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Hansel and Gretel Characters

Characters  Brothers Grimm

Evaluation of features, actions, and characteristics of literary characters from the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel by Brothers Grimm. It includes qualities of Hansel and Gretel as major characters and minor characters such as the witch, their parents, etc.
  • Hansel
  • Gretel
  • Witch
  • Father
  • Mother

Further study

  • Hansel and Gretel Book
  • Hansel and Gretel Analysis
  • Hansel and Gretel Summary
  • Brothers Grimm Biography

Hansel

The main character of the fairy tale. He is portrayed as a resourceful, wise, and sensitive boy. His love for his sister is the main driver of his strength. He shows us his ingenuity for the first time when he remembers throwing pebbles while leaving home. Later we see again how smart he is, but also brave.

While the evil witch holds them captive, he is moral support to his younger sister. Although his life is in danger at first, he always puts her needs before his. As an older brother, he does everything in his power to encourage and protect her. Although there are moments when he is also afraid, he skillfully hides it because he does not want Gretel to see it. The most important thing to him is that she thinks everything will be fine. Which is what happens in the end.

Gretel

The main heroine of the fairy tale. Hansel’s younger sister, who is much more sensitive and timid than him. She is much scarier and cries very easily. She is a good soul and every piece of bread she gives to her brother first, then she takes some for himself.

Although at the beginning it seems to us that she is afraid of everything, she is the one who opposed the evil witch and freed them from captivity. She showed great courage. She saved her brother and herself from certain death.

Witch

She lived in a candy house. With that, she managed to lure the children inside and eventually ate them. She had planned to eat Hansel, but she didn't succeed. She is evil and malicious. She finds all sorts of ways to bring the children into her house. She thought that Hansel and Gretel were as naive as all the children before them, but she was wrong. They outsmarted her. She did not expect that two such small children would show such courage. And she lost the battle with them. Good has defeated evil.

Father

Although he falls under the influence of his wife who persuades him to leave the children in the woods, he has a kind soul. He is hardworking and fights for his family. He hopes that the children will return home and is sincerely happy with their return in the end. He fell under the influence of an evil woman and renounced his children, which is incomprehensible. Later, he realizes that his children are the most important thing in his life and that he must fight for them.

Mother

Another example of an evil woman who does something that’s not even imaginable today. She persuades her husband to give up his own children for her own benefit. Instead of being their mother, loving them, and fighting for them, she turns her back on them, leaves them, and almost takes them to their deaths.

Further study

  • Hansel and Gretel Book
  • Hansel and Gretel Analysis
  • Hansel and Gretel Summary
  • Brothers Grimm Biography

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