed to be in. It should also be completely isolated. As the father is a woodcutter, there should be plenty of crude, sharp, terrifying tools lying around as a motif.
There is a small cast. Brother Hansel and sister Gretel, close in years, a father, and possibly a stepmother. The stepmother role, which commentary points out was a much more common part of life, makes for an easy explanation as to why the mother is willing to abandon the children. I think one important addition is a bird, probably Hansel’s pet.
I don’t see much need for a specific instance (a famine) to cause the parents to abandon Hansel and Gretel. Since the movie is supposed to highlight the fear, ignorance, and need for storytelling in the real world at the time, stressing how hard life is should be good enough. Since the house is in the forest, the land for crops would only be what they cleared and supplemented with game from the forest. In such a harsh world and dealing with a stepmother, it would make sense for Gretel to get upset at something and convince Hansel to run away with her; only by quick thinking does he mark the trail so when they decide to return home they are able to. The second time they run away, Hansel only uses breadcrumbs which are eaten by forest animals.
After wandering in the forest lost for a while Hansel’s bird leads them to another cottage. An old woman lives alone; she is not a witch, but she is mean. She lets them stay with her but forces them to work for her and abuses them verbally and physically. The old woman eats well, mocking the children. After a month or so after some display of extreme brutality, probably threatening to kill them with some terrifying sharpened antique, Gretel yells back and forces the woman to impale herself accidentally. They take her money and Hansel’s bird leads them home. The movie ends there; it does not display a happy ending.
Stories are an important escape from realism in this dark, bleak world. One is told in the forest when Hansel and Gretel are lost, and at least one more is told while at the old woman’s cottage. I think the rose-tree should be told verbatim; it obviously contains themes similar to Hansel and Gretel to be grouped together and also incorporates the unsavory theme of cannibalism. I also think a story incorporating ogres and outwitting them by switching headgear with the ogre’s own children while they sleep is important because it brings up ideas of magical creatures and intelligence in children.
Song of the blog: “Zombie,” by The Cranberries.
There is a small cast. Brother Hansel and sister Gretel, close in years, a father, and possibly a stepmother. The stepmother role, which commentary points out was a much more common part of life, makes for an easy explanation as to why the mother is willing to abandon the children. I think one important addition is a bird, probably Hansel’s pet.
I don’t see much need for a specific instance (a famine) to cause the parents to abandon Hansel and Gretel. Since the movie is supposed to highlight the fear, ignorance, and need for storytelling in the real world at the time, stressing how hard life is should be good enough. Since the house is in the forest, the land for crops would only be what they cleared and supplemented with game from the forest. In such a harsh world and dealing with a stepmother, it would make sense for Gretel to get upset at something and convince Hansel to run away with her; only by quick thinking does he mark the trail so when they decide to return home they are able to. The second time they run away, Hansel only uses breadcrumbs which are eaten by forest animals.
After wandering in the forest lost for a while Hansel’s bird leads them to another cottage. An old woman lives alone; she is not a witch, but she is mean. She lets them stay with her but forces them to work for her and abuses them verbally and physically. The old woman eats well, mocking the children. After a month or so after some display of extreme brutality, probably threatening to kill them with some terrifying sharpened antique, Gretel yells back and forces the woman to impale herself accidentally. They take her money and Hansel’s bird leads them home. The movie ends there; it does not display a happy ending.
Stories are an important escape from realism in this dark, bleak world. One is told in the forest when Hansel and Gretel are lost, and at least one more is told while at the old woman’s cottage. I think the rose-tree should be told verbatim; it obviously contains themes similar to Hansel and Gretel to be grouped together and also incorporates the unsavory theme of cannibalism. I also think a story incorporating ogres and outwitting them by switching headgear with the ogre’s own children while they sleep is important because it brings up ideas of magical creatures and intelligence in children.
Song of the blog: “Zombie,” by The Cranberries.
Hansel and Gretel
The world I imagine that created the story of “Hansel and Gretel” is one of extreme poverty. It would most likely take place in a rural setting including a forest and farmlands. The characters poverty would be most likely caused by the unhealthy state of the farm such as a drought or infertile soil and consequently the family would be in the middle of famine. I imagine the main characters to be two children, a brother and a sister, similar to Hansel and Gretel, who are around the age of seven or eight. There would then be a mother and father who fear that their family is on the verge of starvation.
The mother, suffering from depression due to her family’s condition, is cold towards her children and wants them to be sent away. The father, realizing that his children will need food and proper care, decides to send them away to his aunt who works as an innkeeper several villages over. The children, however, do not want to leave their parents but are forced to go and stay with their aunt.
Once staying with their aunt, the children realize how much happier they are with fullers stomachs. But they also discover that their aunt is also not the most kindhearted guardian and makes them work very long hours with no play. The aunt then decides that she only wants Hansel around and decides to ship Gretel off as a servant to another family. Somehow the children escape and return back to their family and the farm where the famine has lifted.
In this version of the story, starvation ultimately fuels the parents wanting to be rid of their children and the mother’s state of mind helps to push this. The children must learn to live on their own and problem solve with their aunt rather than the witch in the forest.
The mother, suffering from depression due to her family’s condition, is cold towards her children and wants them to be sent away. The father, realizing that his children will need food and proper care, decides to send them away to his aunt who works as an innkeeper several villages over. The children, however, do not want to leave their parents but are forced to go and stay with their aunt.
Once staying with their aunt, the children realize how much happier they are with fullers stomachs. But they also discover that their aunt is also not the most kindhearted guardian and makes them work very long hours with no play. The aunt then decides that she only wants Hansel around and decides to ship Gretel off as a servant to another family. Somehow the children escape and return back to their family and the farm where the famine has lifted.
In this version of the story, starvation ultimately fuels the parents wanting to be rid of their children and the mother’s state of mind helps to push this. The children must learn to live on their own and problem solve with their aunt rather than the witch in the forest.
Assignment: 20 January 2009
Please respond to the prompt below by tonight (Tuesday) at midnight. You should place your response in a new post, rather than using the “comment” function. Later this week, you will be able to check back and see featured entries on our main page, The Philosopher’s Stone.
Keene imagines the world that created the fairy tales we read today in The Juniper Tree. Considering this Ur-world, full of poverty, fear, ignorance, and a need for storytelling, imagine what factors would lead to a story like Hansel and Gretel.
Pretend you want to pitch a movie that shows the world that produced Hansel and Gretel. How old would the main characters be? What would your supporting cast look like? And perhaps most importantly, what sorts of problems would feed into the Hansel and Gretel story? Use the week's readings to guide your thinking; consider the themes which appear in the various fairy tales from England, France, and Germany.
Keene imagines the world that created the fairy tales we read today in The Juniper Tree. Considering this Ur-world, full of poverty, fear, ignorance, and a need for storytelling, imagine what factors would lead to a story like Hansel and Gretel.
Pretend you want to pitch a movie that shows the world that produced Hansel and Gretel. How old would the main characters be? What would your supporting cast look like? And perhaps most importantly, what sorts of problems would feed into the Hansel and Gretel story? Use the week's readings to guide your thinking; consider the themes which appear in the various fairy tales from England, France, and Germany.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Bettelheim
I along with Holly would like to apologize for the extreme lateness of this particular post. I also had computer problems... I dropped my laptop yesterday evening (Tuesday) and when I tried to turn it on, it wouldn't. A predicament if ever there was one... but to cut a long story short I took it to my friend today and, after pulling it to pieces, he managed to fix it!! :D So I am now writing my post... at midnight on Wednesday rather than midnight on Tuesday. I hope I can still get some form of credit.
I was also much more interested in the Bettelheim article than the Darnton article. As a child psychologist, I believe that Bettelheim has a greater insight into the minds and lives of children than Darnton. Although Darnton is more of a fairy tale and folk literature scholar - it is Bettelheim that has a larger insight into the life of a child.
I found it really interesting how he discussed that meaning in the early life of a child can mean less psychological problems in later life. I had never really thought about how a fairy tale might be able to provide this meaning before.
For instance - I had never thought about the beginning and end sentences of a fairy tale. "Once upon a time" and "and they lived happily ever after." Although in the original German the literal translation of the end of the fairy tale is "And if they are not yet dead, they are still alive today." I had never really thought how discussing 'living' happily ever after would allow the child to believe that eternal life is not possible. When I was a child, this thought never occurred to me - in fact it didn't occur to me until I read this article - but I suppose it may have affected me through my subconscious. I am not sure about his point of view on this but it is certainly interesting to think about.
It is true however that the generalized nature of the characters in a fairy tale allow all children to relate to the characters and feel connected to the story. The simplistic and repetitive nature of the fairy tale - the repetition of the number 3 for instance - would also allow a child to make connections and begin to recognize elements occuring in each story. This perhaps would create a comfortable feeling in the child - fairy tales are all so similar that you can read new ones without feeling alienated.
However I do believe that fairy tales are meant to be read to children - not only do they provide moral truths for the child but the deeper and darker meanings behind the cutesy simplistic story make it an interesting read for the parent too.
I was also much more interested in the Bettelheim article than the Darnton article. As a child psychologist, I believe that Bettelheim has a greater insight into the minds and lives of children than Darnton. Although Darnton is more of a fairy tale and folk literature scholar - it is Bettelheim that has a larger insight into the life of a child.
I found it really interesting how he discussed that meaning in the early life of a child can mean less psychological problems in later life. I had never really thought about how a fairy tale might be able to provide this meaning before.
For instance - I had never thought about the beginning and end sentences of a fairy tale. "Once upon a time" and "and they lived happily ever after." Although in the original German the literal translation of the end of the fairy tale is "And if they are not yet dead, they are still alive today." I had never really thought how discussing 'living' happily ever after would allow the child to believe that eternal life is not possible. When I was a child, this thought never occurred to me - in fact it didn't occur to me until I read this article - but I suppose it may have affected me through my subconscious. I am not sure about his point of view on this but it is certainly interesting to think about.
It is true however that the generalized nature of the characters in a fairy tale allow all children to relate to the characters and feel connected to the story. The simplistic and repetitive nature of the fairy tale - the repetition of the number 3 for instance - would also allow a child to make connections and begin to recognize elements occuring in each story. This perhaps would create a comfortable feeling in the child - fairy tales are all so similar that you can read new ones without feeling alienated.
However I do believe that fairy tales are meant to be read to children - not only do they provide moral truths for the child but the deeper and darker meanings behind the cutesy simplistic story make it an interesting read for the parent too.
Holly Meehl's post: Bettelheim
Ok, first of all I’m really sorry this is late and still hope I can get some sort of credit. I went on the blog yesterday night and no new posts had appeared, I think there must have been something wrong with my internet, but when I checked it this morning I saw all the posts.
Anyway, I have to go ahead and disagree with the last two posts and say that Bettelheim’s essay “The Struggle for Meaning” made me think about fairy tales as more than just children’s entertainment. Although Darnton’s essay, as the other blog’s suggest, does talk about the many different ways in which fairy tales go further than entertaining a child, I liked the specific ways Bettleheim talked about how a fairy tale affects the child’s psychology. Rather than simply making a child laugh or allowing her to imitate the princess in the story she was just read, fairy tales are important stepping stones. As Bettleheim says they “carry important messages to the conscious, the preconscious, and the unconscious mind” (271). They are important to a child’s development as there are not other stories like them. They are fantastical and induce wonder and bring up problem’s that must be solved. Different from other children’s stories, fairy tales are often upfront and gruesome, and don’t pad down the difficulties of life like say the Bernstein Bears do. Bettleheim says, “The fairy tale, by contrast, confronts the child squarely with the basic human predicaments” (273). Fairy tales show children that fairness is not a guarantee in life and that despite difficult circumstances, life goes on.
The way Bettleheim describes the importance of the fairy tale to a child’s development rather than entertainment made me see his as the better essay.
Anyway, I have to go ahead and disagree with the last two posts and say that Bettelheim’s essay “The Struggle for Meaning” made me think about fairy tales as more than just children’s entertainment. Although Darnton’s essay, as the other blog’s suggest, does talk about the many different ways in which fairy tales go further than entertaining a child, I liked the specific ways Bettleheim talked about how a fairy tale affects the child’s psychology. Rather than simply making a child laugh or allowing her to imitate the princess in the story she was just read, fairy tales are important stepping stones. As Bettleheim says they “carry important messages to the conscious, the preconscious, and the unconscious mind” (271). They are important to a child’s development as there are not other stories like them. They are fantastical and induce wonder and bring up problem’s that must be solved. Different from other children’s stories, fairy tales are often upfront and gruesome, and don’t pad down the difficulties of life like say the Bernstein Bears do. Bettleheim says, “The fairy tale, by contrast, confronts the child squarely with the basic human predicaments” (273). Fairy tales show children that fairness is not a guarantee in life and that despite difficult circumstances, life goes on.
The way Bettleheim describes the importance of the fairy tale to a child’s development rather than entertainment made me see his as the better essay.
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