This text claims that Hansel and Gretel is a political story. Zipes says that it is really about the struggle between the poor and the rich. The woodcutter and his wife are poor people who are forced to do bad things because they are poor. The witch represents the rich people. It is because she is greedy that Hansel and Gretel have to suffer. Hansel and Gretel realize this. They are not angry at their parents. The children know that their enemies were the social forces, not their parents. That’s why they still loved them. Even the existence of stepmother was common in the society. Women died young during child bearing and fathers had to remarry. But the step mothers were not abused. The children did not know that their step mother was dead. Gretel acts to change her bad situation by killing the witch. Zipes says the message behind the story is that poor people must attack rich people if things are going to get better for them.
Marxist Explanation: Zipes has made a Marxist interpretation of the story. The witch in the story represents feudal system and its death in the story represents the victory of the poor over the rich who are the unshakable movers and shakers of the society. In the same manner the duel between Hansel and Gretel and the witch also stands for class conflict: plebian/peasantry versus aristocrats. The story shows the transformation of a society from the feudal society into early capitalism. The biasness and cruelty of the feudal society is exposed. Gretel is the unlikely hero. She killed the witch, a symbol of aristocracy and feudalism. The story proves that poor people could change their conditions if they acted. They had to struggle with anticipation.
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