Witch (Hansel & Gretel)

## Witch

* True Form
* Disguise

*"Sweet children, I will grind your bones to dust
And mix it with your blood to make a paste,
And with your scrumptious skins I'll bake a crust
And your small fingers I will lick and taste...and make two pastries of your little heads."*
―The Witch to Hansel and Gretel[src]
A **witch** lives in the forest close to home of Hansel and Gretel.

## Biography

### Background

The witch lives in a house deep within a forest. The house is covered in candy to lure in unsuspecting children. Her eyesight is poor, hence she uses a magical seeing glass to see things from a distance.

### Setting a Trap

*"Sweet little ones, draw near, come close,
You're lucky to be found,
The Wood is very dangerous,
my house is safe and sound."*
―The Witch to Hansel and Gretel[src]
One day, she picks up an unfamiliar scent from within her house. Using her seeing glass, she sees two children, Hansel and Gretel, lost in the wood. Intrigued, she sets a plan in place and begins preparing to make a meal. Later that night, she lays a trail of breadcrumbs to her house for the children to follow.

The next day, the children reach her house and begin to excitedly eat the candy. The witch takes the form of a kindly-looking old woman. She emerges from the house, asking who is nibbling on it. She holds out a plate of cupcakes to the children and invites them into her house, telling them that they will be safe from the dangers of the wood. As they each take a cupcake and eat it, she touches their faces, explaining that her eyesight is poor. She hugs Hansel and bids the children to follow her in.

In the darkened house, the witch lights several candles. She transforms back into her true form, terrifying the children. She states her intention to eat them and advances on him.

### Preparing her Meal

*"I may be old and blind, and hobble with a stick,
But I am far too wise to fall for such a trick!
"I want to hear your shrieks and moans,
I'll beat you 'til you're blue,
I'll suck meat from your brother's bones
Then pick my teeth with you!"*
―The Witch to Gretel[src]

Over the course of the next week, the witch forces Gretel to perform slave labour and keeps Hansel in a cage, where she feeds him to fatten him up. On the seventh day, the witch calls Gretel to her and undoes her shackles. She orders the girl to lead her into the room where Hansel is being kept. Once she reaches the cage, the witch demands that the boy hold out his finger so that she can determine how fat he has gotten. She grabs what he holds out, but determines it to be a bone. She snaps it in two and states that she intends to eat him whether he is thick or thin. Hansel cries and she tells him to do so while he can, for he will be unable to do so once she has eaten him.

At dawn, the witch wakes Gretel and tells her that she intends to eat Hansel that day. She removes the grate from the oven orders Gretel to lift a log into it. The girl tells her that the log is too heavy, the oven is too high and she is too small to reach it. Frustrated, the witch takes the log and approaches the oven. As she bends forward, Gretel tries to push her in, but the witch is expecting such a trick and grabs Gretel's arm. She then threatens to beat Gretel and use her to pick her teeth once she has eaten Hansel.

The witch enters the room where Hansel is being kept and removes him from his cage. She puts down her walking stick and carries him towards the oven. Gretel grabs the stick and strikes the witch, causing her to drop Hansel. Enraged, the witch chases the children and Hansel steals her keys. The children remove the grate from the oven and lead the witch towards it. They push her into it, where she burns to death. Once the witch is dead, Hansel and Gretel take her seeing glass and use it to return home to their parents.

## Personality

*"Get up, get up! I cannot wait;
The oven must be fed!
Today I eat your brother. Get up! Get out of bed!"*
―The Witch to Gretel[src]
The witch is deceptive and bloodthirsty. She lures unsuspecting children to her home by covering it in candy and disguising herself as a kindly old woman. She enslaves children and fattens them up before eating them. Despite having poor eyesight, she is not easily fooled, as she repeatedly outsmarts Hansel and Gretel when they attempt to trick her. However, she is less careful when angered, which ultimatelly proves to be her undoing.

## Trivia

* The witch constantly speaks in rhyme.
* The witch in the short film appears to be smarter than her literary counterpart, who falls for the children's tricks such as Hansel substituting a bone for his finger and Gretel attempting to push her into the oven by pretending that she cannot lift the log.
* The witch wears a pair of long striped socks similar to the ones worn by the Wicked Witch of the East in *The Wizard of Oz*.

## References

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