Comparison of Three Versions
| Element of fairytale | Tabart (1807) |
Jacobs (1930) |
Henson(2001)
|
| Setting | In the days of King Alfred. Remote country village many miles from London. | In Britain because the giant smells an Englishman. | In a modern city. England as sign reads Camelot casino. |
| Jack is ________ at the beginning. | Indolent, careless & extravagant because his mother indulged him to a fault. | Just only son named Jack. | The first Jack is wild, adventurous and a tad careless. The right Jack is hardworking. |
| Mother is widow | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Who gives Jack the beans? | Butcher | Funny looking old man | Bent little man |
| Bean giver knows Jack's name. | Yes but doesn't use it. | Yes | Yes & cows |
| Mother throws beans out window | Kicks them, some go out window | Yes | Yes |
| Sent to bed without any thing to eat. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Why Jack climbs the beanstalk | To seek his fortune | Not stated, he wakes up and sees it so he climbs. He is very hungery. | First jack: To make his mother proud. Right Jack: To find the truth. |
| The man who gives Jack the beans is a fairy? | Yes | No | No |
| Fairy helps Jack? | Yes | No | No, but the right Jack he is assisted by Countess Wilhelmina & Ondine. |
| Who Jack first meets at castle. | Plain looking woman (giants wife) | Big tall woman (giants wife) | Ondine (friend of the giant) |
| Giant has a name. | No | No | Yes, Thunderdell |
| Giant is nasty | Yes | Yes | No |
| Giant or ogre | Giant | Ogre | Giant |
| Jack hides | Oven, lumber closet & copper (by giants wife) | In the oven twice (by giants wife) and himself once in the copper | Made welcome |
| Number of visits | 3 | 3 | One by each Jack. |
| Number of thefts | 3 on 3 occasions Hen, bags of gold & silver, harp. |
3 on 3 occasions Bag of gold, hen and harp. |
2 on one visit. Harp and goose. |
| Talking objects | Yes harp | Yes harp | Yes harp 7 Goose. |
| Thefts enabled by giant falling asleep | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Giant always believes his wife when she says there no Englishman to eat | Yes | Yes | Doesn't eat humans |
| Jack is married at the end | No, lives happily with mother. | Yes | No wedding yet but starts relationship. |
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