Dec Tale of the Month - Grimms

[Christine]

The Brothers Grimm are one of the most famous literary pairs. Today, they are remembered for the fairy tales, children tales, yet the brothers studied folklore. It is from this interest that the Household tales came about.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were born in 1785 and 1786 respectively. Their father was a lawyer, and their grandfather and great-grandfather had been Calvinist ministers. They were the oldest two children. After the death of their father in 1796, the brothers were sent to live with their Aunt in Cassel (Kassel). Eventually they both went to Warburg where they were supposed to study law, but they studied Medieval Literature instead. Wilhelm also had bouts of illness. In 1805, Jacob went to Paris to work. Upon his return to Germany, the brothers started to collect tales. During the Napoleonic wars, both brothers worked in libraries, and in fact, Jacob was sent to Vienna upon Napoleon’s defeat to reclaim lost Hessian work. Household tales was published for the first time in 1812.
In 1825, Wilhelm married Dorthea Wilde with whom he had four children. For a while the brothers worked at the University of Gottingen but were dismissed after refusing to swear the loyalty oath. Eventually they were reward a stipend. Wilhelm died in 1859 and Jacob in 1863.
Most of the tales the Grimms collected were from female friends, including Wilhelm’s future wife, Dorthea Wilde. Because some of these families had immigrated to Germany (or the German states) during the religious wars in France, some of the earlier Household tales have a strong French favor (Bluebeard appears in the early edition but not in the later). While collecting the tales, the Grimms edited them. In large part, this was the work of Wilhelm. Certain changes include making mothers into stepmothers, infusing the tales with more of a Christian reference (there are a series of religious tales at the end of the collection), and softening (perhaps coding even more) stories. For instance, “The Maiden without Hands” was radically changed. In their original copy, the girl has her breasts chopped off. In some cases, the Grimms made the female characters more passive as in “Cinderella”. In particular, this softening occurred in the later editions, after the stories become popular for children. Some of the harsher tales, like one about seven children playing slaughter the pig, were left out of the later tales. Additionally as translation and adoptions of the tale become popular, editors or resellers left out violent elements, such as the fate of Cinderella’s step-sisters.
Yet despite the editing, both self and by society, the Grimms have kept their fame. Not only getting a Grimm television series, but becoming action stars in a Hollywood movie. Their stories were considered so German that for a time after World War II, they were banned in German schools.

How do you feel about the Grimm stories? Are they too dark? Do you prefer them edited? Do you think they are overrated? Do you think some of the more deserving tales are under apprenticed? How came male writers/collectors of tales get more fame than women? (Think of Perrault, Grimms, and Anderson)?

[Michele]

Actually I would love to find a totally UNedited version of the stories, the earliest "purest" version possible. There's a reason these stories persisted, a reason they were told the way they were. Political correctness (even in its earliest incarnation) doesn't do myth any favors.

[Christine]

Jack Zipes has done work with this, not only in his various editions but in his book about the Grimms. Maria Tatar as well. Check out Grimm's Grimmest and The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales

[Krista]

I recently finished Maria Tatar's The Annotated Peter Pan (The Centennial Edition). She did a beautiful job weaving together history and Pan back story along with the original written version of Pan as well as the various versions of the play (since Barrie updated it frequently). She also explained how some of the pieces which are now politically incorrect were commonplace in the time of the work's original debut.

I would venture to guess her The Annotated Brothers Grimm would be a wonderful addition to a collection. I imagine it to be filled with history, interpretations for the time it was first published, and other interesting tidbits. In fact, given my new enjoyment with the TV series, I've decided it's high time I read the Grimm tales. If I can locate a copy in a local bookstore, I'm planning to pick up this book.

All the best with your search.

[Christine]

Tatar's Annotated Grimm is good. In fact, she has two other annotated collections, which are just as good

The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales

[Krista]

Thanks for the feedback, Chris. Headed to the bookstore tonight to see what I can find.