Reading, Week 14: Brothers Grimm (Crane) Part A


The first stories from the Crane unit of the Brothers Grimm were quite enjoyable to read. I remember reading some of their stories in the past, but I haven’t read these before. I obviously recognized “Aschenputtel” as it is the original Cinderella story, but with the other two, “ The Fisherman and His Wife” and “The Robber Bridegroom” I had never heard of before. There were a few distinct things that set these stories apart from ones I’ve read in the past. First, these stories were super dark. The first one wasn’t too bad, with a valuable lesson being taught (which was don’t be greedy if given something good), but the other two had some pretty intense violence. In Aschenputtel, the evil sisters cut off parts of their feet in order to fit into the shoe that the Prince brought by. I wish Disney kept this in the movie, definitely would’ve added a more adult rating! (just kidding) At the end of the story, in traditional Brothers Grimm fashion, the evil sisters get their comeuppance when they try to be a part of the wedding – both of their eyes are taken out of their head, so that they’re blind for the rest of their life. Disturbing! In the final story, a woman is tricked into going to a man’s house that seems to be an acceptable suitor for her. When she arrives, she finds out he is part of a group of cannibals who are going to cut her up and eat parts of her. She winds up seeing this happen to some other poor girl.

Another important aspect of these stories is that the evil people always wind up with a punishment (albeit a bit more severe). One final detail is how rhyme schemes are used throughout to mark points in the story when similar things are happening.

"The Robber Bridegroom"
Drawn by Walter Crane

"Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm" translated by Lucy Crane and Illustrated by Walter Crane (1886).

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