564. The Moral of the Story with JBP: Hansel & Gretel
7/21/202549 min
In this narrative analysis, Dr. Jordan B. Peterson breaks down the Grimm Brothers’ “Hansel and Gretel,” revealing the psychological and symbolic dimensions hidden within the classic tale. From the selfishness of weak fathers and malevolent stepmothers to the false promises of hyper-solicitous care, Peterson explores how the abandonment of children into the unknown mirrors moral failure at home—and how faith, courage, and sibling love can redeem it. With echoes of biblical stories and and all too modern warning about overprotective parenting, this fairy tale becomes a rich allegory for navigating betrayal, scarcity, and emerging maturity. This ep...
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJordan B. Peterson· Host0:00
Hello, everybody. So in the past, I have told or read stories for children and offered an analysis, and I recently released a new episode of that sort, discussing the Grimm's brother's Snow White, and people seem pretty happy with that. I'll read to you a couple of comments. "Can we have a whole psychoanalytic series on fairy tales? So many hidden lessons. It also reminds me of the Peterson lectures I listened to on The Lion King, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio." That was some years ago. "Yes, more of these." "Please do more of these." "All the best from the UK." "Story time with Dr. Peterson." "Too awesome." Well, the episode proved quite popular, and people's responses were very positive, and I like doing narrative analysis. Um, and so we're gonna try another one today, Hansel and Gretel. And you all know that story, so we'll see how it goes. "Hard by a great forest dwelt a poor woodcutter with his wife and two children. The boy was called Hansel and the girl Gretel. He had little to bite and to break, and once when great scarcity fell on the land, he could no longer procure daily bread. Now, when he thought this over by night in his bed and tossed about in his anxiety, he groaned