Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Hansel & Gretel
Q: What archetype does the witch represent in Hansel & Gretel?
A: The shadow (evil, hunger).
Q: What do the pebbles symbolize?
A: Hope and guidance.
Q: What deadly sin is shown in the gingerbread house?
A: Gluttony.
Q: What duality does the oven represent?
A: Death vs. survival.
Ashputtel (Cinderella)
Q: What role do the birds play in Ashputtel?
A: Animal helpers who deliver justice and guidance.
Q: What does the hazel tree symbolize?
A: The mother’s spirit and protection.
Q: Which deadly sins are shown by the stepsisters?
A: Envy and vanity.
Q: What duality does Ashputtel’s slipper represent?
A: Truth vs. lies / real identity vs. false identity.
Little Red Cap
Q: What archetype does the wolf represent in Little Red Cap?
A: The shadow / predator.
Q: What does the red hood symbolize?
A: Danger, temptation, or sexuality.
Q: What deadly sin does the wolf show?
A: Gluttony (eats Red and grandmother).
Q: What duality does the forest represent?
A: Safety vs. danger, innocence vs. corruption.
Rumpelstiltskin
Q: What does Rumpelstiltskin symbolize as a trickster?
A: Dark power, bargains, and deception.
Q: What does the spinning wheel/straw into gold symbolize?
A: Transformation from worthless to valuable.
Q: Which deadly sin does the king show?
A: Greed.
Q: What duality does knowing Rumpelstiltskin’s name represent?
A: Power vs. helplessness.
Snow White
Q: What archetype does the evil queen represent?
A: Evil stepmother / shadow.
Q: What does the mirror symbolize?
A: Vanity and obsession with beauty.
Q: What deadly sin drives the queen?
A: Envy.
Q: What duality does the glass coffin represent?
A: Life vs. death.
The Golden Key
Q: What does the golden key symbolize?
A: Hope, destiny, hidden knowledge.
Q: What does winter symbolize?
A: Hardship and death.
Q: What archetype does the poor boy represent?
A: Innocent seeker.
Q: What duality does the unopened box represent?
A: Ignorance vs. knowledge, beginning vs. end.
Hansel & Gretel
A poor family abandons the children in the woods. Hansel leaves pebbles (they return), then crumbs (birds eat them). They find a witch’s gingerbread house. The witch fattens Hansel to eat him, but Gretel pushes her into the oven. They escape with treasure and return home.
Ashputtel (Cinderella)
Ashputtel’s mother dies; her father remarries an evil stepmother. She plants a hazel tree on her mother’s grave, and magic birds help her. She goes to three balls, each time more beautiful. She loses her slipper, and the prince finds her. Stepsisters mutilate their feet to fit the shoe, but the truth is revealed. Ashputtel marries the prince.
Little Red Cap (Red Riding Hood)
A girl is sent to her grandmother’s house with food. A wolf tricks her into straying from the path, then eats the grandmother and Red. A huntsman cuts the wolf open, saving them. In some versions, Red and her grandmother sew the wolf full of stones and he dies.
Rumpelstiltskin
A miller lies that his daughter can spin straw into gold. The king locks her up. Rumpelstiltskin appears and helps, first for jewelry, then for her firstborn. When the child is born, she begs to keep it. Rumpelstiltskin agrees if she guesses his name. She overhears him singing his name, tricks him, and he is defeated.
Snow White
The queen envies her stepdaughter’s beauty. She orders a huntsman to kill Snow White, but he spares her. Snow White lives with seven dwarfs. The queen tries to kill her three times: laces, comb, and apple. The apple works; Snow White falls into death-like sleep in a glass coffin. A prince finds her, revives her (the apple piece comes out), and marries her. The queen is punished.
The Golden Key
A poor boy finds a golden key in winter. He digs and finds a box, but the story ends before telling what’s inside. The tale symbolizes mystery, hope, and possibility.
Hansel & Gretel
Q: What do the breadcrumbs symbolize?
A: Fragility of plans and false security.
Q: How does Gretel act as a trickster?
A: She fools the witch and pushes her into the oven.
Q: What deadly sin do the parents show?
A: Greed (abandoning children for food/money).
Q: “The house was built of bread and roofed with cakes.” → Which device?
A: Imagery.
Ashputtel
Q: How does the hazel tree transform Ashputtel’s life?
A: It provides magical dresses through her mother’s spirit.
Q: What archetype do the stepsisters represent?
A: Shadow / envy.
Q: Why do the stepsisters cut off their toes and heels?
A: To fit into the slipper, showing vanity and desperation.
Q: “The slipper shone as if made of pure gold.” → Which device?
A: Imagery and symbolism (true identity).
Little Red Cap
Q: What archetype does the huntsman represent?
A: Hero/savior.
Q: How does the wolf use trickery?
A: He convinces Red to leave the safe path.
Q: What sin does Red show by talking to the wolf?
A: Naivety / disobedience.
Q: “The wolf spoke to her politely” → Which device?
A: Personification / irony.
Rumpelstiltskin
Q: Why does the miller’s lie cause danger?
A: It forces the daughter into an impossible task.
Q: What archetype is Rumpelstiltskin?
A: Trickster (helps but demands payment).
Q: What does knowing his name symbolize?
A: Knowledge and power over evil.
Q: “Today I bake, tomorrow I brew, the next I’ll have the young queen’s child…” → Which device?
A: Foreshadowing and rhyme.
Snow White
Q: What archetype do the dwarfs represent?
A: Helpers / protectors.
Q: Why does the queen ask the mirror questions?
A: It symbolizes vanity and obsession with beauty.
Q: What does the apple represent?
A: Sin, temptation, and death.
Q: “Skin white as snow, lips red as blood, hair black as ebony.” → Which device?
A: Imagery and symbolism (purity, life, death).
The Golden Key
Q: Why is the story unfinished?
A: To symbolize mystery, possibility, and open endings.
Q: What does the golden key suggest?
A: Treasure, hope, or knowledge.
Q: What does winter symbolize in this tale?
A: Hardship, death, or waiting for renewal.
Q: “He scraped away the snow with his hands.” → Which device?
A: Imagery (struggle and survival).