“Hansel and Gretel” first achieved widespread popularity following its publication by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 in their collection Children’s and Household Tales, which made it a perfect reference for a story set in 1813 England. The Brothers Grimm’s story gained massive, enduring international fame after being adapted into a highly successful children’s opera by Engelbert Humperdinck, which premiered in 1893.

The Written Folktale (1812)

The Brothers Grimm first recorded and published the tale of Hansel and Gretel on December 20, 1812. It was included as Tale #15 in the first volume of their famous collection. In the earliest drafts, the tale featured a nameless “Little Brother” and “Little Sister”. The brothers gave them names and expanded the plot before publication. The Grimm brothers originally intended to preserve German cultural heritage. The narrative, which hinges heavily on starvation and child abandonment, reflects the grim realities of the Great Famine of 1315 and extreme poverty in medieval Europe.

While the Grimm volume established the story as a literary classic, the story’s explosive, global popularity is often credited to Engelbert Humperdinck’s 1893 opera Hänsel und Gretel. The opera debuted in Weimar on December 23, 1893, and was an immediate success across European theaters. Humperdinck’s version softened the story’s darker edges. It cemented the visual of the witch’s cottage as a literal gingerbread house, transforming a medieval hunger-fantasy into a family-friendly holiday staple.

In the tale, Lady Christiana has been shot, and she is in danger, so Colonel Fitzwilliam and Lord Matlock decide to take her to Pemberley, where it would be more difficult for Lord Whitmorris to find her. Enjoy this excerpt of her first impression of Pemberley and Elizabeth Bennet.

EXCERPT:

Two women waited in the opening, but Christiana could not make out more than their height. No lights were behind them, and no lanterns were brought out to greet them. 

As if reading her mind, Mr. Murray, the footman said, “Mrs. Darcy thought it best if we did not light the way. Though there are many employed to protect Pemberley, the estate is quite large. Lord Matlock thought it would be best for you to know a degree of anonymity.” 

When Christiana’s step nearly buckled, a feminine voice said with authority, “Murray.” Immediately, the footman scooped Christiana into his arms. 

“I have you, ma’am,” the man said as he deftly carried her up the remaining steps and through the door. “Where to, Mrs. Darcy?”

“The first room on the right in the family wing, across from Miss Darcy’s quarters.” He started away as the woman instructed. “A candle is already lit in the room. Place her ladyship on the bed. Hannah and Lea are waiting for her in the room.” 

Christiana wished to offer words of gratitude, but though the footman treated her with care, he could not completely eliminate all the necessary jostling as he climbed the massive flight of stairs. Christiana suspected when she could leave her bed she might do her own rendition of Hansel and Gretel in hopes of finding her way back to her quarters, but like the children in the tale, any breadcrumbs she left behind would be swept up by the staff at Pemberley before she could think to return to her room. 

When they entered the prepared room, a maid directed the footman to place her down on the bed, which he did with an ease she could not imagine after all the steps he climbed to reach her quarters. When he turned to leave, Christiana caught his hand. “Thank you,” she said through a bit of pain. 

The servant nodded in appreciation. “A pleasure to serve you, my lady.”

“My thanks, as well,” Mrs. Darcy declared in a tone that excused the footman to other duties. 

A “Yes, ma’am” sent him off into the bowels of the house. 

“Her ladyship’s bags, Mrs. Darcy,” an older woman announced. 

“Set them in the dressing area. I do not imagine Lady Christiana is prepared to change her clothes, though I have been wrong once or twice, have I not, Mrs. Reynolds?” the woman said with such lightness in her tone that Christiana found both the idea perplexing and pleasant at the same time.

“Only wrong when it came to the master’s heart,” the woman answering to the name of ‘Mrs. Reynolds’ declared. Christiana had never heard a servant respond thusly to her mistress. In France, her family had a maid of all work and a man of all work, but many of her friends had multiple servants in their homes. 

“He deserved it,” Mrs. Darcy said with a large smile. 

Christiana asked, “Am I missing something?”

Mrs. Darcy chuckled. “You shall understand once you meet my dear Fitzwilliam.” 

“Fitzwilliam?” Christiana asked, suddenly more on alert. “As with Colonel Fitzwilliam?”