Hansel And Gretel Gender

It is not uncommon to witness poor portrayals of female characters in early fairytales. Whether it is a damsel in distress, wicked witches, evil stepmothers, it’s hard to think of a story without any of them. When it comes to a strong, heroic, male protagonist, it is just as common as showing a weak female antagonist. The Brothers Grimm did not fall short of this trend while writing “Hansel and Gretel.” “ Hansel and Gretel” have all three of the shameful female characters and the admirable male character. Hansel and Gretel does not follow that traditional and favorable feminist view of women because the Grimm Brothers go along on the concept that women are weaker than men, which as been the patriarchal and societal norm.
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When Gretel overhears her parents plan to dessert her and her brother she begins to weep and says to her brother, “now all is over with us” (Grimm). The Grimm Brothers show her as being emotionally unstable and that she exaggerates situations. Meanwhile, Hansel remains calm and comes up with a plan to make sure they find their way home. It isn’t unusual to see the male remain level-headed and think carefully through a plan. They are never the ones worrying about what is going to happen next. It is always left to the female to overreact and cry. Hansel tries to reassure his sister that everything will be fine and he says, “do not distress thyself. I will soon find a way to help us” (Grimm). The same incident happens again when Hansel and Gretel are in the forest in the middle of the night. Gretel cried and asked her brother how they were going to find their way out of the forest. Once again, she is relying on her brother for help. It seems as if a female is incapable of devising a clever plan and will always need the help of a man. After Hansel guides their way back to their house, they hear their stepmother express her concern to abandon the children again. Once more, Gretel gets emotional. The Grimm Brothers never show Gretel get emotionally stronger, they just continue to show her in a weak state of mind and she never progresses. One of the only times that Gretel steps up and is a true hero is when she pushes the witch into the oven. The witch tries to trick Gretel into getting into the oven so she can eat her for dinner, but Gretel outsmarts the witch and burns her alive. Gretel’s act of heroism isn’t one to truly be proud of. She doesn’t guide her and her brother back to safety, but she murders a witch. The “positive” thing that Gretel does isn't truly positive. Another contribution that Gretel made was coming up with the idea to ride the duck