Gretel in Darkness

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1975

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The Grimm brothers, or The Brothers Grimm, were famous for their stories that involved children, fantasy, and magical realism. Perhaps their best-known story, “Hansel and Gretel” was a cautionary tale about children who wander too far from the prescribed path in the forest and encounter a demonic witch who intends to eat them by luring them into her house. Originally published in the mid-1800s, the story has undergone thousands of translations and remixes to fit various cultural, geographic, and time period changes in order to be retold to new audiences.

Louise Glück, “Mock Orange”

One of Glück’s most revered poems, this work provides additional insight into the technical precision and sense of restraint that Glück evinces in her poetry. It also demonstrates Glück’s rare ability to enter so seamlessly into neuroses; specifically, into the psychology of a woman who is dealing with skepticism and doubt in her reality. Much like Gretel, the speaker in this poem is questioning what is real and what is worth living for, and despite a tender backdrop of a lovely garden, the speaker refuses to acquiescence into any comfort or happiness.

Patricia Smith, “Skinhead”

Though very different in tone and subject matter, Patricia Smith is a contemporary of Glück’s who also employed the persona form to masterfully investigate the psychological and moral dilemmas of the world. In this poem, Smith—a Black writer from Chicago—imagines being a White male racist who violently despises marginalized Americans. Smith’s ability to switch into the mindset of another perspective so diametrically opposed to her own to investigate the full weight and spectrum of human experience is reminiscent of how Glück uses Gretel to explore the darker layers of traumas in unexpected and suspenseful ways.