Emily Kapnick Kapnick 1 Mrs. Lucius English Honors 3 April 2015 Literary Criticism- Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen is often misinterpreted and mislabeled as the Grimms Brothers or other authors of that sort because of their similar tales and novels. Although, they do have the same theme and motif within their stories to portray to their audience, Anderson has a very unique and contemporary way of interpreting them in his own ways. His goal to the reader is too tell the dark side of the truth behind the morals in life, such as equality and respect. Both adults and kids can learn and find enjoyment from reading his pieces because it shows lessons and morals in such an ominous way. Anderson once quoted, “I seize …show more content…
He was involved with a lot of poverty and hardships throughout his youth. Anderson was born into a very poor and unloving family with his Father only being a shoemaker and his Mother being a washerwomen. By the age of four his Mother left him leaving his family only being him and his Father. Tragedy struck Anderson in 1816 when his father passed away leaving him abandoned with no family at all. Growing up Hans Christian Andersen attended boarding school for the privileged youth even though he was not a part of the upper class. In 1819 when Anderson was 14 he moved to Copenhagen in Denmark to strive for a career in the arts as a dancer, singer, or an actor. Soon realizing that wasn’t his passion , he started to focus on writing soon discovering that he had a true talent. After this he dedicated his time and his life to his work to hone his craft while also attending a University in Copenhagen. In 1827 was when Anderson’s first …show more content…
Within his works he put in personal experiences that happened to him throughout his life to make the stories more sensible. His pieces of work are so unique and shocking that if you really look in depth into the work you can see the themes he is trying to convey without having it take away from the main plot of the story. Andersen’s intention to the reader through his work is to teach morals and lessons that they can then take and put into their own life. One of the aspects that makes Andersen so unique as an author is the way his writing can connect to anyone and everyone. No matter who you are or how old you are in many ways you can find enjoyment and learn from Anderson’s pieces. In many of his works he tries to convey as the theme that there isn’t always a “happily ever after”. He is trying to prove to the reader that life does not always go as planned, but thats the meaning of life and you need to learn to live with it and accept it. Another recurring theme in many of his fairy tales is death, at the end of many of his pieces the main character experiences a tragic death because of the wrong they have done in their past. Even though Andersen’s stories seem very dark and gruesome, the word choice and language he uses really makes the story come together and impact the reader in multiple