Is The Witch The Bitch? Or Is The Bitch The Witch????????????????

                                   "Hansel And Gretel" is a story long overdue for examination in the Bitch Of The Week column.  I had always thought of the Witch as being the bitch; one who, deservedly, gets her comeuppance.

                                      But there is another bitch lurking in this story; one that has been as much of a fairy tale component as witches.

                                        The Evil Stepmother.

                                         Hansel and Gretel's father was a widower, and he remarried this scold.  Economic times hit them hard, and she came up with the idea of luring the children into the woods, and abandoning them, so they would have only their mouths to feed.  This makes even Cinderella's stepmother seem benign; at least Cinderella was allowed a roof over her head!

                                           What always got me ticked off with this was how dumb the father was.  I mean, it's not like the woman he married is some sex kitten.  She is a cold, heartless, scold, who, if the story were to carry forward would either physically or psychologically castrate him.

                                               She is hateful.

                                               But wait!

                                               There is a theory, popular among some genre scholars, that the Stepmother and the Witch are one and the same.  This makes sense in terms of getting rid of the children, but if this were really true, the Witch should have made herself more desirable and alluring as the Stepmother, in order to ensnare the father.

                                                 So, I think they are two different individuals.

                                                 Both are evil bitches, but I think the Witch is the worst of the two.
At least, the kids have a fighting chance in the Woods.  The Witch, who is the winner of this week's Raving Queen Bitch Of The Week Award, may very well be a female pedophile, luring the kids with the Ultimate Candy House, imprisoning them, torturing them, until Gretel gets her act together, and tosses the Witch into the oven.

                                                  I actually forget how the story ends.  In one version, I recall they go back through the woods, and embrace their father, who loves them.  The Evil Stepmother is now gone.  Does that mean she was the Witch?  Darlings, you are free to think so.

                                                   I think Daddy finally came to his senses, saw how cold and ugly she was, and threw her out into the street.

                                                     Which is what becomes of all Evil Stepmothers!  Or should!!!!!!!!!