My favorite scholarly article was the one I chose to write my scholarly paper on. The article was about filicide in fairy tales. I thought this article was really interesting. She argued that since tales were for adults, then aspects of killing children within the tales was a way to deal with their emotions and frustrations. The reason why I liked this article so much is that it used a lot of historical background to validate her argument. I’m taking a families and gender roles class this semester as well so I feel this article tied both classes together for me. The article was an interesting take on why children in fairy tales are often killed by their stepmother. I thought the article did a great job at making her point and I could agree with most things she mentioned in the tale. One part I’m not too sure about it when she said all mothers sometimes fantasize about killing their children. I don’t know whether that’s true or not or even how one could go about determining that since who would admit it. Otherwise I really enjoyed this article and am glad I stumbled onto it.
My favorite retelling of a fairy tale from this semester would most likely be “The Bloody Chamber.” I have never heard of any Bluebeard tales before this class but immediately loved the tale type. I liked Angela Carter’s version best because it went more in depth than other fairy tales we read in class. I also think this version had a stronger female lead, despite still not saving herself at the end. I liked how she had a family support system and the mother was the one to save her, not brothers. I also felt I could identify with the tale. When reading the part where the mother asked her “Do you love him,” that immediately made me remember when my dad, on my wedding day told me he would walk me down the aisle or gladly would walk me out of the building, it was my choice. So even though there are differences, I could relate with the female bride.

Make a post on your blog summarizing your learning experience over the course of the semester. What new knowledge did you acquire? What did you get out of the class? How are you rethinking the role of fairy tales and stories more generally in your life? This entry should be at least 3 paragraphs long. You can do this once for two ticks of extra credit.

Throughout the semester, I have learned to look beyond what the text is about but to actually put more in depth analysis to determine what the story is actually saying. Before this class, I simply took fairy tales at face value. I already knew the happily ever after meant the princess got her prince, but I never really thought about how these tales are trying to teach values to society. By placing women in submissive roles and marrying them off without it being their decision, they are basically saying women shouldn’t be able to make such big decisions. I learned to really look at the portrayals of gender within these tales and consider who and why the character is being active or submissive. I was surprised to learn about all the sexual undertones within these stories. The more modern retellings are pretty blatant, but as a kid, I never really considered Little Red Riding Hood and other such tales to be sexual in nature, partly because as a kid I didn’t know what sex was and as I did get older, I never questioned the tales I grew up with. Most of all, I think I learned to question what I thought was right about fairy tales and look at them in a whole new light.
From this class, I got the ability to understand how the text may be queering the tale, with aspects of same-sex couples, or really blurring the gender roles. I also think I am able to take away more of an appreciation for fairy tales. Before this class, I really wanted to take the class because I enjoyed fairy tales. I love watching retellings and have been a huge fan of “Once Upon A Time” from the start. This class had made me appreciate the tales more because I am able to put them in context of when they were written and understand what was occurring in society during that time to get a sense of why the tale was written in that way and why they were trying to teach those values.
Through this class, I feel like I understand fairy tales a lot better than before and strange as it may sound I also feel like I know myself better as well. Every week when we read tales and I saw that the woman was so submissive and had to marry at the end to be considered a “happy ending” it was really frustrating. Through my blog posts and my inner thoughts, I realized that I was being really critical towards the idea of marriage. I myself am divorced and while I am very happy with that decision, I didn’t realize that this experience has made me pessimistic towards the idea as a whole. I’m not saying I think marriage is a terrible idea but through reading these tales I have been able to tap into feelings that I otherwise have ignored. This may sound like a negative view, but I think of it as a positive experience. I’m glad to have taken this class and am surprised that it has made me view myself and my life differently and that it was able for me to vent to friends about my frustrations with how gender roles are depicted and marriage/divorce. I think this class has given me the opportunity to really sit down and think about who I am now as opposed to who I was years ago and to really understand why I am so critical with the typical “happily ever after.” On that note, I’d like to say thank-you for having this class. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and quite honestly, it was the only class whose readings I actually enjoyed reading and didn’t feel as if it were a task.

For my three fairy tales I used the D. L. Ashliman site.

Dschoha’s wife locks him out (Arabic)
In this tale, the wife is cheating on her husband so he locks her out of the house. She tells him she’ll jump into the well and throws a stone in to convince the husband. When he comes running out, she goes inside and locks him out the house. When he begs to be let in, she tells him that’s what he gets for staying out all night getting drunk and shames him in front of neighbors. In this tale, the wife doesn’t actually receive punishment for cheating and she outwits him. It reminded me of the Clever girl tales.

Unfaithful Wife (India)
This tale was similar to the first one, only it talks about how the husband has a younger brother and the wife keeps going to the Jugi’s house. When the husband finds out about it, he locks her out and when the stone is thrown into water, he’s scared of getting in trouble with police, so that’s why he goes to check on her. The tale doesn’t end the same because it continues to the next day when the husband gets back into the house, the wife is beaten and then later threatened that he’ll cut off her nose if she doesn’t stop crying. The jugi finds out and sends an old woman to come get her. The wife asks the woman to take her place. In the meantime, the husband cuts off the old woman’s nose thinking it was actually his wife. When the wife returns, she replaces the woman and cries about how she’s been wrongly accused and a miracle has occurred to prove it, since she has her nose. In this tale, it shows a bit of patriarchy since the man beats his wife and he doesn’t even see her as a person and for who she is since he mistakenly cuts off another woman’s nose without even noticing. Again, the woman tricks the man so even though she was punished at first, in the end she isn’t condemned.

Snow Child (Europe)
When the merchant comes home from being gone for a year, he finds that his wife has a son. She tells him it was a miracle, she slipped on ice and 9 months later, she gave birth and calls him a snow child. The man accepts the story. One day, he takes the son to another village and returns home alone and tells the wife that they were walking in the hot meadow and the son melted. I thought this tale was interesting but a bit vague. I assume that the husband killed the son since he knew better, but I don’t know whether that’s how the story was supposed to be interpreted. I also think it’s interesting that in all 3 tales the women weren’t punished for their misdeeds but in other tales when the women are simply curious or something else that really isn’t bad at all, they are severely punished.

Fertility Control
This article mentioned how men were seen to be active because their sexual genitalia penetrated that woman’s anatomy which was viewed as being passive. I think that’s an interesting take on it, but I’m not really sure how convincing this is. In a way it makes sense, especially since afterwards if pregnancy occurs, the woman is the one that has to endure changes for the next 9 months whereas the man doesn’t go through any change. The author used research to show how in the 1500s midwives helped women prevent pregnancies. During this time, women had more power over their own sexuality and reproductive system. They no longer had to get pregnant if they didn’t want to, but it makes me wonder, how many woman actually did have this option? Women also worked but still didn’t have equality. During this time, tales included women who used their wit to save them from punishment. This can relate to what was occurring at this time as well. The article says how extra marital affairs were common during this time and with fertility control, women could have affairs without getting pregnant. In the tales, women are shown to have affairs and don’t receive punishment from it so this could be speaking about how their lack of punishment is really a lack of getting pregnant and getting caught.

Discussion questions
1. Why do you think the women in these tales didn’t really receive punishment from cheating?
2. Do you think these type of stories empower women or show them in negative light?

Lily Glass
This tale of Snow White has been updated since the characters are movie stars. Leo marries a woman, Lily, who is about the same age as his daughter. Nivia is kept out of the limelight as much as possible. When she finally meets Lily, the tale is queered since the daughter and stepmother fall in love. It’s interesting how this tale changes the items which normally cause the snow white character to “die.” Since they are in love, Lily uses the comb to show how she cares for her and unlaces Nivia as opposed to strangle her with it. This tale also shows how Lily isn’t really true to herself, she changed her name and hides behind tons of makeup, making her unrecognizable. At the start she can’t even remember her real name. Once the two women fall in love, Nivia calls her Rose which makes it seem like the stepmother can finally be herself and is comfortable with who she is. I was a bit confused as to why Rose then dies. I wasn’t really sure how to interpret this.

The Shoes that were danced to pieces
In this tale, a king wants to know where his 12 daughters go every night dancing. A soldier meets an old woman who advises him not to drink the wine offered to him and to use an invisible cloak she gives him. The youngest daughter is frightened the whole time but the oldest keeps telling her nothing is wrong. The soldier follows them for three nights and brings back evidence to show the king. He finally tells the king they go dancing in an underground castle with princes. The daughters admit it and the soldier chooses the oldest daughter to be his bride. In this tale, nothing bad happens to the daughters for going out every night. The oldest one has to marry the soldier so that follows other tales how the woman doesn’t have a say in who she marries so she’s still submissive. In the end, the princes they danced with were cursed so it’s kind of a role reversal that they were punished, not the daughters.

Happily Ever after…
This article discusses the queering of tales. In sexing the Cherry, there is a version of the 12 daughters who danced their shoes to pieces and it speaks of each woman after the so called happily ever. The author adds the spin of relating the tales to Rapunzel, among others. I think reading this would be really interesting since it shows how not all marriages end happily and getting married doesn’t necessarily promise anything. In the article, it mentions how in these tales, the women have more power and speak for themselves. I was a bit confused as to what it exactly means that Rapuzel’s husband turns into a frog the first time they kiss. I realize it’s the reverse of the frog prince, but is it saying that not all men are princes/good? Fortunata, the youngest daughter tells her tale by saying she escaped marriage at the last second by pushing him and running out of the church. Her tale shows how she is in control of her own life and doesn’t want to become a victim of a patriarchal society. Another sister finds out her husband is actually a woman and kills her. I feel this may be trying to impose the idea that same sex couples are wrong. For a women empowering story, I’m not quite sure why this would be a message to include. Towards the end of the article, it mentions how fortunata tells Jordan that she has learned to dance alone, for its own sake and or her own. I like how she is her own person and realizes she doesn’t need a man or anyone else to make her happy.

Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think the stepmother dies in Lily Glass?
2. How do you feel about fortunata’s character being content with being alone?

Frau Trude
I wasn’t quite sure what the ending meant in this tale, but basically, it shows how disobedience, strong will, and curiosity are terrible things for women or girls. She always disobeys her parents and at the very beginning, it explicitly says, “so how could things go well for her?” When she goes to visit the witch, she is scared by a black man, a green man, and a red man. It’s explained to her that they are a charcoal burner, woodsman, and butcher. When she tells her she saw the devil in her window, the woman is happy by this and burns her saying this one gives off bright light. I understand the meaning behind the tale, but I’m not quite sure why the tale ended that way

Playing with fire

In the article, the author uses Queer theory to explain the tale. She begins by saying how the story is actually a “coming out” tale. With this in mind, the focus is put on women’s compulsion, fears, courage, and identity shift. In the tale, she isn’t punished for being curious, instead she is transformed. This gives her more freedom. The author uses the fire as a metaphor for love and passion. With this in mind, the tale doesn’t end there, it’s simply the girl and witches beginning as a couple. To further explain what is happening in the tale, the author uses the parent’s fight with their daughter to help explain how it’s a coming out tale. The parents tell her if she goes to Frau Trude, then she is no longer their daughter. The parents and the witch are in direct competition with each other. Using this focus of a coming out story, I feel the parents shunning the child could be how people might be afraid to tell their parents they are gay out of fear of losing their support. When I first read the tale, I was confused by the ending, but I no matter how long I sat thinking about it, I don’t think I ever would have viewed it in this way. After reading her article, I feel she made very valid points and I can now see how this viewing of the tale makes sense. It was later interpreted that the girl now burns for the witch and for herself. The flames are a symbol for life. I think when viewed this way, it makes sense. The girl has now shifted her identity to be more true to herself and this frees her from her repressive state and original form.

Discussion questions
1. When reading the tale, how did you interpret the ending?
2. Do you think the author makes a compelling argument?

This book was interesting how it tied each tale together by having the heroine in the story ask the donor helper, who she was before she came to be where she is and who she is now. It begins with a Cinderella story, in the “Tale of the Shoe.” In this tale, the prince was about to propose, but the heroine had to rush off. She tells the fairy god mother character that in time, the prince will find someone to fit the shoe if he looks long enough, she then asks who the god mother was before this. In each of these tales, the story is told through the point of view of the heroine. This gives the heroine more power since she herself is in charge of her own story. Also in each of these tales, they are queered since no one ends up with a prince with their happily ever after. In the “tale of the bird,” the heroine explains how she is a kept woman by her husband, not allowed to do as she wanted. She describes how she was happy at first but now, as her “belly swelled with life, the rest of her was shrinking.” I feel she feels as if she’s losing her identity and becoming something she doesn’t really want. In the tale of “the Rose” the bird from the previous story describes how her father sold her to the beast. In this beauty and the beast tale, the beast doesn’t turn out to be a man, but instead is a woman who hides her identity. This leads the beast into telling her tale, the “tale of the apple.” It is a snow white tale, but is a bit different since the step mother is only a few years older than the daughter and at first they were friends, until the father asks who is the fairest between the two which causes jealousy. In this tale, it’s interesting that when the heroine awakes from the apple caught in her throat, she speaks up and tells the prince’s men to put her down. Instead of ending up with the prince, she goes back to ask the stepmother why she wanted her dead. This is explained in the “tale of the handkerchief.” I wasn’t sure what this tale was based on, but the step mother changed positions with a princess and took on that role since she was a peasant girl. She was scared of being outted by the Queen at the wedding, but lucky for her, the Queen died. This tale kind of reminded me of the Prince and the Pauper. I liked how in this tale, she points out that they both “refused to follow the paths mapped out for them by their mothers.” This shows that they wanted to make their own lives for themselves even if they had to disappoint their support system. In the next tale, the horse from the pervious story describes a Rapunzel type story, a woman keeps her in a tower because she is scared of the forest. She even asks the woman to block the windows. She one day meets a man and then loses her fear and is angry at the woman for giving her exactly what she asked for saying that she should have known better than to give her what she wanted. In the tale of the brother, the woman describes how her brother was stolen and she blamed herself for it. She then goes on a search to find him and ends up asking the woman who took him, who she was. Her tale is the tale of the spinster, who promises her first born to a woman for spinning things into gold. After having a child, she soon regrets the promise despite never asking what her son’s name was or having any affection for him. The next tale of the cottage was harder to read because it was choppy English like how that character spoke. This tale was a Hansel and Gretel type tale with mention of gingerbread walls. She then asks the woman why she is so angry. Her reasoning is based on an all kinds of fur tale with the father wanting to marry her and the flower woman helping her stall by asking for the three dresses and then finally a cloak made from donkeyskin. When she starts working as a servant in the prince’s palace, she goes to the ball as in other stories, but when he doesn’t recognize her for who she is, she puts her ring in his soup, hoping he’ll choke, leaves the dresses behind on her father’s grave. The flower woman’s story is based on Sleeping Beauty, only from this tale, I took it as, the woman had been “asleep” the whole time, until being taught how to spin from the lady who lived in the tower. She wasn’t really living before this. The voice tale, is like the Little Mermaid. She fell in love with a man and asked the witch in the cave for help. In return, she took her voice from her. The tale has a lot of references to the sea and fishing. She noticed at balls, most of the women didn’t seem to talk anyway and the man she loved cheated on her. In the end, she finds a man who actually likes to talk to her. In the last tale, the tale of the kiss, the witch tells her how she came to be. When she found out she was barren, she retreated to the cave and found that people wanted her to be a witch ans cast spells and help them with their problems. A mother goes asking for help with her red haired daughter. This daughter comes to the witch with a basket and asks the witch if she put a spell on her parents since they’ve been allowing her to do as she pleases and asks why everyone is so afraid of her. The witch asked her for a kiss. From these descriptions, I imagine the tale is a loose interpretation of little red riding hood. The book leaves the reader hanging since the witch doesn’t really finish her tale. Overall I really liked the book, I liked how it linked all the tales together in some way. It made the heroines have more active roles and changed gender roles by having the men in the tales as non significant.

Snow White poem
I thought it was interesting how she was being compared to a china doll throughout the poem. They used this to describe her features and eye movement, but I think it also is a way to show how naive Snow white is. This poem stuck to the three same items as other tales, the lace, comb, and then the apple. Even in the poem, it directly pokes fun of her being so gullible going so far as to call her a dumb bunny. In the poem, Snow White never talks, the dwarves tell her to be careful, but you never get a glimpse into why Snow White is the way she is and keeps letting her disguised step mom in.

Psychoanalytic Study of the Grimms Tales
This article discussed the psychoanalytical approach to the Grimm’s tales. At the beginning, it mentioned how fairy tales could be responsible for someone’s dream content and mental health. I’m not really sure about this, other than the fact that sometimes things you read or see throughout the day can pop up into your dreams. I thought it was interesting how they talked about the ring and ring finger being a symbol for male and female genitalia and that this represents how in marriage, couples can manipulate each other’s genitals. I don’t necessarily agree with this, but it’s an interesting take on the idea. This article seemed pretty critical of their methodology since it only takes into consideration of the Grimm’s writings. I think this would make it more about how the Grimm’s view the world, as opposed to the broader context of fairy tales in general having these meanings. I liked the description of Hansel and Gretel being a tale about Gretel despite the title. The story is really about how she overcomes the witch and her struggle. She is the more active character, which is odd, since in most tales, the man is the one who does the saving. I was a bit confused when the article mentioned literal folklorist. I understand that they try to make fairy tales fit historical references, but I didn’t expect any other theories to be mentioned in the article other than psychological perspectives. It was a valid point when mentioning the bloody chamber as a the vaginal area and the key as loss of chastity, literal folklorists can’t really explain that, so wouldn’t that undermine their whole reasonings for other tales.

Deerskin: Challenging Narcissisms
This article discusses the tale of Deerskin. It’s much like All kinds of fur except in this tale, Lissar, gets pregnant from her father’s abuse and then has a miscarriage. I thought it was interesting that the article then went on to say that this was once classified as a tale for young adults but has been changed to adult. I can see why it is seen as adult reading, with the material the tale covers. In other tales, the skin is used as a degradation for the girl, but in McKinley’s version, it’s used for protection given to her by the moonwoman. I thought this perception to be more fitting, since if you view it as protection, there is no victim blaming as with many fairy tales. In the older tales, if one sees it as a degradation, then the innocent girl is being blamed for her father’s desire to marry her. Along with that, she’s treated humanely, unlike other tales when they throw shoes at her. This tale, from the description given in the text, makes it seem much more modern with how the woman in treated in the tale. Even though she goes through terrible things with her father, her gender doesn’t hold her back and make her the bad person. I think it views women in a better light with how she’s treated once the abuse stops than in most older tales.

Girl with no hands
The devil tricked a miller into selling him his daughter but each time he tried to claim her, he couldn’t. Finally the girl left her house and a king found her, married her, and gave her silver hands. The king went off to battle and each time the messenger stopped to rest,the devil changed the message telling them to kill the wife and child. Instead, they killed a doe so when the king got back, he was distraught and finally told that the wife was sent away. He promised not to eat or drink until he found them, when he did, the wife’s hands had grown back as a gift from god and they lived happily ever after

Juniper tree
A mother died after giving birth to her son and the man remarried. The step mom loved her daughter but felt the boy was in her way, one day when he wanted an apple, she slammed the lid of the chest on his head and decapitated him. When the sister found out, the mother said to chop him up and put him in the soup. The boy’s father ate all the soup and Marlene was very upset that she gathered the bones and took them to the juniper tree. The boy then came back as a bird and sang about how his mother killed him, dad ate him, and sister collected his bones. A shoemaker heard his song and asked to hear it again. He gave him red shoes and a millstone. The brother then went to his house and killed the stepmom with the millstone and him, the sister, and the father lived happily.

Sleeping Beauty
I found this version to be interesting since it doesn’t end with the marriage of Briar Rose. Once the 100years are over and the prince kisses her awake, the poem keeps going to say that they marry but she’s an insomniac and is afraid to sleep. I thought this was great to add since we can know get a better understanding of who Briar Rose is and the effects of her curse rather than marriage being the be all end all. I wasn’t really sure what the poem meant by she was in a different prison, but it wasn’t the prince. One line said “That’s another kind of prison.It’s not the prince at all, but my father drunkeningly bends over my bed.” Is this supposed to be a nightmare she is having about her father or is it implying an incestual relationship. I didn’t really understand the ending of this tale.

Frog Prince
This poem followed closely with the Frog Prince tale we read earlier in the semester. The girl loses her ball so the frog retrieves it under the condition that she will take him home. In this version, it goes a little more in depth by actually placing the frog in her bed “riding beside her.” The girl then is disgusted by this and throws him against the wall where he becomes human. It then says they marry, since he had compromised her. It seems like the prince then becomes too possessive but uses the excuse of now she can’t lose her ball anymore but is really keeping her enclosed.

Armless Maiden
These excerpts begin with how in today’s society, childhood is supposed to be a time of joy, play, growth, and exploration but for many children, this isn’t a reality. Today there are a lot of self help books to help adults who survived childhood. Decades ago this wasn’t the case. There is no longer silence about child abuse. She tied this into fairy tales by saying these tales show children that childhood is rough and it teaches how you should go on, toss off the spells, and pick up the sword. From there, it shows Jane Yolen’s tale that is very similar to all kinds of fur. A king is distraught when his wife dies and vows now to remarry until he finds someone as beautiful. The nurse is out to get the king so she invites his daughter to the ball giving her 3 dresses to stand out, one that shines like the stars, silver as the moon, and gold as the sun. The king ends up marrying her when they have a child, she also dies in childbirth leaving the king with another daughter. There was then a Donkeyskin tale which was a bit confusing since it changed from the Donkeyskin tale to a tale about a runaway and a truck driver. The only connection I got from this is that both daughters didn’t like their home life situation. Both were plagued with abuse. In the afterward, I thought it was interesting that the author discussed her childhood issues of having alcoholic parents. She ran away and wants forgiveness from her brother, but the brother says he doesn’t even remember a time when she was there. Throughout the afterward, she inserted parts from fairy tales, such as the Seven brothers, Donkeyskin, and Briar Rose. I liked how she uses her real life and relates it to these tales demonstrating that these tales, even though they’re old are still relevant today and that most people can relate to them easily. I know after reading some tales, I can very broadly relate to it in some level. I liked how she ended her article by saying “these are the stories for the Hansel and Gretels who are still imprisoned, and for the lucky ones, the strong ones who have found their way out of that terrible wood.” I think it’s important to view it as survival and overcoming one’s obstacles. Even though she still has nightmares about her experience, she is able to keep going and be strong and not let it hold her back.

Discussion questions
1. Throughout the semester, have you been able to identify with any of the tales?
2. Do you think it gives false hope to those who read the girl with no hands, since she was so pious, God rewarded her with new hands, do you think this is just a less scary way of trying to teach good behavior or is there something more to it?

Snow Glass Apples
The story opens with the snow white character being blamed for her mother’s death during childbirth. The story is told in the aspect of the stepmother and how she was simply misunderstood and after Snow white came back to life, many lies were told about her. It seems that Snow killed her father as well and is depicted to be like a vampire. The stepmother does remove her heart and hangs it on the wall above her bed. Through her looking glass, she sees the girl sink her teeth into a monk, she then decides to make her forest safe from the girl and poisons an apple. A prince then comes to her palace and has sex with her then finds the girl in her glass coffin, they then come back to palace where the girl takes back her heart, rips open her chest so she can replace her heart. The stepmother is put in a kiln and put to death in the end.

Gingerbread wishes and Candyland dreams
This article discussed how food in tales have a deeper meaning. In Hansel and Gretel, the tale is about controlling basic hunger. Bettelheim argues that it is a cautionary tale of oral greed. Gary wilworth revised the tale using it to be an interpretation of evil children plotting murder. I find this interesting, because even though the witch was wicked, the children were eating property and food that obviously didn’t belong to them so some fault can be pointed in their direction. The article also mentions how children are burdens and need to taught the economy of food. During this time period, I can see how this was the viewpoint since family sizes were larger than today’s averages and children were basically put to work as well and not really viewed as innocent. Bettelheim also points out that Hansel and Gretel are thinking that their parents are wanting them to starve but it’s a lesson on self sufficiency. I found it interesting that the article said how few American tales preach moderation except unless it’s about physical appearance. While reading this article, I kept thinking about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so when it was brought it, I wasn’t surprised. This story touches on Capitalist greed though the character of Mr. Slugworth. It always shows gluttony and greed. Willy Wonka uses candy to lure, test, punish, and reward the children. The end result is modeling moderation, obedience, and working hard. Before this article, I didn’t really put much thought into how food was being represented in these stories, I really only took it at face value.

Discussion Questions
1. How did you feel about the interpretation of the Snow Glass Apples?
2. Why do you think the prince stood by the snow character when he could clearly see that there was evil in her?

Clever Gretel
In this tale, Gretel is asked to cook chickens for her master and his guest. The master leaves the house to get the guest, Gretel starts to get impatient waiting for them so she drinks wine and eats both chickens on her own justifying it that maybe they weren’t coming and the chickens belong to each other. When the master returns, he sharpens his knife and Gretel lies to the guest saying he was only invited to have his ears cut off. When he runs away Gretel tells her master that the man has run off with both chickens. The master runs after the man yelling, “Just one” but the guest misinterprets his meaning. In this tale I thought it was interesting that even though Gretel is in a domesticated role, she is still portrayed to be smart and cunning. This tale is different because even though Gretel misbehaved, she got away with it and wasn’t powerless and submissive, despite being a servant.

Whetting her Appetite, what’s a Clever woman to do?

This article discusses two different tales, Clever Gretel and Clever Else. These are the only two Grimm tales named after Clever heroines. I found it interesting noting that the red high heels aren’t shown to display how she’s deserving punishment as in other tales, but that it shows that there is more than meets the eye. Kay Turner notes how Clever Gretel speaks to herself and to others in this tale. Her speech queers her to all those silent, long suffering heroines. Her words show how these two men who are supposed to be sharing meal actually don’t trust each other since they are easily manipulated. The Grimm’s title anchors the interpretation of Gretel’s actions as clever but carries a meaning of prudent, in the English language, the usage of clever moves us away from moralistic interpretations. In Clever Else, her parents wish her to marry and Hans wants a clever wife. When she is sent for beer, she sees a pickax and cries telling them that she fears her child will one day be a victim of it. Hans takes this as a sign of her cleverness and marries her. After being married, she catches her sleeping and ties bells on her. When she awakens, she’s so confused and no one recognizes her so she runs out the village questioning her own self. In this tale, the term clever is used more as a joke. It’s a put down and Else is portrayed as a fool. Her actions are a sign of her reluctance to follow the script, but her plea for help is unheard and she marries anyway. When Hans sees her acting outside the subordinate wife role, he tricks her by putting bells on her. Since no one recognizes her, she says “I must not be me” and is free to leave the village, she no longer has to meet expectations from her husband and father. In both tales, they break away from the norms of domesticity in different ways. Gretel temporarily runs the household through her cleverness, but Clever Else is no longer allowed in her husband’s home so she is free to become who she really is. I thought this article was interesting since both characters weren’t the traditional submissive types. Gretel speaks a lot throughout her tale and doesn’t face any punishment for doing wrong. Else gets out of a marriage that she never really wanted, whether this be viewed as cleverness or out of her foolishness.

Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think the Clever Gretel tale ended without Gretel getting any kind of punishment?
2. Since these tales weren’t meant as jokes, do you think they are meaning to put women down intentionally?