Hansel

*"Clever, trixie boys will never grow fat;
But I will eat you thick or thin, you skinny little brat!
Good! Weep and cry your last, my clever sweet
You can't cry when you're ground to tender meat!"*
―The Witch to Hansel[src]
**Hansel** is the brother of Gretel.

## Biography

### Getting Lost

Hansel lives with his sister Gretel and their parents. They live a happy and carefree life, with the children often getting up to mischief. One of their favourites is for Gretel to get on her hands and knees as Hansel stands on her back and sneaks cookies from the cookie jar, with the children sitting on the kitchen floor afterwards and eating the cookies before being caught be their parents.

One morning, the children sneak away to play in the nearby wood, despite their parents having warned them never to enter the wood alone. Hansel plays with a branch by swinging it around before Gretel asks him how they will get home. He produces a loaf of bread and they leave behind a trail that they can later follow to get back home. They have fun playing in the stream for a while before deciding to return home.

Unfortunately, as the children follow the trail of breadcrumbs, they discover that it has been eaten by ducks. Realizing that they are lost, Hansel becomes frightened and begins to cry, at which point Gretel hugs and comforts him. They sleep in the wood that night.

### Finding the Trail

*"Gretel?"*
―Hansel[src]
The next morning, Hansel wakes after dreaming of nightmarish images. He looks around for Gretel, but she is nowhere to be seen. He calls out for her and then sees her in the distance. He calls him towards her and he runs up and hugs her. She informs him that she has found the trail and they begin to follow it.

The trail leads the children through an unfamiliar landscape until they reach a house made of candy. Overcome with excitement, they begin to eat it. The door opens and a kindly-looking old woman emerges. She invites them in, warning them that the wood is dangerous and they will be safe in her house. As they approach, she holds a plate of cupcakes out to them. They each take a cupcake and as they eat, she reaches out and touches each of their faces, explaining that her eyes have grown weak in her old age.

The woman leads the children into the house, but it is dark inside. She lights several candles and the children are terrified to see that she has transformed into a hideous witch. She declares her intention to eat them and advances on them.

### Captivity

Over the course of the next week, the witch locks Hansel in a cage and feeds him to fatten him up, while she forces Gretel to perform slave labour. On the seventh day, Gretel leads the witch into the room where Hansel is being kept. The witch demands to feel Hansel's finger to determine how fat he has gotten. In an attempt to trick her, he holds out a bone, but she is not fooled. The witch tells him that she intends to eat him thick or thin and Hansel begins to cry. The witch tells him to cry while he still can, for he will be unable to once she has eaten him.

The next dawn, Hansel desperately attempts to escape from his cage as the witch approaches. She takes him from the cage and puts down her walking stick as she carries him towards the oven. Gretel grabs the walking stick and strikes the witch with it, causing her to release Hansel. As the enraged witch chases after them, Hansel steals her keys. Taking advantage of her poor eyesight, the children open the grate and trick her into running towards the oven. They push her into it and she burns to death. Hansel then takes the witch's magic seeing glass and uses it to find their house. He loses track of it as they make their way through the wood, but Gretel takes the glass and finds it again. They run towards it and are overjoyed to be reunited with their relieved parents.

## Personality

Hansel is a carefree and happy little boy who loves to play with his sister Gretel. He becomes scared and begins to cry when he and Gretel get lost in the wood close to their home. Once they are captured by the Witch, he attempts to stay strong and survive despite the terror he feels. He and his sister overcome their fear and work together to defeat the witch and return to their parents.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Eggers, Robert, *Hansel & Gretel*, USA, March 12, 2007