Hansel and Gretel
- characters
- Hansel and Gretel – the children of a poor woodcutter, left to fend for themselves in the woods by their stepmother after famine strikes and family is unable to support them. Hansel is the naive boy character, easily falling for tricks, Gretel is the skeptical and cautious girl, smart and observant
- The Witch – manipulative antagonist who lures the children in with food and sweets with the secret goal to fatten them up to eat them
- setting
- 1812-ish Germany, in a forest
- conflict
- children left to fend for themselves
- an evil witch plans on killing and eating them, just evade danger
- resolution
- Gretel sees past the Witch’s tricks and feigns stupidity, allowing her time to trick the Witch into the oven, leaving her to roast and die. The children steal the Witch’s wealth and live happily back with their father, their stepmother passing away while they were gone.
The Great Gatsby
- characters
- Nick Caraway – the unreliable narrator, claims to be impartial and unbiased, is not, prefers to stay silent over causing a fuss
- Jay Gatsby – the unbelievably rich neighbor of Nick in the West Egg, longs for Daisy in the East Egg, they have a past
- Daisy Buchanan – ditsy cousin of Nick, previous lover of Gatsby, unhappily married to Tom, relents about being a smart woman in such a world, kills Myrtle on accident
- Tom Buchanan – husband of Daisy, traditionalist, friends with Nick and Gatsby, cheats on wife with Myrtle and tells Nick
- Jordan Baker – Nick’s love interest, Daisy’s good friend
- Myrtle Wilson – Tom’s love affair, killed in freak accident by Daisy (Gatsby accompanying her)
- setting
- 1920 New York, the East and West Eggs
- Gatsby’s mansion
- Tom’s mansion
- Nick’s humble home
- the Valley of Ashes
- conflict
- Gatsby longs for Daisy and is unable to reach her. Once Daisy’s cousin, Nick, moves in next door, Gatsby sees an opportunity. Gatsby and Nick quickly become friends and the tensions of Daisy’s married life and Gatsby’s constant flirting and attempt to win her back result in an accidental murder.
- resolution
- The victim of the crime blames Gatsby for the loss of his wife, seeking out and finding Gatsby and killing him as well as himself. Nick moves away, Daisy resumes normal life with Tom.
Character Swap
- the characters
- Daisy Buchanan – faux ditz, secretly depressed and lonely, unhappily married, remorse over past, does not take responsibility for her actions, spiteful, protective of family, dependent, observant
- Gretel – impulsive, childish, ultimately outsmarts antagonist, cautious and skeptical, smart/witty, observant
- Daisy in a 1812 German forest (after being kicked out of home)
- Daisy would take the hit of her stepmother kicking her out very very hard. She would overthink every internal flaw within herself instead of seeing that the stepmother’s motives were not out of hate, but irresponsibility and neglect. Obviously, her high-profile lifestyle would be entirely upended in the harsh forests of the time. She would trip and fall, stumble and stagger all across the land. Once approaching the strange house, Daisy would quickly latch onto the kindness the Witch fakes, becoming quickly acquainted and probably asking for help in any way for herself and Hansel. Once the Witch tried to trick Daisy and Hansel, she would quickly become protective over Hansel and immediately doubt the Witch’s motives, becoming cautious from this moment on. She may not kill the Witch, but both would inevitably escape and return home, possibly without any wealth. It is unlikely that Daisy or Hansel would change much as a result of this experience.
- Gretel in 1920s New York wealth districts
- If she is young girl in the hustle and bustle of a reformed world after the First World War, she would undoubtably be overwhelmed. Living under the stern fist of Tom, life would be regimented, but comfortable. Gretel would appreciate the life she is given, it may be tough as a kid and some creativity may be stifled by discipline, but she would be a strong and powerful child. However, if she was of age and married to Tom, having the same experiences as Daisy would have, the story is different. In this case, Gretel would be content in her life with Tom, happily acquiescing to his painfully toxic masculinity and not worrying about her past, certainly not letting it trouble her. As she reconnects with Gatsby, the meetings would be purely of friendship and any moves Gatsby would try to make on Gretel would be politely declined. As Gatsby would inevitably push harder and harder, Gretel would stand her ground and if it got too out of hand, request aid from her husband. The main conflict of The Great Gatsby would be completely thwarted by Gretel’s ability to be a healthy and happy human being. Life would continue in a state of “above average, but not perfect” until their lives naturally end.