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Louise Glück's “Gretel in Darkness” (first published in her 1975 collection The House on Marshland) explores trauma through the lens fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel." The Gretel of this poem is tormented by horrific memories of the witch she murdered in order to rescue her brother.
- Summary
- Themes
- Structure and Form
- Literary Devices
- Analysis, Stanza by Stanza
- Similar Poetry
In the first lines of ‘Gretel in Darkness,’ the speakerGretel, begins by describing how despite the fact that some time has passed, she can still hear the witch she killed screaming. Her death is haunting the young speaker. She wonders why she can’t forget what happened to her since she’s living a happy and safe life in her home with her brother an...
Throughout this poem, the poet engages with themes of repression, misogyny, and memories. Through Hansel and Gretel’s story, Glück tells a broader story about how women are “protected” from life. The men in her life are unwilling to acknowledge or remember what she did. Rather than addressing it, they lock the doors and ignore any of her obvious pl...
‘Gretel in Darkness’ by Louise Glück is a four-stanza poem that is divided into sets of six lines, known as sestets. These sestets are written in free verse. This means that the poet chose not to use a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern to unify them. Without a meter, Gretel’s sorrow is easier to pin down and feel. Her thoughts are chaotic a...
Glück makes use of several literary devices in ‘Gretel in Darkness.’ These include but are not limited to: 1. Allusion: throughout this piece, the poet alludes to the traditional story of Hansel and Gretel. She uses the latter as her speaker and explores the aftermath of the witch’s death. 2. Alliteration: occurs when the poet uses the same consona...
Stanza One
In the first lines of ‘Gretel in Darkness,’ the poet begins by having her speaker describe the world as it is. It is “the word we wanted,” she says. This should set the poem up to be a happy one. Things are as they should be. But that’s not the case. She may have saved her brother’s life, but her mind and heart are still not right. Even though she’s at home and safe, she can still hear the “witch’s cry / break in the moonlight.” There’s nothing that can keep the sound from Gretel’s ears. In t...
Stanza Two
In the second stanza, the speaker makes it clear that despite the fact that her father “bars the door, bars harm,” she still feels unsafe. She also explores the fact that she is safe from “women’s arms’ in this home. Her evil stepmother and the witch are far away, but now, she’s in a world where men control her life. Just because things seem to be okay on the outside doesn’t mean there isn’t more complex trauma going on within someone’s life. Gretel has no one to share that with, as the follo...
Stanza Three
When she looks to her family members for help, they don’t seem to understand that she isn’t over the trauma she experienced. They’re ready to pretend it never happened. Hansel refuses to acknowledge her pain, just as her father does. He’s in the “summer afternoons” in the light, while Gretel is in “darkness,” as the title has already informed the reader. She has to shoulder the burden of the witch’s death alone, even though she did it for Hansel.
Readers who enjoyed ‘Gretel in Darkness’ should also consider reading other Louise Glück poems. For example: 1. ‘All Hallows’ – explores the nature of Halloween and uses dark and lonely images to depict it. 2. ‘Circe’s Power’ – was published in Meadowlands and is based around the mythof Circe. 3. ‘Mock Orange’ – uses the orange to symbolizethe spea...
- Female
- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
Analysis: “Gretel in Darkness”. “Gretel in Darkness” provides a sobering look at how physical survival isn’t always a guarantee of moral, psychological, or emotional safety. The poem begins with a straightforward declaration: “This is the world we wanted” (Line 1), which immediately places Gretel (the speaker) as the authoritative ...
Glück, Louise. “ Gretel in Darkness .” 2002. Poem Hunter. Summary. Written in the first-person persona of Gretel from the children’s fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel,” this poem documents the fear, trauma, and repercussions that Gretel must confront after killing a witch to survive in the Black Forest.
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Study Guide. Gretel in Darkness. Louise Glück. 9 pages • 18 minutes read. Louise Glück. Gretel in Darkness. Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1975. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. Download PDF.
Gretel in Darkness. By Louise Glück . This is the world we wanted. All who would have seen us dead. are dead. I hear the witch's cry. break in the moonlight through a sheet. of sugar: God rewards. Her tongue shrivels into gas… Now far from women's arms. and memory women, in our father's hut. we sleep, are never hungry. Why do I not forget?
"Gretel in Darkness" is a 1975 poem by the American poet Louise Glück, exploring themes of trauma and justice through a retelling of the well-known fairytale " Hansel and Gretel ." It was first published in Glück's collection The House on the Marshland.
