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Hansel and Gretel
| Critical Analysis #1 |
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Hansel and Gretel |
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carolyn smale Junior Member
since 2000-02-02
Posts 20australia |
Sugar dripped like autumn sludge. Shivering within this syrupy cavern she weathered seven winters, famine molesting every belief. At last they came. Two shapeless creatures, her, stone-blind. The web contracted and took them in. |
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| © Copyright 2000 carolyn smale - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Ted Reynolds Member
since 1999-12-15
Posts 331 |
I almost understand . . . no, I don't, but maybe you're . . . no, not that. Perhaps it refers to . . . This is fascinating. I keep thinking that, with one or two more added words, it would all come clear, but without them, it hasn't. That's refreshing, actually. It means I'll have to come back tomorrow and lick it some more. I won't give up . . . not yet. |
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Not A Poet Member Elite
since 1999-11-03
Posts 3885Oklahoma, USA |
Well, here I am still following Ted around. But it's probably good that I am because he said exactly what I wanted to say and I didn't even have to think about it. I mean the title tells me this is about Hansel and Gretl and it almost fits. But I don't think that's really what it is. So there you have it. I think I'll wait for Ted again. Maybe he'll explain it all. Thanks. Pete What terms shall I find sufficiently simple in their sublimity -- sufficiently sublime in their simplicity -- for the mere enunciation of my theme? Edgar Allan Poe |
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rich-pa Member
since 2000-02-07
Posts 317New Orleans, Louisiana |
the only hint that gives away that it's remotely realted to hansel and gretel is the title, without that i think it's a mass confusion, go for something to add ot the understanding thereof...and i have one qusetion about this line: Sugar dripped like autumn sludge. isn't the sludgy time spring? overall it's not bad, i kinda like the style, just work on that clarity rich-pa |
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jbouder Member Elite
since 1999-09-18
Posts 2534Whole Sort Of Genl Mish Mash |
Carolyn: Good morning (EST). I've actually been reading this one for since yesterday and trying to piece together what I thought it was describing. I can't decide whether your (1) title is meant as a direct reference to the fairy tale or if your poem is (2) only allegorically related the Hansel and Gretel or (3) both. Which ever is the case, the wording is interesting. Because of my not being sure what you are getting at here, I can't say that the images are all that vivid. My doubt that I am going down the wrong path (and my lack of bread crumbs to find my way home  ) kinda fuzzies any images your words conjure up. You know what I mean?If this is a direct reference to the story, then I think it is an untested point of view. The witch experiencing "famine" in the house made of candy. But I can't believe that it could be that simple. What bothers me most in understanding it as number (1) is your use of seven winters. These (together with autumn) are the only specific words you use in here, in my opinion. "Seven winters" and "web contracted" got me thinking about insects or spiders. In the USA the cicadae hibernates for seven years before rising and living for a short time. But they don't eat other insects. But you are down under where mammals have duckbills and lay eggs so anything is possible, right? Thanks for the read Carolyn. I look forward to a hint or two. Jim |
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jenni Member
since 1999-09-11
Posts 478Washington D.C. |
carolyn-- i've read this one numerous times now, and haven't a clue what you're writing about. i finally read the other comments, and see i'm not alone. i think this one's just too obscure. a re-telling of the hansel and gretel story? if so, what's the point? spiders? cicadas? the internet? the mars probe? something only a kiwi would "get"? at any rate, i think sometimes when a reader doesn't understand a poem, it's the reader's fault, for any number of reasons; sometimes, though, it isn't the reader lacking something, but the poem itself. this, i think, is one of those times. i wish i could offer you something more constructive here, but, like i said, i don't have a clue what you're driving at. well, there ya go. sorry. jenni |
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carolyn smale Junior Member
since 2000-02-02
Posts 20australia |
thank you all for commenting, it's interesting, i've posted this on other forums and noone's had any trouble understanding it. nevermind. it is, as jim suggested, allegorical. it is hansel and gretel, but who ever thinks about the witch? she's "evil" supposedly (in that she eats children). but why does she eat children? if she's starving (jim, the sugar etc. is her "trap", she can only eat children) is she evil to eat? it was asking a question about the nature of evil, when it's justified etc. the 7 winters were in a fairytale mode. the "web" is her trap - not literal. it was supposed to convey an "instinct" element, does she have a choice in what she does. it's really just a little one-thought poem. thanks, carolyn. |
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jbouder Member Elite
since 1999-09-18
Posts 2534Whole Sort Of Genl Mish Mash |
Carolyn: I read your explanation then reread the poem. I'm afraid my first impressions haven't changed much. The only hint of "when is evil justified" that I get is in "famine molesting every belief". That line is, actually, the most direct line in the poem but it is surrounded in obscure images. An important element of allegory, which you well know, is its connection with its "actual" counterpart. Allegories do not necessarily have to spell everything out for you (i.e. Bunyan's "Pilgim's Progress") and they can be vague (Tolkien's allegorical connections between Gandalf and Christ when he was swept off the bridge by the Balralg, was killed, and rose three days later) but, in order to be most effective, there must be that tie between the actual and the allegorical. If the question you are allegorizing is "is evil ever justified?" then I think you need to drop some more hints. I suspected that you were playing at some sort of pity for the witch but, for crying out loud, she eats children! Don't know why other's didn't have more trouble with it. Perhaps the other forums were more topical than open in nature. Who knows. < !signature--> Jim "If I rest, I rust." - Martin Luther [This message has been edited by jbouder (edited 02-18-2000).] |
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max New Member
since 2000-02-17
Posts 5 |
I love it-especially after the explanation -I will never step on another spider-nor punish the neighbours dog -nor pout about weasels-or douse a mouse-peel an eel-critter a cat-nor fret about frogs. Witches Rhyme Hansel was a tasty morsel, Gretta kinda tough, Chocolate covered little kiddies I think Ive had enough! [This message has been edited by max (edited 02-18-2000).] |
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carolyn smale Junior Member
since 2000-02-02
Posts 20australia |
thanks, max, nice ditty! bouder, the other forums were open! the poem is a witch (old woman) sitting inside her house, starving. she can only eat children. nothing in the tale says whether this is the case or not the case - it could be, we just prefer to think she CHOOSES to eat children. after, several freezing, starving winters, hansel and gretel come. she's a blind old woman, starving in her house, 2 "food" creatures come. she can't see them, they're shapeless to her, just food. they're taken into her trap. i was trying to say that, in this story, and many stories (and life generally), we like to take good and evil as black and white. it's easier that way, it's a human thing. i'm trying to say that it's not always that simple. war is one of those paradoxes. the fact that you're stuck on the fact she eats children therefore she's evil illustrates this. sometimes we have to look at the why behind the "evil". thanks, carolyn. |
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