I completely see your point, but similar points could be made with a whole host of ballads. Time scales don't match etc. These pieces were primarily written as entertainment. Like our modern day soaps, a lot of what goes on we wouldn't expect to happen in real life. They seem to lurch from one life-threatening situation to another.

The Cruel Mother kills her babies and on her way home she sees their ghosts, no longer babies, playing ball, and they accuse her.