“The Snow Queen” (1845) and “The Red Shoes” (1845) are good examples; both depict young girls who place their lives in the hands of God and are saved because they trust in the Lord’s powers of redemption. The beginning of “The Snow Queen” establishes the connection between the devil and the snow queen, and the narrative develops into a Christian conflict between good and evil; it becomes clear by the end of the tale that Gerda will need the assistance of angels and the Lord to save Kai. In “The Red Shoes,” the unfortunate Karen is mercilessly punished for her pride, and she must have her feet cut off and learn Christian humility before she can be accepted into heaven.

Andersen tended to chastise girls or use them as examples in Christian allegorical fairy tales that celebrate the intelligent design of God. Whether the girl is reprimanded, as in “The Girl Who Stepped on Bread” (1859), or elevated to the level of a saint, as in “The Little Match Girl” (1845), Andersen insisted that she become self-sacrificial and pious. It was not much different for the male characters in Andersen’s tales, but interestingly, he did not treat males as harshly as he did females. Overall, almost all of Andersen’s religious tales and many others indicate that the only way to fulfill one’s destiny is to place one’s trust in the Lord.

THE ANTHROPOMORPHIZING OF ANIMALS AND NATURE

In his traditional tales in which animals, insects, and plants speak and come to life, Andersen often didactically conveys moral values. Placing one’s faith in God is an undercurrent in his most famous fairy tale, “The Ugly Duckling.” There are no Christian references in this narrative; instead Andersen uses the tradition of animal tales to demonstrate that there is such a thing as “intelligent design.” The duckling must have faith in order to overcome all the obstacles in his life and triumph in the end.

Andersen’s anthropomorphizing tales are not always religious. In many, he pokes fun at human foibles—for example, pomposity is his target in “The Spruce Tree” (1845) and “The Dung Beetle” (1861). His short tales, pungent and often bitterly ironic, stand in the tradition of Aesop’s fables and reflect Andersen’s notions of “survival of the fittest.” Though in fact he rejected Darwin’s ideas, many of Andersen’s tales that deal with anthropomorphized animals and plants are concerned with intense social and natural conflict. He understood the fierce battles waged in the European societies of his day, such as the revolutions of 1848 and the uprisings of peasants and workers, but instead of recounting these conflicts in realistic stories, Andersen anthropomorphized animals and nature to comment critically on more than one of the delicate issues and taboo subjects of his time.

THE HUMANIZATION OF TOYS AND OBJECTS

Much in the same way that he used animals and nature, Andersen “humanized” toys and inanimate objects to comment on social issues and human weaknesses. Here his model was E. T. A. Hoffmann, who had experimented with this narrative mode in such tales as “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” (1816). Another obvious example is “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” (1838). Perhaps more important is “The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep” (1845), in which he uses porcelain figures to meditate philosophically on the fear of freedom. What is intriguing in Andersen’s tales about toys and objects is the way he realistically describes them; he had a great eye for detail and depicted toys, objects, and their settings so carefully and precisely that it almost seems natural they would come to life. Andersen often took tiny incidental or neglected objects, such as a darning needle or rags, as the subject matter for a consideration of serious philosophical and social concerns or even survival and immortality.

LEGENDS

Andersen was also concerned about traditions, and though he became very cosmopolitan and developed a hate-love relationship with Denmark, he sought to mine the Danish soil, so to speak, to celebrate its richness. Throughout his tales he relied on references to Danish legends and proverbs to add local color to his narratives. Often on his trips in Denmark, he would hear a local legend or see something legendary that would inspire his imagination; two good examples are “Holger the Dane” (1845) and “Everything in Its Proper Place” (1853). While the legend about a king who rises from the dead to save his country can be found in many cultures, Andersen bases “Holger the Dane” on Danish lore; he wrote at a time when Denmark was engaged in a conflict with Prussia, and the story is clearly patriotic in spirit, something unusual for Andersen, who was a loyal Danish citizen but never really patriotic.

More typical of Andersen is “Everything in Its Proper Place,” in which he invents his own local legend about a family’s history and its house to comment on class conflict. Houses and mansions abound in Andersen’s stories, and though he knew some of their legendary histories, he was at his best when he invented legends; his inventions were always bound up with his real experiences and his realistic appraisal of Danish society.

Andersen’s range as a short-story writer was great. Not only did he experiment with a variety of genres; he also dealt with diverse social and psychological problems in unusual narrative modes. A master of self-irony, he often employed the first-person narrative to poke fun simultaneously at himself and at conceited people who tell stories that reveal their pretentiousness. Some of his more imaginative fairy tales are told in a vivacious, colloquial style that appears to be flippant, until he suddenly introduces serious issues that transform the tale into a complex narrative of survival and salvation. Though he could over-emphasize sentimentality, religiosity, and pathos, Andersen was deeply invested in the issues he raised in his tales. It was almost as if life and death were at risk in his short prose, and he needed to capture the intensity of the moment. This is perhaps why he kept trying to write from different vantage points, used different genres, experimented with forms and ideas borrowed from other writers, and inserted his own life experiences into the narratives.

Little is known in the English-speaking world about the tireless creative experiments of the tormented writer called Hans Christian Andersen. He tried to make a fairy tale out of his life to save himself from his sufferings. Whether he succeeded in saving himself is open to question, but he did leave us fantastic tales that still stun us and compel us to reflect on the human will to survive.

Jack Zipes is professor of German and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota and is a specialist in folklore and fairy tales.