Into The Woods Plot Question

[xoffender45]

So, if the Baker found six beans in his father's hunting jacket, instead of taking them with him into the woods, why not walk them over next door and just give 'em back to the witch? Could've saved a whole lot of trouble.

[adamgreer]

Because in order to reverse the spell, the Witch needed the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold.

She had no use for the beans anymore.

[wonderwaiter]

Why didn't Jean Valjean just NOT steal the bread?

[xoffender45]

But she needed all those items to reverse the spell that her mother had cast on her. The witch had the power to reverse the spell SHE cast on the Baker's family, so it really wouldn't have hurt them to at least ask if she wanted the beans back instead of taking them with them.

Dumb question, I know. But I was listening to the recording in my car, and that question popped up in my mind. lol

[Jordan Catalano]

Not a dumb question at all. :)

[xoffender45]

Wow. Thanks, Jordan. "Nice" is not a word I usually use to describe something someone says on the BWW boards, but that was very nice of you!

[Jordan Catalano]

Well, I try. :)


Sometimes.


Rarely.


It's new.

[spiderdj82]

See, Jordan. I told you those "night sessions" with me would work with perking you up

Bigger question is, when his father knew that they were living beside a witch that put a curse on them, why didn't they move away while the mother was pregnant with Repunzel?

[xoffender45]

It's a good look. Between the avatar and the niceness, you're turning me on.

[xoffender45]

spiderdj82: rent control?

[spiderdj82]

*bow chica bow wow*

[Jordan Catalano]

Well that's good to know because if you read the off topic board you'll know I'm looking for a boyfriend.

[defygravity24]

Because the witch didn't want the beans anymore. They weren't gonna make her beautiful or young again.

[xoffender45]

But how do we know that? That curse was placed on her on the assumption that the beans were missing. Which raises another question in my mind. If the father still had the beans in his jacket, and saw that the witch placed a spell on them, why not apologize profusely and given them back while they're still fresh.

But let's say that for some reason, the father didn't know she was so attached to said beans. The Baker now knows that beans = curse. He doesn't know that he has to go find the special items to break the witch's ugliness curse, he just assumes its to break his curse. Again, all because it's thought that these beans were missing. So if I were to FIND the beans that caused all of this mess, common sense tells me to take them back and at least try to avoid looking for these random things. A cape as red as blood? I mean, really?

[Kad]

It's a fairy tale. Since when do people act with common sense in a fairy tale?

I mean, is Little Red blind or something? Common sense says that you'd be able to tell a wolf from your grandmother, regardless of nightgown.

[JohnPopa]

The Witch used The Baker and The Baker's Wife to gather the ingredients to create the potion that would cure HER. As you recall, she wasn't allowed to have touched any of those ingredients.

Lifting the spell on The Baker's family was just an excuse for them to do what she wanted done for herself.

[AwesomeDanny]

The baker and his wife didn't know that those were magic beans. They said that they were so that Jack would give them his cow. They thought that they were just normal beans, but if they knew the beans were magic, that wouldn't help because the witch just cared about being beautiful again.

[jasonf]

The OP does have a point though - did the witch ask for the beans back? She says later "All right mother, when? Lost the beans again." Might she not think getting them back could reverse the spell? Of course, it IS a fairy tale and people don't think of these things....