The Idea Of The Forest In Hansel And Getel By The Brothers Grimm

The idea of the forest whether it’s forbidden of enchanted has been ingrained in our memory all our lives, but how did the idea of the forest come about in each tale. The Fairy tale Hansel and Getel by the Brothers Grimm describes the forest as a dangerous pace where you can easily get lost. This tale forged the idea of the mysterious dangerous forest based on an actual forrest in Greater London and Essex called the Epping forest. The main focus is how forests teach us lessons through emotion and connection to the characters and events. This paper will discus the idea of the woods, how the emotions are translated through the tales, and how fairy tales teach us different lessons through the idea of the woods. All these ideas will be focused towards Hansel and Gretel and not the average forest for fairy tales.
The forest in Hansel and Gretel is a lot like the forest in many fairy tales; deep, frightening and very easy to get lost in. Each time the kids are left by the parents they fall asleep and when they wake up it’s very dark and Gretel begins to cry while Hansel tried to be the brave brother for his sister while he was still a bit afraid himself. “ ‘We’ll find a way back,’ but they didn’t find it… they couldn’t find …show more content…
During the time that the Brother Grimm wrote this Germany was at a time of battle. They were fighting along side Napoleon’s Grande Armée and were invading Russia. During this time husbands were taken from their wife’s and children and Russia eventually invaded into Germany as well (Leighton). It was a time of fear and poverty for both German people and the characters of Hansel and Gretel. This story was so close to home it gave a little hope that there is a way to survive and that if you stick with your family you will make it. In addition, the hard decision that the parents made, to keep the kids or get rid of them to save themselves, was a reality for these