Riassunto
Riassunto di Grimms' Fairy Tales
A chi è rivolto
For readers who love folklore, enchantment and dark fantasy, and anyone who knows these tales from films and picture books and wants the darker versions. Parents and teachers will find stories of kindness, cleverness, courage and magic.
Che cos’è questo libro
Grimms' Fairy Tales is a collection of German folk and fairy tales gathered by two brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. They were scholars of language and old literature, and they began collecting in the early 1800s. The first volume of Children's and Household Tales appeared in 1812, and the book grew through many editions until the last one in 1857. Their aim was to save stories that people told by the fire, in kitchens and in spinning rooms, before modern life made them disappear.
You will meet a stepmother who sends two children into the forest, a girl who sleeps among ashes, a queen who asks her mirror a dangerous question, and a small man who spins straw into gold. These tales are short, direct and often harsh. Hunger, jealousy, fear and cruelty sit beside kindness, cleverness and luck. In the next few minutes you will follow the best-known tales, see what they are really about, and learn how the brothers shaped them. We begin in the poor houses at the edge of the forest.
In questo riassunto
- 1Hunger drives children into the forestFree
- 2Envy turns beauty into a danger
- 3Goodness is tested and then helped
- 4Cleverness, greed and foolishness have their rewards
- 5Danger, justice and the lessons underneath
- 6How the brothers gathered and shaped the tales
Punto chiave 1 di 6
Hunger drives children into the forest
Many of the Grimm tales begin with poverty, and Hansel and Gretel is the plainest case. A woodcutter lives at the edge of a great forest with his two children and their stepmother. There is almost no bread left. The stepmother says the family will starve unless the children are taken deep into the woods and left there. The father hates the idea, but he gives way.
Hansel overhears the plan, and he is the first of the tale's clever children. He slips out at night and fills his pockets with white pebbles. Next morning, as the family walks into the trees, he drops them one by one along the path. When the parents leave, the children wait for the moon and follow the shining stones home. The tale shows how quickly a child in these stories must learn to think.
The stepmother tries again, and this time the door is locked so that Hansel cannot gather pebbles. He has only a piece of bread, and he scatters crumbs instead. The tale lets you feel the trap closing, because the reader knows what the birds will do. Lost and hungry, the children wander for days.
Then they find a house built of bread, with a roof of cake and windows of sugar. They eat without asking, and a voice from inside asks who is nibbling at the house. The tale gives no comfort in this scene. Every sweet thing is bait, and a famished child cannot tell the difference. The story stops here for now, with the old woman at the door and the children too hungry to say no.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Hansel
- Hansel is a poor woodcutter's resourceful son who faces hunger and danger alongside his sister Gretel.
- Gretel
- Gretel is Hansel's sister, sharing his journey into the forest after their stepmother urges their abandonment.
- Snow White
- Snow White is a king's beautiful daughter whose stepmother, the Queen, bitterly envies her beauty.
- The Queen
- The Queen is Snow White's jealous stepmother, who consults a magic mirror about her own beauty.
- Aschenputtel
- Aschenputtel is a kind daughter mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters while remaining devoted to her mother's memory.
- Little Red Cap
- Little Red Cap is a girl carrying provisions to her sick grandmother when she encounters a wolf.
- Rumpelstiltskin
- Rumpelstiltskin is a mysterious little man who offers a miller's daughter costly help spinning straw into gold.
- The Brave Little Tailor
- The Brave Little Tailor is a resourceful craftsman whose boast about seven flies impresses much stronger opponents.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 102,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 6 h 50 min
- Listening time11 h 20 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 10 other languages
Questions about Grimms' Fairy Tales
What is Grimms' Fairy Tales about?
It is a collection of German folk and fairy tales, such as Hansel and Gretel, Snow White and Rumpelstiltskin. They show poor families, cruel stepmothers, clever heroes and magic, and they mostly end with the good rewarded and the bad punished.
Are Grimms' fairy tales true stories?
No. They are folk tales passed on by word of mouth and retold by the brothers. The first volume appeared in 1812. They reflect real fears of the time, such as hunger and abandonment, but the events are not history.
Why are Grimms' fairy tales so dark?
They come from a harsh rural world of hunger, disease and early death. The tales name these dangers openly, and they punish wrongdoers severely. The brothers softened some details over the years, but much of the darkness stayed.
Did the Brothers Grimm write the stories themselves?
Not from scratch. They collected tales from storytellers, friends and books, then edited them. Wilhelm in particular reshaped the wording over several editions, giving the collection its plain, spoken voice.
Are Grimms' fairy tales for children?
The collection was called Children's and Household Tales, but the early editions were also for scholars. Many tales contain violence and fear. Parents often choose which ones to read aloud, and adults enjoy them too.