Hansel and Grethel or the man eater

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Hansel and Grethel or the ogre is a drama written by Franz von Pocci in two acts, which is based on the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel .

action

Hansel and Grethel, the children of poor woodcutter Peter and his wife Marianne, are sent to the forest by their mother to pick berries. You get lost and come to the house of Professor Fleischmann, who is a cannibal and believes "that the sum of all scientific research on the human body can only be found in eating the human being." Fleischmann locks the children up, but his good-natured housekeeper Katherine promises them to free them. Kasperl Larifari, a tailor's apprentice whom Peter has already turned from the door, is invited by Fleischmann to sew his clothes, especially since Fleischmann promises him a “good bite”. For eight days, the children and Punch are held captive in a cage and fattened. Kasperl rages with anger, so that Fleischmann fears that Kasperl might break the cage and invites him for a couple of bottles of wine to get him drunk. Unfortunately, the professor himself drinks so much wine that he and Kasperl fall asleep. Katherine frees the children and reports Fleischmann to the police. Shortly afterwards, the policeman Mustache appears at Peter and Marianne's, who finally got money by selling their cow, and tells them about the ogre, whereupon Peter armed himself with an ax and went with him into the forest. The children and the again sober Punch are hunted there by the again sober ogre, but the children hide in a cave, the moon hides its light to help and Punch is sewing the legs of Fleischmann. Peter and Mustache appear, but Mustache is hiding in the same cave as Hansel, Grethel and Kasperl. Peter asks the professor, who can no longer move because of the tied legs, for his name. When he learns that he is the ogre, Peter kills Fleischmann with his ax. Mustache, Hansel, Grethel and Kasperl come out. Peter takes his children in his arms and Kasperl says that they would now go to the pub.

characters

  • Peter , a poor lumberjack
  • Marianne , his wife
  • Hansel and Gretel , their children
  • Professor Doctor Fleischmann , natural scholar and cannibals
  • Katherine , his housekeeper
  • Kasperl Larifari , wandering apprentice tailor
  • Mustache , bailiff
  • The night
  • The moon

shape

The piece consists of two lifts, the alternation of which is supposed to represent the eight days that Hansel, Grethel and Kasperl are trapped. The scenery during the first act is the forest and the interior of a poor hut; in the second a study, again the interior of the hut and the forest.

1st elevator

  • Quarrel between Peter and Marianne because of their poverty
  • Marianne sends the children to pick berries and leaves
  • Enter Kasperl, who at first thinks the house is an inn and finally falls asleep
  • Transformation into the forest
  • Lost in the forest and arrival at Professor Fleischmann's house
  • Katherine's invitation to the house and promise of salvation
  • Appearance of the professor who smells the children
  • Katherine's confession to Fleischmann about the arrival of the children, whereupon Fleischmann demands silence about his intention
  • Enter Kasperl, whom Fleischmann invites into the house

2nd elevator

  • Transformation into a study
  • Kasperl aggression due to captivity
  • Fleischmann's offer to drink wine
  • Kasperl's and Fleischmann's drinking party
  • Professor Fleischmann grinds the knife and tells his ideology
  • Kasperl and Fleischmann fall asleep
  • Katherine rescues Hansel and Grethel
  • Transformation into a lumberjack house
  • Despair of the parents who finally have money but no more children
  • Mustache's report on the professor
  • Peter decides to look for the professor with a mustache
  • Transformation into the forest
  • The children are hiding
  • Exhaustion of the professor
  • Sewing his trouser legs together by Kasperl, who is also hiding
  • Enter Mustache, who is also hiding
  • Enter Peter, who asks Fleischmann his name
  • Answer from the professor
  • The professor is assassinated by Peter's ax
  • Appearance of mustache, Hansel, Grethel and Kasperl
  • Family reunion
  • Kasperl's cry of joy and anticipation of a visit to an inn

literature