Why did Rapunzel get kidnapped again?

[conuly]

Couldn't the witch just pick an orphan up somewhere else, or find an abandoned baby on a midden or something? And if she'd gone the legitimate route, she would've been the hero of the story and could've stayed in town! Could've had as many kids as she liked! So why did she do things the hard way, again?

Comments

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Responsible humans do - in the modern world - but the witch/ogress/fairy in the story is not portrayed as human, and in the 17th century there were not 'authorities' lurking behind every bush to handle things; people handled them themselves.

Especially magical people - the Gentry, the Good Folk, all the not-exactly human beautiful and/or scary beings, who are by definition outside the pale of the Church, and not bound by human laws, customs, feelings or attitudes. Everybody knows it's a really bad idea to steal from such people - the husband in the story certainly knew it; he didn't want to go, because he reckoned he'd be killed if he was caught.

For that matter, he'd have been in just as bad straits if he'd robbed the kitchen-garden of some Christian knight or baron in a place that did have 'authorities', because they'd have simply hanged him. How not? He was caught green-handed; there was no question but that he was guilty.