There are many connections that one can make when studying fairy tales.  Many of these connections are symbolic to the teachings of how children should act.  Most, if not all, fairy tales contain the classic struggle of good versus evil.  Fairy tales also teach how good can conquer over evil.  Likewise, the Bible shows the struggle between good and evil and gives Christians an outline on how they should act in a Christian manner.  This is just one instance in which the teachings of fairy tales coincide with the teachings of the Bible.  There are many more Biblical parallels in a number of fairy tales. 

“Hansel and Gretel” is one fairy tale that is full of Biblical resemblances.  Near the beginning of the story, when the two children are led away from their parents’ house for the second time, Hansel turns around and looks at his house; and when his father asks about this, Hansel tells his father that he was just looking at a bird perched on top of the house.  In a version of the story I heard when I was younger, the bird was a white bird.  And as shown in the Bible, a white bird, normally a dove, can symbolize peace and security.  For instance, when Noah sent out the dove, it brought back an olive branch, showing that the flood was receding and proving that there was a safe place to land (Genesis 8: 8-11).  Everyone can agree that throughout the story, Hansel and Gretel view their parents’ house as a place of security.  The bird was only a symbol of that security.

Biblically, a dove was also a sign of the Holy Spirit and this can be seen in the passage when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist (Mark 1:10).  After Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit (the dove) came into Him, Jesus wandered throughout the desert.  It could be said that the dove marked the beginning of Jesus’ journey through the desert.  This could also transfer to the fairy tale to mean that the bird Hansel saw perched on top of his house was a symbol for the beginning of the children’s journey.  The bird was not the only similarity between the Bible and "Hansel and Gretel."

Another instance in which the fairy tale of "Hansel and Gretel" parallels the Bible is the scene in which the two children are wandering through the woods.  Both children are hungry, tired and alone.  This closely resembles the passage where Jesus wandered through the desert for forty days.  He too was tired and hungry and completely alone.  During this time, Satan tried to tempt Jesus with food.  Satan told Him that if He were the Son of God, then He should turn a stone into bread for food (Luke 4:3).  Unlike Hansel and Gretel, Jesus did not give into this temptation.  The children saw the gingerbread house and ate parts of it until they were full.  Eating when hungry is not a bad thing to do, but the children continued to eat pieces of it even after they were full, which is gluttony.  Biblically, as well as in many fairy tales, gluttony is seen as a sin, or at least a bad thing to do if considering the fairy tale perspective. 

Gluttony is one of "the seven deadly sins," which are the central idea in most fairy tales, suggesting that the fairy tales were originally told to teach a lesson about these sins.  In fairy tales, all the sins are bad except for deceit.  Deceit is often seen as a good thing, a strong character trait.  In the Bible, deceit is still a sin and will always be a sin.  The antagonist in fairy tales is normally the one who pushes these sins onto the protagonist, trying to make the protagonist fall.

In "Hansel and Gretel," the evil qualities of the witch demonstrate that she could have been a symbolic character for Satan.  The allure of the witch’s gingerbread house to the children can be seen as a symbol for temptation, which is Satan’s tool to get humans to sin.  The children were found guilty of committing the sin of gluttony and were imprisoned by the witch.  Hansel is literally imprisoned in a shed and Gretel is forced to cook for her brother to fatten him up so the witch can eat him. 

A final parallel in "Hansel and Gretel" can be found at the end of the children’s encounter with the witch.  Gretel traps the witch inside her own oven, right before she was getting ready to cook Hansel.  The witch is burnt up.  This resembles the story of Satan.  At the end of Satan’s reign over earth, the Christians will be saved from the fire and Satan will be thrown into the fiery pit of Hell, where he will be tortured forever.

After the children overcome the witch they take her treasures and live happily ever after.  This is also similar to Christian belief because after Christians overcome the temptations of Satan and he is condemned, they reap the rewards of Heaven and live "happily ever after" for all eternity. 

Many other tales resemble other well-known Bible stories.  For instance, a scene in "Beauty and the Beast" resembles the story of Abraham and Isaac.  When God called on Abraham, He said, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of" (Genesis 22:2).  This story proves similar to "Beauty and the Beast" in that Isaac went willingly to the altar as the sacrifice, just as Belle was willing to sacrifice her life for her father’s life.  In the end, both lives were saved.   Neither father liked the idea of being responsible for the death of his child, but each allowed the chance to be taken.  When one compares the central characters, he or she can see that they are similar.  Isaac was Abraham’s most loved son, but not necessarily his only son; Genesis 16 contains the story of Ishmael.  Belle was also her father’s favorite child, but not the only child (unless you follow Walt Disney’s version of the story). 

Another idea common to fairy tales is an ideal woman.  In fairy tales an ideal woman is incredibly beautiful, smart and kind.  Cinderella and Belle are two great examples of ideal women.  The Bible’s ideal woman does not stray far from the fairy tale model.  Proverbs 31:10-31 discusses the ideal woman.  She is hard working, wise, strong and kind.  A major difference in these views is the characteristic of beauty.  The Bible does not consider physical beauty as a great asset, mainly because it can lead to vanity.  As a Christian, I can say that physical beauty makes no difference, but the beauty of the heart is what is really attractive (though it is also a lot harder to find).  However, beauty is a necessity of the characters in the fairy tales. 

If one looks deep enough, he or she can find many other parallels to Biblical Christian teachings in many other fairy tales.  Fairy tales were once told as a form of entertainment, which they still are.  Besides entertainment, though, they can act as a guide to show children the right way to act.  The Bible is meant to do the same.  It was written to tell us how the ideal Christian is supposed to act.  However, most children do not always follow the moral values taught by fairy tales.  Like children, Christians stumble and do not always follow the teachings of the Bible.