Hansel & Gretel falls into a large cannon of European fairy tales catalyzed by cruel mothers, or stepmothers. But also, the tales we nowadays think of as having cruel stepmothers often started out with just cruel mothers. The Brothers Grimm altered details of the folk tales they recorded, sanitizing them to fit contemporary 19th century values; biological mothers were to be paragons of virtue, so evil mothers became evil stepmothers.
In Hansel & Gretel, Mama gets her just desserts. After the kids return to an overjoyed father, they learn their mother had died, “offscreen.” Almost too easy a storytelling strategy, I think: killing the mom sidesteps the awkward interaction that would otherwise have occurred. But the father gets to share the spoils of a happy ending. Why? Is he not equally guilty of attempted infanticide?
I find similar questions in other Brothers Grimm stories. Cinderella’s father married the cruel stepmother, and did nothing to stop her abuse of his only daughter. Same thing with Snow White: where was her dad during Evil Stepmother’s jealous tirades? It is always the female parent who is punished.
I’m curious: why are the stories so many of us consumed as kids saturated by the evil (step)mother archetype? Perhaps it’s a matter of record, all the Brothers Grimm’ fault. For background, they, Wilhelm and Jacob, were academics riding a 19th century wave of romanticism and German nationalism that brought renewed interest to folk tales, which saw these stories as reflective of German identity. From both peasants and higher-class acquaintances, the Grimms transcribed (and edited) old stories. They popularized some of the most famous fairy tales: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapnuzel, and, of course, Hansel & Gretel. The brothers lost their father and grandfather at a young age, and, if Jungian analysis is to be believed, perhaps these early losses impacted their perceptions of women. Analysts Alistair & Hauke ascribe to their family deaths the “tendency to idealize and excuse fathers, as well as the predominance of female villains in the tales.” But, in an academic debate highlighted by Wikipedia, opponents of this theory remind us that the Grimms were mostly recorders, rather than authors, of the fairy tales.
Perhaps stepmothers in particular were seen as evil because of the circumstances often surrounding their entrance into families. The 19th century still saw many women die in childbirth, and so stepmothers would be associated with the death of a biological parent, with fairy tales being cautionary tales about how stepmoms ought not to behave. The BBC additionally writes that, perhaps, these stories allowed 19th century readers to process “taboo feelings – like maternal rage and resentment” towards the often-younger stepmothers widowers took on.
Motherhood is no fairy tale. Complex emotions color one’s interactions with the child, the co-parent(s), larger family and societal structures, and oneself; not to mention the visceral changes that rip through the body after childbirth for some mothers. Economic and sociopolitical structures skewer through motherhood, influencing relationships (why were Hansel & Gretel’s family starving? Natural causes affecting food supply, or inequitable feudal structures?). I am familiar mostly with Western fairy tales, and within them, it seems mothers seldom win, or even get much sympathy. I continue to be fascinated with the roots of the evil mother/stepmother archetype, whether they lie in some collective unconscious, or are the manifestation of societal/authorial bias. Either way: I invite us all to look at the evil (step)mother a bit closer, and consider what, or who, made her that way.
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