Today's selection -- from Hans Christian Andersen: European Witness
by Paul Binding. Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a Danish
author who left an indelible mark on Western culture with stories that
transcend age and nationality such as "The Ugly Duckling," "The Princess
and the Pea," "The Little Mermaid," "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The
Snow Queen," "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "Thumbelina," and "The Little
Match Girl." His earliest
writings were based on stories he heard as a child, but he soon brought
the genre to a new level with bold and original stories that he
labored over, meticulously constructing each phrase, image and theme.
His most famous story, "The Ugly Duckling," while universal in theme,
reflected his own struggle to overcome his
ungainly looks and humble background. Some scholars believe it was also an expression of his struggle with his homosexuality in an era in which same sex relations were illegal:
ungainly looks and humble background. Some scholars believe it was also an expression of his struggle with his homosexuality in an era in which same sex relations were illegal:
"Like 'The Emperor's New Clothes,' 'The Ugly Duckling' has passed into
proverb. In its proverbial form its account of an unprepossessing,
unsatisfactory member of one species evolving into a beautiful, admired
member of another encourages us to expect for ourselves an eventual
transformation of situation and self for the better, whatever the
restrictions of our early circumstances and the current low opinion of
others. Obviously this is of irresistible appeal to insufficiently
appreciated children, and few of us have not at some point seen
ourselves in this category. Here is a story which seems to assure us of
our right to a future consonant with our instinctive hopes during our
unhappy times, and probably exceeding them, while confounding all those
fault-finding authority figures who have given up on us or showed us
downright hostility. More, it suggests that we will be granted our
rights by a natural process. ..."Many have found it ironical that 'The Ugly Duckling' -- the most constant favourite with the young of all its author's tales -- appeared in Andersen's first book of fairy stories to drop from its title the designation 'for Bern' (for children'): Nye Eventyr, Forste Samling (New Fairy Tales, First Collection 11 November 1843). But this deliberate omission is surely appropriate. ..."
"'The
book is selling like hot cakes!' declared Andersen in an 1843 letter
translated by historian Maria Tatar. It was shortly after the release of
his new collection, which included this popular, heartwarming tale. The
similarities between Andersen's life and the ugly duckling are
irresistible: Andersen -- gangly, poor, and uneducated -- became a
literary star despite the under-estimation he suffered. In a similar
fashion, the hatchling is mistaken for a common duck and mistreated
before discovering that he is a beautiful swan. It took Andersen a year
to write 'The Ugly Duckling,' and nineteen years later, he opened up
about the process, calling the tale 'the hardest to compose, perhaps
because it was the most directly autobiographical.' This classic example
of an animal tale also spawned one of Andersen's famous quotes: 'Being
born in a duck yard does not matter, if only you are hatched from a
swan's egg.' In Andersen's day, the definition of artistic genius was
shifting and was less bound to class than it had been before. He was
part of an exciting new breed, and the tale's inspiring and hopeful
message continues to make it one of Andersen's most beloved stories to
this day. ...
"The widespread love (there is no other word) felt for this story, and
from the very first, cannot be explained only by its invitation to
respect the once despised artist or its confessed correspondence to a
celebrity's (Andersen's) own life. Nor even by its extraordinarily
concentrated literary art, endlessly repaying of analytic attention
though it is. Separation from, and consequent need for fellow spirits --
these are conditions by no means peculiar to practitioners of the arts.
All of us know moments of oppressive solitude of the soul. What we want
most at such times is the assurance that we are not unique in our
emotions, that others have the same yearnings, have suffered similarly.
If we only could meet these others -- if not in life, then in art -- we
could be comforted, and, above all else, 'The Ugly Duckling' is an
instrument of profound comfort. And if we accept homosexuality as a
strong component at the very least of Andersen's emotional make-up, then
we can see the duckling's journey as one out of the loneliness of
mocked heterodoxy to acceptance by those who knew what he was and who
felt as he did, or at any rate sympathised with him. Unfortunately
Denmark, as the nineteenth century progressed, would deny homosexuals
any show of public unity analogous to this convergence of the swans. By
the end of the century, like Britain, like Germany, it had made same-sex
relations illegal. But the Andersen of 1843 would not have been able to
predict this sad subsequent development."
Hans Christian Andersen: European Witness
Author: Paul Binding
Publisher: Yale University Press
Copyright 2014 Paul Binding
Pages 203-204
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