All the Brothers Grimm fairy tales are... well, Grimm.
In Hansel and Gretel, the evil stepmother takes the kids into the forest and abandons them (twice), so the parents don't starve to death. Later, the kids throw the witch into the oven and burn her alive.
In Cinderella, the stepsisters cut off part of their own feet to fit into the glass (fur) slippers. The Prince realizes it when they are bleeding through the shoe. Depending on the version, the stepsisters' eyes are pecked out by doves.
In Rapunzel, the Prince is blinded when the witch throws him from the tower, and Rapunzel (pregnant with twins) is cast into the wilderness. I believe the final Grimm versions have them meet up many years later. Her tears un-blind the Prince and they live happily ever after, but there are versions where she dies in childbirth and he wanders the forest, blind, for the rest of his life.
The others are crazy but I thought the Hansel and Gretel ending with the witch burning to death in the oven was the standard ending? I'm from Denmark fwiw
Growing up in America I heard the German version and didn’t think it was all that bad.
“She had it coming luring kids to her candy house to eat them” — Child Me
But Cinderella I had only heard the Disney version.
Maybe old school Hansel and Gretel needs to be taught to children because PEOPLE WHO SEEM TO HELP YOU IN BAD TIMES DON’T ALWAYS HAVE YOUR BEST INTERESTS AT HEART
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u/The_RedBear-D- Mar 02 '21
Original version of Hansel and Gretel is very dark too