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The Grim(m) Message About Adults in Fairy Tales

Rapunzel and Hansel and Gretel both teach children that adults are selfish and/or abusive

and can therefore not be trusted, whether they are family related by blood, family by law, or

strangers. While children have traditionally been taught not to trust everybody, particularly

strangers, it has also been established that children can generally trust adults, especially their

own family. The Grimm Brothers, however, teach a contradictory message.

In Rapunzel, Rapunzels father commits burglary by stealing rampion from his

neighbors garden. When his neighbor, an enchantress, catches him in the act, Rapunzels father

explains that he stole the rampion because his wife would die without it (Grimm, Rapunzel),

but the traditionally moral thing to do would have been to explain the situation then ask the

enchantress for rampion instead of committing a crime. This is the first sign in Rapunzel that

adults cannot be trusted. The witch goes on to listen to the mans explanation, and she shows

some sympathy towards him. She tells him he can take as much rampion as he would like under

one condition: the child his wife was pregnant with would have to be handed over to her. The

man, in his fear, agrees. This is the second sign in Rapunzel that adults cannot be trusted.

Rapunzels father allowed himself to give away his human child for some vegetables, an action

that does not conform to traditional values (Grimm, Rapunzel).

Once Rapunzel is born, she is given to the enchantress immediately. When Rapunzel is

twelve-years old, the enchantress locks her away in a lonely tower that Rapunzel cannot escape.

It is strongly implied that the enchantress allows only herself to visit Rapunzel (Grimm,

Rapunzel). This form of social isolation is cruel and a form of child abuse. Psychology Todays

Hara Estroff Marano proves this point in an article published in 2003:

Chronic lonelinessis one of the surest markers in existence for maladjustment. In

children, it leads to all kinds of problems[i]t sets in motion a course on which children
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spin their way to outcast status and develop delinquency and other forms of antisocial
behavior. In adults, loneliness is a major precipitant of depression and alcoholism. And it
increasingly appears to be the cause of a range of medical problems, some of which take
decades to show up.

This form of abuse provides readers another reason to no longer trust adults, given that the abuse

was committed by an adult.

About two years after Rapunzel is locked away, a prince stumbles upon her tower and is

immediately infatuated with her. He watches the enchantress use Rapunzels incredibly long hair

as if it were a rope to climb up the tower, so when he comes back, he does the same thing.

Rapunzel is frightened at first because she has never seen a man due to the social isolation the

enchantress forced her to experience, but Rapunzel and the prince start to talk, and soon they are

both fond of each other. The prince asks Rapunzel to marry him, and Rapunzel says yes (Grimm,

Rapunzel). The story states the enchantress suspects Rapunzel has another visitor. One day,

Rapunzel accidentally makes a comment about the prince using her hair as a rope in front of the

enchantress. The enchantress becomes furious and cuts off Rapunzels hair, stripping Rapunzel

of the one form of freedom she had; her hair provided her the freedom of allowing a visitor

besides the enchantress [the prince] to climb up into her tower. She then abandons Rapunzel in a

desert, presumably with no tools to help her survive (Grimm, Rapunzel). Even if she had given

her survival tools, leaving Rapunzel in a desert is cruel and abusive. It is physical abandonment,

which is when the physical conditions necessary for thriving have been replaced by lack of

appropriate supervision, inadequate provision of nutrition and meals, inadequate clothing, house,

heat, or shelterwhen caretakers do not provide safety in [a childs] environment, they grow up

believing the world is an unsafe place [and] that people cannot be trusted (Black). This form of

abuse is yet another reason given by the story to mistrust adults, and the story continues to give

more reasons as it progresses.

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The enchantress tricks the prince into coming into the tower by pretending to be

Rapunzel, mimicking her voice and using her cut off hair to allow the prince to climb into the

tower. When the prince reaches the tower, he is given the horrible surprise of facing the

enchantress instead of Rapunzel. The enchantress threatens to scratch out the princes eyes, and

in his fear, he leaps out of the tower. He does not die, but in an ironic move, the thorns scratch

out his eyes. He then wanders around for years until one day he finds Rapunzel. The enchantress,

to our knowledge, never feels remorse for her cruel actions or tries to save either young person,

showing her true wickedness according to traditional moral values. Rapunzel makes it clear that

no adult can be trusted between Rapunzels fathers selfishness and the enchantress abuse and

trickery (Grimm, Rapunzel).

Hansel and Gretel similarly show that adults are selfish and/or abusive. Hansel and

Gretels fathers wife (implied to be their stepmother rather than their mother) selfishly suggests

leaving Hansel and Gretel in the forest when the family begins to run low on food rather than

provide for them. The father initially protests, but he eventually complies (Grimm, Hansel and

Gretel). Refusing to provide for your children regardless of economic hardships then sending

children to live on their own with no parental support and guidance is neglect, which is a form of

abuse. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children defines neglect as the

following: Neglect is the ongoing failure to meet a childs basic needs and is the most common

form of child abuse. A child may be left hungry or dirty, without adequate clothing, shelter,

supervision, medical or health care. A child may be put in danger or not protected from physical

or emotional harm. They may not get the love, care and attention they need from their

parentsNeglect is dangerous and can cause serious, long-term damage even death.

(Neglect). The stepmother is most certainly guilty of neglect, and while the father initially
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protests her idea, he eventually allows the neglect to take place (Grimm, Hansel and Gretel).

Allowing abuse to happen when you could do something to help is just as bad as committing the

act of abuse yourself, and both acts provide reasons for children to mistrust adults.

Hansel and Gretel, unlike Rapunzel, takes things further and shows that adults outside of

ones family (whether by blood or through law/agreement) can also be unworthy of trust. Three

days after being abandoned in the woods, Hansel and Gretel find a house made of bread and

cakes. Its owner is a seemingly kind old woman. She feeds the children and provides them with

nice beds to sleep in, but in reality, she is a wicked witch who enjoys killing then eating children.

She locks Hansel away with the intention of fattening him up then eating him, and she uses

Gretel as a servant (Grimm, Hansel and Gretel). Cannibalism is ghastly cruel and has historically

been taboo in most societies (Bryner). The children manage to escape, but they learn a valuable

lesson from their encounter with the witch: they cannot trust any adults due to selfishness and

abuse, whether they are their own family or strangers (Grimm, Hansel and Gretel).

Rapunzel and Hansel and Gretel both teach children that adults are selfish and/or abusive

and can therefore not be trusted. This applies whether they are your family by blood, such as the

fathers in both stories, your family by law or agreement, such as the enchantress and Hansel and

Gretels stepmother, or a stranger, such as the witch Hansel and Gretel encounter. While the

dangers of speaking to strangers has been taught in many cultures over the years, it has also been

established that children can generally trust adults, especially their own family. Rapunzel and

Hansel and Gretel affirm the opposite of this traditional life lesson.
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Works Cited

Black, Claudia. Understanding the Pain of Abandonment. Psychology Today, 4 June 2010,

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-many-facesaddiction/201006/understanding-

the-pain-abandonment

Bryner, Michelle. Is Cannibalism Becoming More Popular? Live Science, 13 June 2017,

www.livescience.com/33341-cannibalism-on-rise.html. Accessed 22 Feb. 2017.

Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Hansel and Gretel.

http://germanstories.vcu.edu/grimm/haenseleng_grimm.html. Accessed 22 Feb. 2017.

Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Rapunzel. germanstories.vcu.edu/grimm/rapunzel_e_crane.html.

Accessed 22 Feb. 2017.

Marano, Hara Estroff. The Dangers of Loneliness. Psychology Today, 1 July 2003,

www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200307/the-dangers-loneliness. Accessed 22 Feb.

2017.

Neglect. NSPCC, www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/child-abuse-and-neglect/neglect/.

Accessed 22 Feb. 2017.