Dynamic Characters In The Tale Of Hansel And Gretel

the country house of Bluebeard and all his properties, becoming an independent and dynamic character both economically and socially.
Bluebeard is not the only example of fairytale that can be analyzed from a feminist perspective. Allison Lurie suggests that fairytales can be seen as first experiments of a women’s narrative “throughout Europe ... the story-tellers from whom the Grimm Brothers and their followers heard them were most women; in some areas they were all women (sic)” (Lurie, 42). Furthermore, she tries to analyze the social structure of folktales, aiming to demonstrate that female figures can be dynamic characters, and to make her point, she takes Gretel of the Grimm’s story as an example. In contrast with Lurie, Lieberman argues

Even though she is not presented as a good figure, she is indeed an independent and active character. The tale of “Hansel and Gretel” presents several powerful human figures, the problem is that “powerful, bad, older women appear to outnumber powerful,good ones.A certain number of these are also not fully human; they are fairies, witches, trolls, or Ogressess” (Lieberman, 397). The witch herself is another important figure that can be read through a feminist approach. Even though she is the villain of the story, she is presented as a person who has supremacy over others. She is wicked, yet powerful. The problem with figures such the stepmother or the witch is that their negative portrayal as terrible figures reinforces a sexist vision of women. The author Ruth Bottigheimer in her feminist study of the Grimm’s stories discovered that in such tales there is always a tendency to accuse women, to depict females as Eve, as sinners or witches. (Bottigheimer,

Gretel is not an exception. At the beginning of the fairytale she appears as a scared and weak child when she,together with her brother Hansel, discovers her parents’ proposal to leave them into the woods “Gretel cried bitter tears and said to Hansel, "It is over with us!”/"Be quiet, Gretel," said Hansel, "and don't worry. I know what to do” (Grimm, 79). He is Hansel the one in control of the situation: not only he has the idea of using the pebbles as tools to find the way home, but he is also the one who comforts her sister “Gretel began to cry and said, "How will we get out of woods?”/Hansel comforted her, "Wait a little until the moon comes up, and then we'll find the way”(80). Moreover, he is so witty that he even manages to trick the wicked witch, which in contrast to the stepmother, is an evil supernatural creature. In contrast to that, Gretel is always shown as submissive and defenseless; she does what the witch commands her and she is unable to do something because she is always scared or desperate “Gretel began to cry, but it was all for nothing. She had to do what the witch demanded […]Oh, how the poor little sister sobbed as she was forced to carry the water, and how the tears streamed down her cheeks! […]”