Stepmothers, Children, and Food

After reading various versions of the classic Hansel and Gretel in "The Classic Fairy Tales" book as well as the comments and critiques made in the beginning, I noticed a lot of the same characteristics in all of them.

First off I noticed the presence, as well as the absence, of food. Not only does it possess a great deal of importance in Hansel and Gretel, but also fairy tales such as Snow White (when the wicked witch insists on eating the heart and liver of the beautiful Snow White), as well the favorite Little Red Riding Hood (when the wolf eats the grandmother and then wishes to eat Little Red as well). Food also seems to be rather important in society today too.

Another thing that appeared the same throughout the different versions was the evil stepmother (well except for Perrault and Jacob's versions). For some reason the "evil stepmother/witch" is a recurring character in many classic fairy tales of the past as well as the present. Again, we see her in Snow White and Cinderella as well. And not only is she evil, but she is usually older and not the most attractive person. With children reading fairy tales that have stepmothers portrayed this way it's only obvious that they would most likely perceive their stepmothers (if they had one) in a similar, if not the same way.

One more thing found recurring in the various Hansel and Gretel versions is children who are victims of the story most of the time. It's possible that these fairy tale writers place these children as victims because they are infact victims in our society today. They are blind and naive to several aspects in life; and fairy tales are usually responsible for making them this way most of the time.