Hans Christian Andersen is an author that I, like most people in Europe, grew up reading the stories of. While most of his stories are very optimistic and end in a good way, others are rather pessimistic and don’t have a happy ending. The following story is kind of a mix of these two writing styles. If you are interested to find out more, then keep reading!
Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2nd 1805 in Odense, Denmark. When Andersen was born, his family was very poor which meant he needed help from outside in order to have the chance on an education at the time. At the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, he met Jonas Collin that allowed him to go to school and later to University in 1828. In 1829 Andersen published his first better-known work: “A Walk from Holmen’s Canal to the East Point of the Island of Amager in the Years 1828 and 1829”. In the years following he mostly focused on plays but recognized that he prefers being a novelist later on. He wrote many autobiographical novels such as O.T: A Danish Romance in 1836 and Kun en spillemand in 1837. Andersen was best known for the books of tales which he published in 1835, 1837, 1842, 1843, 1874 and 1852. Stories most people would recognize include “The Princess and the Pea”, “The Little Mermaid” or “The Ugly Duckling”. At the end of the 1830s, Andersen received financial support from the government which led to a great success in Europe, especially in Germany. Hans Christian Andersen died of Liver cancer on August 4th 1875 in Copenhagen.
Summary of “The Little Match Girl”
In the original this tale is called “den lille pige med svovlstikkerne” and it’s about a young girl that is walking outside in the cold on New Year’s Eve. She was freezing and didn’t have a hat or any shoes. The girl had to sell packages of matches but no one was interested to buy them which made her scared for her father’s reaction towards her. She found rest in a corner between two houses and since it was as cold at home as it was on the street she decided to stay for some time. She lit one of the matches to try and keep her warm, and then before her, she saw a beautiful fireplace which warmed her cold body. After the match burned out, she lit another one, the light of which made the wall become transparent and she could see the big dinner being served inside. With the third match, the girl suddenly sat under a Christmas tree. When the match went out she saw the lights from the tree as stars in the sky, and one of them fell down. She thought of her late grandmother who taught her that someone is going up to God when a star falls from the sky. The fourth match made said grandmother appear right in front of her and the girl lit all of the matches she had left in an attempt to keep her grandmother for longer. The woman took the girl in her arms and with the brightness of the burning matches they flew up into the sky to God where there was no misery. The little girl’s body stayed in the corner between the houses holding the boxes of matches.
For the original story, click here! https://andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheLittleMatchGirl_e.html
While “The Little Match Girl” ends with a death, it still portrays something beautiful and freeing for the struggling girl. Andersen has numerous other important and interesting tales which I can only recommend to read. I hope you learned something new about one of the most important authors of my childhood!
