Comparing Hansel And Gretel In Spain And Mexico

Summary and Response for "'Hansel and Gretel' in Spain and Mexico"
1. Summary
James Taggart’s Article, ""Hansel and Gretel" in Spain and Mexico" compares many forms of the tale “Hansel and Gretel” within Spain and Nahuat communities. Taggart illustrates the differences between these communities’ stories through comparisons of masculine and feminine variants and differences in societies and cultures, which all reveal the evolution of the Hispanic oral tradition. By making connections between the symbolic content of the stories and family structured alongside the theme of family loyalty and betrayal in the Hispanic world, Taggart strongly illustrates the differences between the stories based on where they evolved from.
1. Response
In almost all of the variants given by Taggart there is an old

This individual, as described in Taggart’s article can be thought of as “the personification of the destructive aspects of orality. She clearly could be the symbolic recasting of the stepmother whose hoarding of food has turned to gluttony” (Taggart). This stuck myself as particularly interesting, for a connection can be found in the final edition of the story written by the Grimm brothers in 1857. The mother, who is referred to as “the woman” and “the stepmother” later in the writing can be easily compared to the old woman who is a witch. After the stepmother is out of the children’s lives, the witch enters, as if to take her place. Both women have similar personalities, which can be seen in how the address the children. Both woman yell at the children, “ Get up, lazybones” as they demand them to do some chore, however the woman herself does no work (Grimm). They also both pretend to be nice to the children in the beginning, as to get what they want from them later on.