The Gingerbread House
Robert Coover
What are the most striking differences between Coover’s “The Gingerbread House” and Grimm brothers’ “Hansel and Gretel”.
| Hansel and Gretel |
The Gingerbread House |
- There are five characters: the father, the step-mother, the two children and the witch.
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- There are four characters: the father, the two children and the witch. Stepmother is absent.
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- The boy and the girl are identified by their names.
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- They are identified only by the relation, not by names.
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- This story begins in the house and ends in the house.
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- This story begins and ends in the jungle.
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- The main focus is on the course of events.
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- The main focus is on description and details.
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- This story ends happily as the children are back home after overcoming difficulties.
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- This story ends with the mysterious door and the thing beyond it: the witch.
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- Poverty ends in this story.
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- Poverty doesn’t end here.
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- Love between the brother and sister is shown as ideal.
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- They fight as well as love, which is more realistic.
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- It is in the past tense, which indicates that the event took place sometime in the past.
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- It is in the present tense, which indicates that the event is closer to our life.
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- There are complete and long sentences, a mark of formal written language.
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- There are short, simple sentences like everyday language.
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- It is written in conventional prose form.
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- Written in 42 chapters, it is almost poetic.
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