“Take out an apple for thyself,” and while the little boy was stooping inside, the Devil prompted her, and crash! she shut the lid down, and his head flew off and fell among the red apples “. (Grimms, 2016, p.193) Fairy tales have been a part of children’s literature for centuries, serving as an avenue for entertainment, education, and moral guidance. However, behind the happy endings and magical adventures, these tales often have darker themes that are overlooked. The Brothers Grimm’s fairy tales are no exception, with a significant focus on child abuse in its various forms. This paper aims to explore the representation of child abuse in Grimm’s fairy tales, its effects on children, and how it reflects societal attitudes towards abuse.
The Grimm’s fairy tales present different forms of child abuse, including physical, emotional, sexual, and verbal abuse. The neglect of children is also evident, as seen in tales like Hansel and Gretel. The story shows children who suffer neglect, abuse, and abandonment when their parents cannot care for them as stated in the text, “I will not do that; how can I bear to leave my children alone in the forest? -the wild animals would soon come and tear them to pieces.” “O, thou fool!’ said she, “Then we must all four die of hunger, thou mayest as well plane the planks for our coffins,” and she left him no peace until he consented”.(Grimms, 2016, p.74) The Juniper Tree is another example where a child is killed by her stepmother and her father is oblivious to the abuse. In the text it states ” and the Evil One filled her mind with this till she was quite wroth with the little boy, and slapped him here and cuffed him there, until the unhappy child was in continual terror, for when he came out of school he had no peace in any place “. (Grimms ,2016, p.194) It is interesting to note that the true translation of the text was not known until Maria Tartar and other scholars translated it, revealing that the primary theme of most of the fairy tales is child abuse. In Hansel and Gretel, for instance, the children face three types of child abuse due to the inability of the parent to care for them. The children faced physical and emotional abuse for example , ” The children were, however, still awake and had heard the conversation. When the old folks were asleep, Hansel again got up, and wanted to go out and pick up pebbles as he had done before, but the woman had locked the door, and Hansel could not get out “. (Grimms ,2016, p.76) Hansel and Gretel had overheard their parents’ conversation about their plan on abandoning them in the forest in order to survive and have more food. This is emotional abuse and betrayal since you overhear your parents wanting to abandon you and you can’t even leave the situation since you are locked in the house.
The representation of child abuse in fairy tales is a reflection of societal attitudes towards abuse. As argued by Anna Rohmann, a graduate student in their paper on Romanticism in fairy tales, what we perceive as abuse today was not viewed as such in the pre-Romantic era. The Napoleonic wars, famines, and the plague had a significant impact on society, leading to violence and neglect, which was considered normal at the time. Furthermore, the inclusion of violence, victim-blaming, and gaslighting in fairy tales is a reflection of the way society treats abuse. By seeing these themes in fairy tales in the modern world, the reflection shows that society has normalized abuse, like Rohmann explains in her paper,”The victim-blaming and legitimization of questionable parenting, gaslighting and trivialization of abuse and its consequences in fairytales is a mirror image of how society treats abuse. It is telling that most recipients of Disney adaptations of fairy tales do not even recognize the violence involved in them”. (Rohmann, 2020) Children were brainwashed at a young age to be scared and obedient, making them easier to mistreat. The depiction of child abuse in Grimm’s fairy tales can have a tremendous effect on children. Children are often exposed to these images at a young age, and the normalization of abuse can lead to its perpetuation. Fairy tales serve as cautionary tales, but they can also instill fear in children and make them more susceptible to abuse. In The theme of child abuse in selected fairy tales by brothers Grimm by Ansum Yarub he states that “The researcher concluded that the theme of child abuse prevailed in the tales simply because they prevailed in the time the Brothers Grimm collected the tales. The tales portrayed the reality of children’s abuse during that period of time thus they managed to live through many historical times and still capture the attention of the twenty first century reader for their realistic themes”. (Khayyun, Ansam Yarub. 2014) The normalization of the abuse in literature shows how society normalizes abusing children, which can look like neglect.
Parents prioritized survival, rather than the emotional needs of their children in the era of the Grimm brothers. Understandably so, trivialization of child abuse in literature reflected the reality of the abuse in the time period as well. Disney adaptations of the fairytales in today’s world shies away from the violence in the original stories, since today’s perspective of child abuse has drastically changed compared to the time period of the Grimm brothers. Modern conversation are vocally against child abuse, with laws in some countries protecting children from parents. There are greater conversations on mental health as well, including traumas, diagnoses and services to help people in need.The image of a child riddled with fear and is trapped in a situation, as seen in the picture below, can lead to trauma and anxiety. The potentially harmful effects on children after being exposed to these images at a young age highlights the importance of examining the potential impact these stories have on children.
“There are four types of child abuse; neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse and sexual abuse and in this collection of tales twenty – one out of thirty – six tales have one or more types of abuse”. (Khayyun, Ansam Yarub. 2014) .Grimm’s fairy tales present child abuse in various forms, including physical, emotional, sexual, and verbal abuse as stated in the quote. The normalization of abuse in these tales reflects societal attitudes towards abuse, making it appear as a joke. These tales can have profound effects on children, leading to trauma and anxiety. Therefore, it is crucial to revisit the representation of abuse in fairy tales and create alternative narratives that promote healthy relationships and positive values.
Annotated bibliography
- Khayyun, Ansam Yarub. 2014. The theme of child abuse in selected fairy tales by brothers Grimm. Al-Ustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences،Vol. 2, no. 210, pp.33-58.
- Green, J. (2020, November 30). The Dark Side of Romantic Fairytales – abuse in Grimm’s narratives by Anna Rohmann. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://nassrgrads.hcommons.org/2020/11/30/the-dark-side-of-romantic-fairytales-abuse-in-grimms-narratives-by-anna-rohmann/
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