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Perhaps we are all scarred from childhood fairy tales being especially brutal, but somehow, by the end of reading Hansel and Gretel, I had fully glossed over the fact that two parents willingly abandoned their children. It got me thinking: why? Why is this plot point planted so casually?

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give context on Hansel and Gretel and how when first read or even trying to recall the story from a long time ago, the childhood abandonment feature can often be forgotten in comparison to the candy house and evil cannibalistic witch.

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do these tales mirror the social contexts in which they are written? Or are they just fictionalizing common human fears, like children's fear of abandonment?  I will take an indirect research approach, where I will connect research on relevant historical contexts with the themes in the stories themselves. To summarize, my research question will be: What correlations exist between depictions of childhood abandonment in fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel and closely related tales across various global regions and the historical contexts of the respective time periods?

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I will be analyzing the historical context surrounding these related stories across various areas and drawing connections between the stories themselves and the environmental influence that may have contributed to the spread and causality of child abandonment in children's literature.

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Have the close reading of hansel and gretel, may want to edit to reflect focus on the abandonment side of things rather than family dynamic (not too hard, very similar features because the family dynamic for sure plays a role in the history as well at the time)

Speak on the fact that this is the original Hansel and gretel

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The historical context is that Germany had been under French rule for about 20 years; though this brought good reforms and unification, the people were still in a time of war.

Germany was under French rule and influence for so long without their own identity→ how did France's rule influence the literature (was it more satire or serious?), were they strict with freedom of the press? Other ideas to find more correlations

Find a good quote and analyze → something along the lines of… (quote act as a description of hardships within the war and how the poverty was effected) then analyze how these specific hardships could lead to a lack of substance, resources, food, and weather I believe families would go to such extremes as to abandon their children in early Germany.

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Little Thumb was written in France around 1889

The story revolves around a woodcutter and his wife who, burdened by poverty and their seven children, decide to abandon the children in the forest due to famine

Similarly to Hansel and gretel a path of pebbles and then breadcrumbs are laid out but eventually they do get lost.

interesting compare and contrast piece to Hansel and Gretel because it shares similarities but also key differences such that the evil parent is the father (same with Juan and Maria another rendition)

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Article about child abandonment in 18th century France

The source is particularly valuable to my research due to its specific exploration of child abandonment practices in the 18th century

The story "Little Thumb" was written later, this source sheds new light on how France dealt with abandonment on a broader scale.

More specifically focuses on the childhood abandonment aspect than the historical context

Should find another source regarding the actually time period to see what was going on in france at the time of little thumb and tie together with the other article and make relations to overall topics

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Jan and Hanna is a Polish rendition of Hansel and Gretel

This tale is a Slavic story from present-day eastern Germany and western Poland

The story similarly depicts a famine and childhood abandonment due to the hardships of the family

However, the tale has names reflective of its origin and also mentions having a whole ‘flock’ of children but only two were abandoned

I would like to draw similarities about famine and why famine is such a leading cause in stories regarding childhood abandonment.

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the partitions placed on Poland in the late 1700s and its effect on the country could be a hige speaking topic

I hope to speak on the impact this must have had at the time period and relate it to the story from the time period

Also follows similar format

Interesting how poland, germany, and France were all intertwined in history at this moment as well→ and correlation? Trade? Word of mouth from travelers about this story?

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Some evidence needs to be combed through more for specifics

Stories should be re-read and analyzed thoroughly

More sources could be helpful (regarding how all the regions are related? How was this time for that part of the world as a whole? Other scholars that have spoken on child abandonment in literature or in fairy tales to interact with?

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Need an argument source that thinks fairy tales are fully fiction

Someone that has spoken on the environmental influences on fairy tales would be nice to interact with

Know of no other scholars who have researched this specific topic (yay! original)

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Yayaya wrap up all points, leave no questions

No call to action, too many years ago, but encouraged to think on what they have read

Message/ significance is that yes, history influences the stories we read, what to do with this information is unsure– I was just curious about it, driving my research

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Don't know where research will take me so it may be too soon to plan a conclusion...

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Don't know where research will take me so it may be too soon to plan a conclusion...

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That being said, the research supports my guiding assumptions which are that these sources, at least on some level, likely reflect the values and tendencies of the economic class of people reflected. I will ensure a direct correlation is made between the tales themselves and the scholarly articles in order to make the paper credible.

I may decide to keep looking into hansel and gretel and figure out how it made its way to western culture since all of my locations are from europe area