In 1843 published Hans Christian Andersen a fairy tale called
“The Ugly Duckling”. Inspired by his own miserable but yet amazing life he describes
the growing up of this little ugly duckling.
Through all of the ugly ducklings life he faces adversity in
every possible way. His family and the society of his, despise him, even when
he escapes and gets some friends, they get shot. And once more he is alone. The
tale of the ugly duckling takes a look at the topic of classism within society,
classism that affected H.C. Andersen himself early on in his life due to his
low income family. The story follows the struggling that the ugly duckling goes
through, that H.C. andersen also went through in his life.
The year of the publication, 1843, was a time of danish
literature called “Biedermeier”. We see this literary tendency in “The Ugly Duckling” when H.C. andersen
describes the beautiful facades of the farm in “The Ugly Duckling”. The
sophisticated society on the farm turns out to be an oppressive society filled
with hate towards outsiders that stems from the “wise” elder ducks “Look, here comes another brood, as if there
weren’t enough of us already! And what a queer looking object one of them is;
we don’t want him here,” and then one of them flew out and bit him on the neck”
In Biedermeier it is all about constructing facades that the
reader can see are cracking up.
When H. C. Andersen came as a 14-year-old he went to Copenhagen
to study theatre at the Royal Danish Theatre. He was accepted and began to
sing, but because of his voice were in transition, he was suggested to write
theater pieces instead of singing.[1] When he
had written his first two theater pieces “Røverne
i Vissenberg” and “Alfsol”, the
latter for which had brought the attention of Jonas Collin who sent the young
and aspiring H.C. Andersen to school in order to hone his talents.[2]
The Ugly Duckling tale is a reflection on the society described
from H. C. Andersen’s point of view. The Ugly Duckling itself symbolizes H. C.
Andersen and the ducklings journey from his comfortable little egg to
adulthood, is supposed to symbolize H.C. Andersen’s perception of his early
childhood and experience with moving to Copenhagen.
Like the ugly duckling, H.C. Andersen was made fun of because
of his rather large nose and somewhat ugly appearance. A reference to this can
be found when the duckling is pecked at when he is introduced to the farm society.
“Look, here comes another brood, as if
there weren’t enough of us already! And what a queer looking object one of them
is; we don’t want him here,” and then one of them flew out and bit him on the
neck”.
The story of the ugly duckling takes up the subject of
inheritage vs. environment, in favor of the main protagonist inheritage.
Inheritage vs. environment is whether or not a person’s character is build from
what he has from his inherritage, or if it is build from his experiences in a
society or environment. The way that H.C. Andersen presents this in the ugly
duckling is by setting him up outside of his natural society. A society in
which he does not fit in, his inheritage does not fit in. He is a swan, a “free
and majestic” creature that does not belong in on a farm with ducks.
The ugly duckling also
takes up the issue of classism within society.
This is shown early on with the hierarchy at the farm, but it is even
more apparent at the house of the old lady. The skills that the ugly duckling
posses like swimming are worthless to the tomcat and the old lady. ”We and the world” for they believed
themselves to be half the world and the better half too”. Class matters in
this society and what counts for your class is your inherited abilities. The
tomcat forces what the society wants upon the duckling “I advise you, therefore, to lay eggs , and learn to purr as quickly as
you can”. Classism that clashes against the ugly ducklings inheritage.
His journey is not in vain however, at the end he is reunited
with his his own people and his inheritage is revealed to be a blessing instead
of a curse. “ “See” cried the youngest,
“there is a new one;” and the rest were delighted and ran to their father and
mother, dancing their hands, and shouting joyously, “there is another swan
come; a new one has arrived .”
“ ”The new one is the most beautiful of all; he is so young and pretty,” and the swans bowed before him.” ”
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