The story of Hansel and Gretal runs rich with themes of survival, of temptation, abandonment, and finally fufillment. Because of this I would place Hansel and Gretal's age just in the beginnings of puberty, a time when one can still remember the innocence of childhood but can feel an indescribable turmoil approaching. The home setting would be very sparse and firmly grounded in reality, it is something familiar and harsh, but excepted. The house should rest right on the border of the forest, which would be depicted as a great tangled and ancient mass, a forbidden place that externalizes the children's feelings. Moreso than the thought of being abandoned, it is the the thought of being left in the forest that scares Hansel and Gretel, the fear of having to face alone what they feel inside. Even returning to an unloving house is preferable to remaining out in the forest to fend for themselves in their mindest. The witches house would be depicted as a rich cottage of plenty rather than a confectionary construct, but still slightly otherworldly in its contrast to the starving household. However, the symbol of the house would become some weird representation of the pleasure that puberty brings with it and its danger.