Playwright’s Notes:

Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm gathered their original collection of tales primarily between 1807 and 1812. They continued adding to the collection and publishing them in various editions between 1812 and 1857.  In their manuscripts, the Brothers Grimm acknowledged the geographic regions in which the stories were recounted to them but rarely the individual tellers.  By omission and suggestion, they perpetuated the image of them transcribing the tales directly from the mouths of aged peasants in the countryside.  Recent scholarship has established that most of the early tales they collected were actually told to them by middle and upper class young women, ranging in age from as young as seven to as old as their early twenties, who recounted the stories told to them by their nursemaids and servants.

Why did their female contributors allow their stories to be used without due credit?  Perhaps it was because women of the time so accustomed to doing everything they did without acknowledgment from men.  Jakob Grimm probably would have claimed that a collection of stories known to be told by young women would never have achieved publication or popular acceptance and it was vital for the stories to give his people a national German identity to counteract their domination under the French Emperor Napoleon.  While the Romantic writers idealized the wisdom of the common-folk, they did not grant the same respect to the women of their same social standing.

In creating this play, I imagined what might have happened had the female contributors had resisted the theft of their stories and had asserted their claim for due recognition.  Would they have been rebuffed by the Grimm brothers, or would they have voluntarily sublimated their contributions to the project so that other women, silenced as they had been, could find their own voices from their stories?

Lest I be accused of committing the same oversight as the Brothers Grimmm, I must acknowledge my indebtedness to Valerie Paradiz for her compelling book Clever Maids.  While, like Jakob and Wilhelm, I am beholden to the work of male scholars such as Jack Zipes for the documentation of the stories, Paradiz’s compelling narrative has breathed life into the forgotten tales of the female contributors.  While their names were forgotten until recent decades, these “clever maids” infused the female characters of the well-known and lesser-known Grimm tales with strength, cunning, and silent protest.

I have taken some liberty with the ages of the characters.  The golden age of the Grimm’s gathering stretched over several years, from 1807 to 1815, and the brothers’ interest in folklore stretched back to their teenage years as prodigious scholars.  I have tended to paint the female characters as a little younger than they would have been in 1810, though they would have been closer to the ages as they appear in the play when they first began to contribute their stories.

I’ve felt justified in stretching the ages for two reasons.  First, it makes a better story, and Wilhelm particularly appreciated the need to modify the original tales to make the stories stronger.  Second, the Grimm siblings played roles that were both older and younger than their chronological age would have normally demanded.  Jakob, Wilhelm, and Lottie had to assume adult responsibilities in the caretaking of their family as teenagers while younger brothers Ferdinand, Karl, and Ludwig, benefitting from their elder brothers’ diligence, acted like dependent boys well into their twenties.  While I may have stretched the chronology, I’ve remained true to the challenges inherent in the childhood and adolescence of these characters.  Although the characters may not have been quite as young in 1810 as they are portrayed in the script, the Grimm tales were collected and told by young zealots rather than aged cynics.  These are stories told and collected by young people that continue to resonate with today’s youth.

More Stories

If you want to check out some other Grimm stories click here.

Meet the Grimm Family

Jakob Grimm:  1785-1863, 25 years old in 1810

Jakob was the eldest brother, and after the passing of his father in 1785, when Jakob was only 11, he began to assume a fatherly role in caring for his younger siblings.  When their mother died in 1808, Jakob became the parental figure for his younger brothers and sister.  Jakob was more serious and sober than his brother Wilhelm.  He and Wilhelm graduated at the top of their class from the Kassel Academy.  Jakob left law school to pursue his scholarly interests.  At the time of the play’s action, Jakob worked as the chief librarian for King Jerome, Napoleon’s incompetent brother who was placed on the throne of the newly consolidated kingdom of Westphalia. His primary interest in studying folklore was understanding the people for which the laws of the time were created.  Jakob never married but remained a close companion to Wilhelm for most of his life, moving in the Wilhelm and his wife Dortchen and sometimes being jokingly referred to as Dortchen’s “other husband.”

Wilhelm Grimm:  1786-1859, 24 years old in 1810

Wilhelm shared his brother Jakob’s scholarly abilities and pursuits and he shared in Jakob’s support and leadership of his family.  Of the two, Wilhelm was the more playful and probably the more sensitive to Lottie.  Wilhelm suffered from a heart condition and at one point spent several months recuperating in the south.  He became the primary editor of the later editions of the Grimm tales and Wilhelm, more than Jakob, tended to soften the harsher elements of the stories and favored happier endings for the characters.  He married Dortchen Wild and lived happily with him until his death.  Despite his constant fears for his health, Wilhelm lived to the age of 73.

Karl Grimm, b. 1787, 23 years old in 1810

Karl was something of a lost soul who was struggling to “find himself.”  He dropped out of school and wanted to become a writer instantly, but while he had talent, he lacked the discipline to do so.  He became a volunteer horse guardsman in the French forces and found satisfaction in his military career.  His musical abilities are an invention of the playwright.

Ferdinand Grimm, b. 1788, 22 years old in 1810

Like Karl, “Ferdie” dropped out of school and wanted to become a writer but lacked the discipline to succeed.  He maintained a close correspondence with Lottie and would have been disappointed that she hadn’t communicated with him while she was in Marburg.  He eventually served his military time in the French forces.  Around the time that the play takes place, Ferdie shocked Jakob with a story he wrote about two brothers who loved the same young woman and the younger brother had no choice but to kill his older brother.  Since Ferdinand loved Dortchen Wild, who loved and eventually married Wilhelm, Jakob feared Ferdie had at least murderous thoughts about his older brother.  There is some speculation that Ferdinand might have tried to act on those feelings, as Jakob sometimes referred in his letters to a scandalous incident related to Ferdinand that he would never discuss with others.

Ludwig Grimm:  b.1790, 20 years old in 1810

At the time of this play, Ludwig would actually have been away at art school.  He was the only one of the three younger brothers to be successful academically.  He was a gifted visual artist and illustrated several later editions of the Grimm tales.  He became a lieutenant in the French army to oppose Napoleon.

Lottie Grimm:  b.1793, 17 years old in 1810

Youngest of the six surviving Grimm children.  Lottie (short for Charlotte, named after her mother) was expected to take over the cooking and cleaning when their mother died in 1808.  Lottie was then 15 years old.  Her older brothers had little positive to say about their sister.  They complained that Lottie was a poor housekeeper and wasn’t sufficiently domestic as they expected the only girl in the family to be.  Today we would say that she was clinically depressed.  She spent time at the Wild’s and felt much happier there than she did with her brothers.  She was allowed to spend several months with Gretchen and her husband in Marburg, as Jakob hoped she’d bring back stories and would come back ready to do her domestic duty to the family.  While “The Six Swans” is attributed to Dortchen, it is the playwright’s speculation that Lottie might have told the story to Dortchen and Dortchen told it to the brothers, as young ladies often swapped stories with each other.  If that is not so, then it may be that Dortchen may have invented, or shaped, the story to reflect Lottie’s situation.

Introducing the Wilds'

Lisette Wild: b. 1782, 28 years old in 1810
Lisette Wild spoke French and was responsible for bringing several French stories, such as those recorded/written by Charles Perrault, into the Grimm's canon of stories.  She was the eldest of the Wild sisters. Jack Zipes attributes Rumpelstilskin to Lisette.

Gretchen Wild:  b. 1787, 23 years old in 1810

Gretchen was married when the brothers began collecting the tales and was one of Wilhelm’s first tellers. The Wilds lived across the street from the Grimms and were middle class, with their protective father running an apothecary shop.  Stories attributed to Gretchen include The Child of Mary, Prince Swan, and Godfather Death.

Dortchen Wild:  b. 1795, 15 years old in 1810

Dortchen was a pet name for Dorothy, which was also her mother’s name.  She was a favorite of both Wilhelm and Ferdinand, who knew her as a girl and later as a grown lady.  (Think Amy from Little Women).  She later married Wilhelm and when Jakob moved in with them, she jokingly referred to Jakob and Wilhelm as “her two husbands.”  Stories attributed to Dortchen include Hansel and Gretel, Frau Holle, The Singing Bone, and The Six Swans, which the play attributes to Lottie.

Marie Elisabeth (Mimi) Wild:  b. 1988, 12 years old in 1810

Mimi would have been just older than Dortchen and was an active participant in the gathering of the tales.  One of the stories particularly attributed to Mimi is Godfather Death, a fairly dark story about a man who is apprenticed to the Grim Reaper.

Hanna and Rose Wild:

Hanna and Rose would have been between Gretchen and Dortchen.  They were also active contributors to the folktale collection.  They would have been unmarried maidens at the time of the story.  Their father was quite protective of them and would have been hesitant to let them go to a ball or major social event.

Rudolph Wild:

As a boy in the family, Rudolph would have had more freedom than his sisters.  While we do not have particular stories attributed to Rudolph, it appears that he was an active contributor and participant in the gathering.

Say hello To the Hassenpflug

Susette Hassenpflug:

Eldest of the Hassenpflug sisters, contributed the least of the stories, moved out of the house just as the brothers started visiting.  She would have been a young wife at the time of the story.  Like her sisters, she would have spoken French in the home, as her family were French Hugonauts (Protestants).

Jeanette Hassenpflug: b. 1790, 20 years old in 1810

She was a significant contributor to the collection.  Stories attributed to her include Puss in Boots, The Twelve Huntsmen, and On the Despicable Spinning of Flax.  It seems clear that several sisters often told the same stories to the brothers, and so while Jeanette and Marie tell the opposite stories in their scenes as those usually attributed to them, they each likely told their own versions of each other’s stories.

Marie Hassenpflug: b.1788, 22 years old in 1810

Marie was a major contributor of stories, sharing at least 20 of the 40 tales attributed to the Hassenpflugs. Stories attributed to Marie include Little Brother and Little Sister, The Robber Bridegroom, Sleeping Beauty, The Girl Without Hands, and Red Riding Hood.  She suffered from illness as a child and collecting and telling stories helped restore her health.  Many of the versions she told came from France, but she delighted in talking with the brothers about German medieval epics and the writings of Geothe.

Amalia Hassenpflug:  b. 1799, 12 years old in 1810

Amalia was usually known as Malchan, but with a Gretchen and Dortchen, her formal name is used in the play.  Amalia was convinced that she was homely because she had a crooked nose and crossed eyes.  However, her telling was remarkable and she demonstrated exceptional memory and intelligence.  She was something of a tomboy and acted out fairy tales with her brothers, often opting to play the heroic male roles rather than the damsel in distress.   She never married;  it was said of her than Amalia was too self-determined.  She because close with Lottie and Dortchen through the gathering of the stories.

I would like you to meet the Von Haxthausen

Ludowine (Winnie) Von Haxthausen, b. 1795, 15 years old in 1810

Sophie Von Haxthausen, apparently between Winnie and Anna.

Anna Von Haxthausen, b. 1800, 10 years old in 1810

Winnie, Sophie, and Anna were three of the seven Von Haxthausen daughters, and there were also two sons in the family.  Their family collected and published folk-songs.  Anna is said to have told Wilhelm the first story from the Von Haxthausens and was a favorite teller in their home region of Bokeroff.  AS the older sisters married, they either lost interest in the folktale and folksong project or, in some cases, were prevented from participating in the gathering by their husbands.  Tales attributed to the Von Haxthausen daughters include The Bremen Town Musicians, The Two Brothers, and The Three Snake Leaves.

Have you met the Von Droste Hulfshoff ?

Jenny Von Droste Hulshoff:  b. 1795, 15 years old in 1810

Jenny was modest and gentle and often became the mediator between Wilhelm and her antagonizing little sister Annette.  The Twelve Dancing Princess is attributed to Jenny.  She and Wilhelm were very fond of one another, and had they been of the same social standing (the Von Droste’s were upper class), Wilhelm and Jenny may well have married and been very happy together.

Annette Von Droste Hulshoff: b. 1793, 13 years old in 1810

Annette became a rival of Wilhelm (think Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing).  She was witty and Jenny scoffed that Annette “radiated her brilliance constantly and jumped from one topic to the next.”  Annette went on to become of the best known female 19^th century author in German literature.  The Von Drostes were cousins to the Von Haxthausen.  (The “Von” in German names, literally meaning “of the,” often signifies an upper class family.)