Reading Notes: The Brothers Grimm (Crane), Part A

For an extra credit reading this week, I have chosen selections from The Brothers Grimm, from Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm, translated by Lucy Crane and illustrated by Walter Crane. I chose this unit in hopes of finding new twists on familiar stories, and was not disappointed. Within Part A, I found an adaptation of Cinderella called Ashenputtel, and a story reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel called the Robber Bridegroom.

The Bride leads her rescuer home through the woods.

The Robber Bridegroom
In this story, a maiden's father has promised her to a suitor, but the young woman has some doubts about her potential husband. Despite all of his attempts to win her heart, the woman simply does not trust him, and doubts that his feelings for her are true. Eventually, the suitor insists that his bride come visit his home, and leaves a trail of ashes in the woods so she may find her way. As the bride travels to meet her groom, she drops peas and lentils along her path.

Once in his home, the bride is met only by a bird, who warns her of the dangers that await her there. As the bride explores the home, she stumbles upon an old woman, who tells her that her "groom" is a member of a band of cannibals, who will force the old woman to cook up the bride for dinner. The old woman hides the bride, who watches as another younger lady is killed, cooked, and eaten by the band of robbers, who the old woman drugs into a deep sleep, allowing herself and the bride to escape.

The bride and the old woman find their way home along the path of peas and lentils. Later, at the wedding, the bride reveals the crimes of her groom, who is captured and killed by the bride's family.

Along with being generally disturbing, I found this story to have several major plot holes. First, why isn't the bride's community concerned with the number of young women that has gone missing? How did the old lady come to work for the band of robbers? Why should the bride burst her? If the bride knew of their crimes, why did she wait until the wedding to reveal the true nature of her groom? If I were to rewrite this story, I would aim to answer some of these questions, while maintaining the dramatic nature of the original.