SOURCE: "Being Stuck: The Subversive Andersen and His Audience," in Studies in German and Scandinavian Literature after 1500: A Festschrift for George C. Schoolfield, edited by James A. Parente, Jr. and Rich ard Erich Schade, Camden House, 1993, pp. 166-80.

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 roles. Ingwersen also comments on the relationship between the artist and audience in Andersen 's tales, finding Andersen concerned with the appreciation of art as well as the compromises an artist makes for his audience.

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Hans Christian Andersen's butterfly ("Sommerfuglen," ["The Butterfly"] 1862) flutters through life without finding anyone quite fit for marriage. When he finally proposes, he is firmly told by the desired object that too much time has passed to realize a marriage; friendship must suffice. As an...