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.)

The History of the Corset

A corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing this item, or with a more lasting effect). Both men and women are known to wear corsets, though women are more common wearers.
In recent years, the term "corset" has also been borrowed by the fashion industry to refer to tops which, to varying degrees, mimic the look of traditional corsets without actually acting as one. While these modern corsets and corset tops often feature lacing or boning and generally mimic a historical style of corsets, they have very little if any effect on the shape of the wearer's body. Genuine corsets are usually made by a corset maker and should be fitted to the individual wearer.

Fashion

The most common and well-known use of corsets is to slim the body and make it conform to a fashionable silhouette. For women this most frequently emphasizes a curvy figure, by reducing the waist, and thereby exaggerating the bust and hips. However, in some periods, corsets have been worn to achieve a tubular straight-up-and-down shape, which involves minimizing the bust and hips.
For men, corsets are more customarily used to slim the figure. However, there was a period from around 1820 to 1835 when a wasp-waisted figure (a small, nipped-in look to the waist) was also desirable for men; this was sometimes achieved by wearing a corset.
An overbust corset encloses the torso, extending from just under the arms to the hips. An underbust corset begins just under the breasts and extends down to the hips. Some corsets extend over the hips and, in very rare instances, reach the knees. A shorter kind of corset, which covers the waist area (from low on the ribs to just above the hips), is called a waist cincher. A corset may also include garters to hold up stockings (alternatively a separate garter belt may be worn for that).
Normally a corset supports the visible dress, and spreads the pressure from large dresses, such as the crinoline and bustle. Sometimes a corset cover is used to protect outer clothes from the corset and to smooth the lines of the corset. The original corset cover was worn under the corset to provide a layer between it and the body. Corsets were not worn next to the skin, possibly due to difficulties with laundering these items during the 19th century, as they had steel boning and metal eyelets which would rust. The corset cover would be in the form of a light chemise, made from cotton lawn or silk.

Medical

People with spinal problems such as scoliosis or with internal injuries may be fitted with a form of corset in order to immobilize and protect the torso.

Construction

Corsets are typically constructed of a flexible material (like cloth, particularly coutil, or leather) stiffened with boning (also called ribs or stays) inserted into channels in the cloth or leather. In the 19th century, bones of whale were favoured for the boning. Plastic is now the most commonly used material for lightweight corsets and the majority of poor quality corsets, whereas spring or spiral steel is preferred for stronger corsets and generally the better quality corset too. Other materials used for boning include ivory, wood, and cane. (By contrast, a girdle is usually made of elasticized fabric, without boning.)


Corsets are held together by lacing, usually (though not always) at theback. Tightening or loosening the lacing produces corresponding changes in the firmness of the corset. Depending on the desired effect and time period, corsets can be laced from the top down, from the bottom up, or both up from the bottom and down from the top, using two laces that meet in the middle. It is difficult—although not impossible—for a back-laced corset-wearer to do his or her own lacing. In the Victorian heyday of corsets, a well-to-do woman's corset laces would be tightened by her maid, and a gentleman's by his valet. However, Victorian corsets also had a buttoned or hooked front opening called a busk. If the corset was worn loosely, it was possible to leave the lacing as adjusted and take the corset on and off using the front opening (if the corset is worn snugly, this method will damage the busk if the lacing is not significantly loosened beforehand). Self-lacing is also almost impossible with tightlacing, which strives for the utmost possible reduction of the waist. Corset and bodice lacing became a mark of class, front laced bodices being worn by women who could not afford servants.

Waist reduction

By wearing a tightly-laced corset for extended periods, known as tightlacing, men and women can learn to tolerate extreme waist constriction and eventually reduce their natural waist size. Many tightlacers dream of waists that are 16 inches (41 cm) and 17 inches (43 cm), but are usually satisfied with anything under 20 inches (51 cm). Some went so far that they could only breathe with the top part of their lungs. This caused the bottom part of their lungs to fill with mucus. Symptoms of this include a slight but persistent cough, as well as heavy breathing, causing a heaving appearance of the bosom. Until 1998, the Guinness Book of World Records listed Ethel Granger as having the smallest waist on record at 13 inches (33 cm). After 1998, the category changed to "smallest waist on a living person" and Cathie Jung took the title with a waist measuring 15 inches (38 cm). Other women, such as Polaire, also have achieved such reductions-- (14 inches (36 cm)--in her case).
However, these are extreme cases. Corsets were and are still usually designed for support, with freedom of body movement, an important consideration in their design. Present day corset-wearers usually tighten the corset just enough to reduce their waists by 2 inches (5.1 cm) to 4 inches (10 cm); it is very difficult for a slender woman to achieve as much as 6 inches (15 cm), although larger women can do so more easily.

Corset comfort

In the past, a woman's corset was usually worn over a chemise, a sleeveless low-necked gown made of washable material (usually cotton or linen). It absorbed perspiration and kept the corset and the gown clean. In modern times, an undershirt or corset liner may be worn.
Moderate lacing is not incompatible with vigorous activity. Indeed, during the second half of the 19th century, when corset wearing was common, there were sport corsets specifically designed to wear while bicycling, playing tennis, or horseback riding, as well as for maternity wear.

What you would be wearing

Woman's Corset, 1810-1820

When this corset was made in the decade between 1810 and 1820 for an unidentified Indiana woman, it represented the latest evolution of a garment that had been essential women’s wear for centuries. Today, the word corset conjures an image of painful tight-lacing that was endured to produce an unnaturally small waist. However, the woman who wore this garment used it simply to support her chest (the brassiere would not be invented for another century) and to confine her shift, a voluminous knee-length undergarment, so that her high-waisted dress would sit smoothly over her torso and hips. If laced correctly, the wearer would have left a gap of several inches between the back edges of the corset, preventing it from being “tight-laced.”

Even so, this early 19th-century corset was distinctly different from the variations that came before and after it. During the 1700s, women had worn heavily boned, cone-shaped corsets called stays that had flattened their chests and made their torsos triangular. By the middle of the 1800s, the corset was once again heavily reinforced with narrow bones or steels to produce a curvy, hour-glass shape that was round and full both above and below the waist. By contrast, the corset shown here was intended to produce a natural-shaped figure. Hence, it relied mainly on cotton cording rather than bone or steel to coax the wearer’s body into the desired form. The only inflexible part of this corset was a long wooden or bone insert called a busk that slipped into a pocket at the center front and could be removed for washing.

Because of its lack of boning, this type of corset could be sewn at home without great difficulty. However, making a garment that fit was more complicated. The English author of The Workwoman’s Guide, Containing Instructions to the Inexperienced in Cutting Out and Completing those Articles of Wearing Apparel, &c., Which are Usually Made at Home (1840) suggested that “with respect to the cutting out, it is recommended to those who make their own stays, to purchase a pair from an experienced stay-maker that fit perfectly well, and also a pair cut out, but not made up, so as to be a good pattern for the home-made stays.” Sturdy cotton jean or satin were the most commonly used fabrics for corsets in the early 19th century. White was the preferred color, but gray and brown were both thought to be practical for “inferior” corsets.

This tan cotton sateen corset is made to be laced up the back through nine pairs of irregularly placed bone eyelets. The shoulder straps are meant to tie in place at the front of the corset through one bone eyelet at the end of each strap and a corresponding one over each shoulder blade. The original lacing and ties are missing. Two triangular inserts of fabric called gussets provide shape and support for each side of the bust. A decorative three-leafed motif is backstitched at the lower end of each bust gusset. Another matching, inverted trefoil is centered below the bust gussets, rising from the midriff. The upper and lower edges, and the edges of the shoulder straps, are bound with dark tan twill tape.

Chronology of the Grimm Brothers

1785. Jakob Ludwig Carl Grimm is born January 4, 1785, in Hanau, Germany, son of Philipp Wilhelm Grimm (a lawyer and court official) and his wife Dorothea Grimm, née Zimmer.

1786. Wilhelm Carl Grimm is born February 24, 1786, in Hanau, Germany, son of Philipp Wilhelm Grimm and Dorothea Grimm.

The children of Philipp Wilhelm Grimm and Dorothea Grimm

1. Friedrich Hermann Georg Grimm (1783-1784)
2. Jakob Ludwig Carl Grimm (1785-1863)
3. Wilhelm Carl Grimm (1786-1859)
4. Carl Friedrich Grimm (1787-1852)
5. Ferdinand Philipp Grimm (1788-1844)
6. Ludwig Emil Grimm (1790-1863)
7. Friedrich Grimm (1791-1792)
8. Charlotte (Lotte) Amalie Hassenpflug, neé Grimm (1793-1833)
9. Georg Eduard Grimm (1794-1795)

1791. The Grimm family moves to Steinau.

1796. Philipp Wilhelm Grimm, father of eight Grimm brothers and one Grimm sister, dies January 10, 1796, at the age of 44. Three of his nine children have preceded him in death. His oldest surviving child, Jakob, is 11 years old.

1798. Jakob and Wilhelm move to Kassel, their mother's home city, to enter secondary school. The 13 and 14 year old boys will live with an aunt.

1802. Jakob begins his study of law at the University of Marburg.

1803. Wilhelm begins his study of law at the University of Marburg.

1806. Jakob and Wilhelm, influenced by the folk poetry collection of Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, begin to collect folktales (Märchen).

1808. Dorothea Grimm, mother of eight Grimm brothers and one Grimm sister, dies May 27, 1808, at the age of 52. In order to support his younger brothers and sister, Jakob takes a position as a librarian at Kassel. Wilhelm will follow soon.

1812. The Grimm brothers publish volume one of Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children' and Household Tales), an unpretentious book containing 86 numbered folktales.

1814. Volume two of Kinder- und Hausmärchen appears in print, pre-dated 1815, adding 70 stories to the previous collection. This famous work will see six additional editions during the Grimms' lifetime. In its final version it will contain 200 numbered stories plus 10 "Children's Legends." It is destined to become the best known and most influential book ever created in the German language.

1816, 1818. The Grimms publish two volumes of Deutsche Sagen, a collection totalling 585 German legends.

1819. Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm receive honorary doctorates from the University of Marburg. Their scholarly work on linguistics, folklore, and medieval studies continues, resulting in many publications.

1825. Wilhelm Grimm marries Henriette Dorothea (Dortchen) Wild, who -- together with other members of her family -- had provided the Jakob and Wilhelm with many of their best folktale texts.

1829-1830. The Grimms resign their positions as librarians in Kassel and accept positions at the University of Göttingen as librarians and professors.

1837-1841. Professors Grimm join five of their university colleagues in a formal protest against a constitutional violation of Ernst August, King of Hannover. The seven professors (Die Göttinger Sieben) are fired. The Grimm brothers receive many offers for new positions, and finally accept appointments at the University of Berlin.

1842-1852. The Grimms continue their scholarly work and political activities, but finally give up their formal appointments at the University of Berlin (Jacob in 1848, Wilhelm in 1852) in order to dedicate themselves to their own studies and research.

1859. Wilhelm Grimm dies December 16, 1859, at the age of 73.

1863. Jakob Grimm dies September 20, 1863, at the age of 78.

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