Two of Nine

Before walking down the forest paths of Once upon a time…, Long ago and far away…, and In a distant land…, it is important to explore the background of the authors of these tales, Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm, commonly known as the Grimm Brothers. Jacob Grimm was born in 1785 and Wilhelm Grimm was born in 1786 they were the second and third sons of Philipp and Dorothea Grimm. The Grimm family was large, 9 children, 8 boys and one girl; however three of the Grimm sons died within a year of their births. The sixth child, Ludwig Emil Grimm, became an artist and illustrator of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The family lived in Hanau, Germany until 1791 when they moved to Steinau, Germany where their father, Philipp, became a district judge. They were an affluent family, and both Jacob and Wilhelm were schooled in the authoritarian environment of the Reform Calvinist Church.

Life changed for the Grimm family in 1796 when Philipp Grimm died leaving behind his wife and six children. As Jacks Zipes discusses in his Essay, Dreams of a Better Bourgeois Life: The Psychosocial Origins of the Grimms' Tales, much like the characters in their fairy tales, the Grimm family experienced "...a sharp drop in social status and was often treated unjustly by so-called superiors" (McGlathery, 1991, p. 205). For example, after their father died, Jacob was only eleven years old and felt the pressures to help the family. It was during this time that he wrote a letter to his aunt Henriette Zimmer, his mother's sister, for console and advice. The Grimms could have possibly disintegrated if a "good fairy" like his aunt, as well as other family and friends, had not offered emotional and financial support. (McGlathery, 1991).

Zipes provides insightful thoughts when thinking about the Grimm brothers identifying with the characters of their tales. Similar to their characters, the brothers experienced fear, loss, and separation from loved ones. As such, they developed a work ethic that embraced diligence in order to lead a good, clean, and stable life as fundamental elements necessary to overcome the miserable, chaotic life of the unjust. These themes are obvious throughout their fairy tales - good vs. evil - good winning because of character diligence in sustaining honest, good, and clean living.

Now that the family background of the two brothers has been examined, it's time now to go down another path in the Grimms' Forest. In keeping with the purpose of this blog, which is to provide information on the Brothers Grimm, the next forest path to explore is their fairy tales that are terrifying, painful, not necessarily for children, and as readers, makes us shudder.

Sources:
Ashliman, D.L. (n.d.). Grimm brothers. Retrieved from
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html

Hettinga, D.R. (2000, January 10). Ludwig emil grimm 1790-1863. Retrieved from
http://www.calvin.edu/~hett/Ludwig%20Grimm1.html

McGlathery, J. (Ed.). (1991). The Brothers grimm and folktale. Illinois: University of Illinois Press.