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Hans Christian Andersen by Rumer Godden.
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The Danish author Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) enjoyed fame in his own lifetime as a novelist, dramatist, and poet, but his fairy tales are his great contribution to world literature.Hans Chris...
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Hans Christian Andersen, recognized as one of the masters of the fairy-tale genre, based much of his work on his own life. "Recollections of childhood and youth," wrote Reginald Spink in Hans Christia...
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During his lifetime, Hans Christian Andersen was well known in both Europe and the United States for his novels, fairy tales, and stories, as well as for his literary travel books and autobiography. S...
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Godden's early years were spent in India. "Our father, 'Fa,' worked for one of the oldest of the Indian Inland Navigation Steamer Companies which, between them, were responsible for the navigation of ...
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A prolific writer of novels, short fiction, and nonfiction for adults as well as novels, stories, and poetry for children, Rumer Godden conveys in her works the plight and triumph of children separate...
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The following was originally published by Thackeray under the name Michael Angelo Titmarsh and appeared in Fraser's Magazine in 1847. In the excerpt below, Thackeray praises Andersen for his wi...
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In the following essay, Anderson argues that the endings of Andersen's fairy tales do not convey pessimism but that they instead express the "triumph of the Spirit " and the optim...
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In the essay following, Cech discusses the optimistic and pessimistic aspects of Andersen's fairy tales, relating them to the "competing sides of [Andersen's nature."]
Amon...
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In the following excerpt, Ingwersen discusses the theme of the loss of freedom in Andersen's fairy tales, focusing particularly on those characters trapped by their social standing or by gender...
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In the following essay, Andersen (a twentieth-century critic) discusses the motif of travel in Andersen's works, finding it connected with themes of restlessness, homelessness, and alienation, ...
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In the following excerpt, Kofoed discusses Andersen's sources and the double nature of his narrative voice, which expresses "the tension between the manners of the highly educated, adult...
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In the following excerpt, Bennett discusses the similarities between Andersen 's personal life and the events in his well-known fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling."
"My life,&#x...
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In the following excerpt, originally written in 1932, Hazard celebrates the vitality and wisdom found in Andersen's tales, maintaining that the stories reflect the true meaning of life.
Supposi...
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In the excerpt below, Marker discusses Andersen 's often-neglected dramatic works, focusing on Andersen's early dramatic influences and arguing that his works form part of a significant ...
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In the following excerpt, originally published in 1975, Mayer discusses Andersen's outsider status and sexual orientation as revealed in his novel Only a Fiddler and in his fairy tales.
In chap...
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In the following essay, Bredsdorff discusses the sources of some of Andersen's tales and proposes a system for grouping the tales.
Today Andersen's fame rests entirely on his fairy tales...
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In the following excerpt, originally presented on Radio Denmark in 1979, Brask discusses the obstacles in Andersen's tales to realizing true love.
"The Swineherd" ("Svindre...
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In the following essay, Zipes points to ambivalence in Andersen's tales, finding its roots in the conflict between Andersen's identification with the lower classes and his simultaneous e...
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In the following essay, Griffith contends that Andersen depicted death as a welcome escape for the innocent from the frightening sexuality of the world.
"We can begin by saying that happy peopl...
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In the following essay, Greenway suggests that the acoustic theories of Hans Christian Oersted can be found in the short story “The Bell” by Andersen.
It may come as a surprise to those ...
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In the following essay, Sanders investigates how the art of sculpture subverts understandings of gender markings in Andersen's tale “Psychen.”
“Pip! Det er det Skønn...
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In the following essay, Ingwersen illustrates a common motif seen in Andersen's fairy tales, “that of being captured, of being trapped … of being denied freedom,” and how t...
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In the following essay, Ziolkowski traces the origins of the tale “Little Claus and Big Claus” to an anonymous medieval poem.
Albeit on a humble plane, this essay seeks to celebrate some...
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In the following essay, Malmkjaer contends that the normalization of Andersen's unusual punctuation in English translations significantly alters the stories.
1. Punctuation in Translation
Punct...
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Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Critical Essay by William Makepeace Thackeray
