The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, named their story collection Children‟s and
Household Tales and published the first of its seven editions in Germany in 1812. The
table of contents reads like an A-list of fairy-tale celebrities: Cinderella, Sleeping
Beauty, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and
Gretel, the Frog King. Drawn mostly from oral narratives, the 210 stories in die
Grimm‟s‟ collection represent an anthology of fairy tales, animal fables, rustic farces,
and religious allegories that remain unrivalled to this day.
B. Such lasting fame would have shocked the humble Grimms. During their lifetimes
the collection sold modestly in Germany, at first only a few hundred copies a year.
The early editions were not even aimed at children. The brothers initially refused to
consider illustrations, and scholarly footnotes took up almost as much space as the
talcs themselves. Jacob and Wilhelm viewed themselves as patriotic folklorists, not as
entertainers of children. They began their work at a time when Germany had been
overrun by the French under Napoleon, who were intent on suppressing local culture.
As young, workaholic scholars, single and sharing a cramped flat, the Brothers Grimm
undertook the fairy-tale collection with the goal of serving the endangered oral
tradition of German
C. For much of the 19th century teachers, parents, and religious figures, particularly in
the United States, deplored the Grimms‟ collection for its raw, uncivilized content.
Offended adults objected to the gruesome punishments inflicted on the stories‟
villains. In the original “Snow White” the evil stepmother is forced to dance in red-hot
iron shoes until she falls down dead. Even today some protective parents shy from
the Grimms‟ talcs because of their reputation for violence.
D. Despite its sometimes rocky reception, Children‟s and Household Tales gradually
took root with the public. The brothers had not foreseen that the appearance of their
work would coincide with a great flowering of children‟s literature in Europe. English
Group: ORIGINAL EXAMS- DỰ ĐOÁN ĐỀ THI IELTS 2023publishers led the way,
issuing high-quality picture books such as Jack and the
Beanstalk and handsome folktale collections, all to satisfy a newly literate audience
seeking virtuous material for the nursery. Once the Brothers Grimm sighted this new
public, they set about refining and softening their tales, which had originated centuries
earlier as earthy peasant fare. In the Grimms‟ hands, cruel mothers became nasty
stepmothers, unmarried lovers were made chaste, and the incestuous father was
recast as the devil.
E. In the 20th century the Grimms‟ fairy tales have come to rule the bookshelves of
children‟s bedrooms. The stories read like dreams come true: handsome lads and
beautiful damsels, armed with magic, triumph over giants and witches and wild beasts.
They outwit mean, selfish adults. Inevitably the boy and girl fall in love and live happily
ever after. And parents keep reading because they approve of the finger-wagging lessons
inserted into the stories: keep your promises, don‟t talk to strangers, work hard, obey your
parents. According to the Grimms, the collection served as “a manual of manners”.
F. Altogether some 40 persons delivered tales to the Grimms. Many of the storytellers
came to the Grimms‟ house in Kassel. The brothers particularly welcomed the visits of
Dorothea Viehmann, a widow who walked to town to sell produce from her garden. An
innkeeper daughter, Viehmann had grown up listening to stories from travellers on the
road to Frankfurt.
Among her treasure was “Aschenputtel” -Cinderella. Marie Hassenpflug was a 20-year-
old friend of their sister, Charlotte, from a well-bred, French-speaking family. Marie‟s
wonderful stories blended motifs from the oral tradition and from Perrault‟s influential
1697 book, Tales of My Mother Goose, which contained elaborate versions of “Little Red
Riding Hood”, “Snow White”, and “Sleeping Beauty”, among others. Many of these had
been adapted from earlier Italian tales.
G. Given that the origins of many of the Grimm fairy tales reach throughout Europe and
into the Middle East and Orient, the question must be asked: How German are the Grimm
tales? Very, says scholar Heinz Rolleke. Love of the underdog, rustic simplicity, creative
energy—these are Teutonic traits. The coarse texture of life during medieval times in
Germany, when many of the tales entered the oral tradition, also coloured the narratives.
