What Anderson dreamed about in his fairy tales. Bo Grönbeck “G

Random excerpt from the text: Farid ad-din Attar. Stories about saints. Hazrat Mumshad Dinwari
... Dinvari said: “There are many worshipers: some worship themselves, others their wealth, others their wives, others their children, others their positions and professions, and there are adherents of Namaz (prayer), fasting and night vigils. A person must worship something. All these people serve themselves and obey their own orders. They follow their ego. But the one who truly worships is the one who is not subordinate to his bodily self (nafs) and always controls it.” ... Full text

Bo Grönbeck “G. H. Andersen. Life. Creation. Personality"

TO THE BIG WORLD

Bohemian Celebrity

When the war ended and work on the travel notes “Across Sweden” was completed, the writer was tired, and with fatigue, as always, came despondency. Various impressions, joyful and sad, and vigorous creativity had an impact. Already in the summer of 1850, a reaction had set in, and he wrote to his friend in anguish: “The feeling that I still haven’t done anything worthy, and the confidence that I won’t do anything, sometimes torment me terribly!” And about the same thing to Edward Collin: “I’ve been in a bad mood lately... I think that there will be no more happiness in my life... there is no longer a carefree soul and the hopes of youth... that were before... there is no goal towards which I would strive with all my heart.” my life, nothing that can be achieved by sober reflection!.. However, what to cry about! I’m happier than thousands of others, I have... I have... yes, I only see life in the past, that’s my problem.”

His depressed state is understandable. As had happened more than once, it was a sure sign that he was at a crossroads: one stage was completed, a new one was beginning. Fortunately, the fear that he would not create anything more turned out to be unfounded, as before, when he was overcome by despondency. He is far from exhausted as a writer. More than half of all his tales - or stories, as he now often called them - appeared in the last decades of his life, and the best of them are hardly inferior to those written earlier. Fairy tales such as “The Story of the Year”, “Heartbreak”, “The Dung Beetle” or “The Ice Maiden” show that the writer has not lost his skill. True, fairy-tale creativity stopped for a long time in the 3 fifties, when he worked on “The Tale of My Life,” which was published in 1855, and then on the novel “To Be or Not to Be” (1857). After that, he again composed fairy tales until recent years In addition, he managed to write several plays and an unimaginable number of poems, mainly for occasions, both private and official.

The situation was completely different with the concerns that he expressed in a letter to Edward Collin. For such restless, searching natures as Andersen, sooner or later the critical moment comes when they have reached their goal. Where there used to be struggle and movement, there is a lull. There is an interesting past, but no inspiring future. Andersen satisfied his vanity: he conquered the world with his creativity and reached high society. Now he could only consolidate and expand his positions. Fortunately, this did not mean that he no longer had anything to expect from life; The following years were full of events and new impressions, but much was inevitably perceived as repetition. Most likely, the most severe shocks in his life were behind him.

His existence also stabilized. Now he was financially independent, although not rich, he could behave as he pleased and travel around at will; no duties tied him to a certain place at a certain time. An awkward and shy boy from the provinces over the years turned into an elegant and sophisticated socialite, correct but cordial; into an aristocrat who carried himself with dignity and confidence, and no one would think that he came from the poorest background. He was a world figure and he knew it. He felt at home in the role of a famous and revered person. He waited to be noticed; he is used to making demands and seeing them fulfilled; wherever he went, he willingly allowed himself to be pampered and could allow himself to show irritation if he didn’t like something. He was sometimes difficult to deal with, but in a pleasant environment he radiated warmth and sparkled with wit and humor. Despite his quirks, he was a welcome guest everywhere.

Andersen's clippings to illustrate his fairy tales

No doubt, by this time he had already decisively abandoned the idea of ​​getting married and starting a family. He was not destined to have the comfort of home and the care of his wife. He was and remained a bohemian poet and therefore he himself decided that he should follow his nature. And his restless nature constantly demanded change. He reluctantly lived in Denmark for more than a year at a time. True, after a trip to the East, he said that “returning home is the crown of the whole journey,” but internal anxiety was so much stronger than his love for Denmark that the crown quickly faded. The pleasure of leaving his beloved Denmark was as great as his attachment to home, and staying in foreign lands gradually turned into a vital necessity for him. Basically, his routes after 1850 ran to Germany, Austria and Switzerland (with stops in Northern Italy); he was in Paris many times, once in London, in Rome for the fourth and last time in 1861, once in Sweden and in 1871, on the initiative of Bjornson, for the first and only time in Norway. In addition, the tireless writer undertook two long and difficult trips to the Iberian Peninsula: in 1862 to Spain, and in 1866 to Portugal itself. In the mid-fifties, he was planning to go to the United States (there were plenty of invitations), where his works had long been known and loved, but he abandoned these plans in 1858, after a terrible disaster that befell the German ship Austria, which was heading to America and , having been shipwrecked in a fire in the Atlantic Ocean, went to the bottom; Several hundred people died, among them Andersen's friend Henrietta Wulf.

In the few years that he was not abroad, he traveled around Denmark and every year stayed for a long time on Danish estates, especially in Glorup on Funen and in Basnes and Holsteinborg near Skelskær. The rest of the time, about six months or a little more, he lived in Copenhagen. He never owned his own home. For short periods of time he lived in hotels or rented several furnished rooms, always in the area of ​​the New Royal Square, closer to the theater. When he finally had to buy his own furniture in 1866, he was beside himself: the damned things tied him to a certain place! He was especially horrified by the bed; in his irrepressible fantasy it was a symbol that his free existence had come to an end, that he would no longer be able to travel as he pleased, that he would soon die and the bed would outlive him and become his deathbed! (She didn’t become one, but she actually outlived her owner and now stands in a museum in Odense.)

While living in the city, he spent his time reading, writing letters, going to the theater and visiting his many friends. But he composed much better in the calmer surroundings of the estates. He said that there he manages to accomplish as much in a week as in a month in the city. If he lived at all in Copenhagen, which he did not like, calling it a wet, gray, philistine city, it was only because he had to have permanent place residence; small rented rooms and daily visits to friends replaced home and family for a lonely person. But he never stayed long and set off again. The nature of a migratory bird took over.

As hectic as his life was, his position in the international arena was so stable. His works have already been translated not only into the main European languages, but also into many others, thousands of readers loved his books and knew about his life. Many knew him by sight. He had difficulty traveling incognito. At the courts of European monarchs he felt at home, and greatest people the arts of that time were his friends.

Even in Denmark, criticism gradually stopped criticizing his works and himself. Some young daredevil, like the critic Clemens Pedersen, decided once or twice to express his own opinion about one of his books (the novel To Be or Not to Be), but overall he was considered a national treasure. Everyone understood that criticism would only hurt him and he was unlikely to gain any benefit from it. It would be strange to demand this from a writer with world fame. IN socially he could not rise higher. After the death of Christian VIII, he was a regular guest at the court of Frederick VII and then Christian IX. When he spent his birthday in Paris in 1866, the Crown Prince (the future Frederick VIII), who was also in the city, personally paid his respects to him, and in the last years of his life, when it was already difficult for him to go out, the king himself often paid visits.

Diploma of Honorary Citizen of the City of Odense

One of the greatest joys of old age in his homeland was his election as an honorary citizen of Odense in December 1867. The poet's response to the municipal council's letter informing him of this shows how deeply he was touched by this honor and with what modest dignity he perceived his success in life:

“This evening I received a message from the esteemed municipal council and I hasten to express my deep gratitude. In your person, dear sirs, my hometown gives me such recognition, such an honor that I could not even dream of.

This year marks forty-eight years since I left my hometown as a poor boy, and now, full of happy memories, I am accepted into the Father's house. You will understand my feelings; I was exalted not out of vanity, but by the grace of God for those difficult hours of trials and many blessed days that he allowed me. Please accept my most heartfelt gratitude.

I rejoice at the opportunity, on the appointed day of December 6th, if God grants me health, to gather together with my noble friends in my dear hometown.

With gratitude, respecting you
H. K. Andersen”

When he arrived there, he was met at the railway station by the bishop with whom he was visiting during his stay. The whole city gathered on this significant day. Children were released from schools, people crowded the streets to see the great writer at least from afar; Flags were flying everywhere. Andersen simply fell ill from stress. When in the morning he, accompanied by the burgomaster and the chief of police, came to the town hall to present the diploma, he was so stunned by the streams of people, the shouts of welcome, the music and all the festive fuss that he said to his companions: “How much courage a man going to execution should have! I think I understand his feelings.”

During the presentation ceremony he was so excited that he could hardly stand on his feet, and he felt no better at four o'clock at the gala dinner in the town hall. Many speeches were made to which he had to respond, he was asked to read a few stories, and then he was led to an open window to admire a huge torchlight procession in his honor. Now he has experienced in reality what the old woman told him as a child: there will be illumination in Odense in his honor. Andersen never forgot to mention this episode in his autobiographies, most recently in “The Tale of My Life,” which, of course, was read in Odense, and there was nothing more natural for the residents of his hometown to help the prediction come true.

It was a great honor, but the pleasure was very dubious. Nervous by nature, the poet could hardly endure mental turmoil, and on top of that he caught a cold, he was tormented by gout, and on the way from Copenhagen a toothache began, which haunted him for many years, and as it became hotter in the hall of the town hall, it became more and more intensified and became simply unbearable when he went to the open window to look at the torchlight procession in the frosty December air. He would have loved to enjoy “the bliss of these minutes” (as he later wrote), but he could not - he saw from the lyrics of the song “how many verses still remained to be sung before I was delivered from this torture, which, because of my The cold air doomed my teeth.” He properly felt that he was “just an unfortunate mortal, shackled by earthly weakness.”

No major, epoch-making events occurred in the last twenty-five years of his life. The unsuccessful war of 1864 made a terrible impression on him, but he did not have the opportunity to be as active as in 1848-1850, and the most important consequence of the war for him personally was that he no longer visited his German friends during his travels. “I cannot and do not want to be among the Germans,” he wrote.

However, over time, other, more important changes emerged in his personal life. He suffered more and more from loneliness. Although the incorrigibly bohemian writer strove for complete freedom of movement, he still could not escape the consciousness that he did not have his own hearth. Ever since he was adopted into the Collin family as a young man, the house of old Jonas Collin had been the constant center of his existence, and he had always regarded it as the “Most Important House.” The death of Fru Collin in 1854 did not change anything; but when Jonas Collin left this world as a very old man in 1861, the situation became different. No one from the generation of young Collins could provide Andersen with the sense of confidence that he always had in the family circle of “Father.” Fortunately, just at this time he made two new friends who opened their homes to him and took care of him in the following years, when his strength began to fail him and he was increasingly painfully worried about the absence of a real family.

These friends were Martin Henrik and his son-in-law Moritz Melchior, both from among the Jewish merchant aristocracy of Copenhagen. A warm and cordial family atmosphere reigned in their homes, and broad spiritual interests made these houses meeting places for both artists and scientists; It is quite natural that Andersen was accepted into this circle. He felt unusually well with these unpretentious and sincere people and soon became a regular guest in both houses. The Melchior house played a special role for him, primarily thanks to the mistress of the house, Dorothea Melchior, née Henrik (she was the sister of Martin Henrik).

She admired Andersen and deeply respected him, but at the same time she understood how difficult existence was for him: as a writer he was a celebrity, but as a person he was a lonely old bachelor. She understood that he was not and could not be like others - this, despite their respectable friendly qualities, the sober Collins never understood. She accepted him as he was, with all his quirks, severe touchiness, absurd sensitivity, a strange combination of self-absorption and love for his neighbor. She was not afraid to contradict him if she thought his absurdities were going too far, but she always did it tactfully and with humor, and he felt that her reproach was a friendly service, and not criticism.

It was as if she had set herself the task of helping him live out his remaining years and spared no effort to fulfill her intention. As soon as his health began to decline, she invited him to live in their house whenever he pleased, first in 1866 on his return from a long trip to Portugal, and then many times and for longer periods of time. The family lived on the second floor on the corner of Heybroplas and Ved Stranden (the house still stands), but owned a large (now demolished) summer villa called “Silence” on Rosenvenet in Österbro, and it was here that Andersen usually stayed for long periods. When traveling or living abroad, he most willingly corresponded with Mrs. Melchior, and this correspondence, which was carried out from 1862 until his death, shows what great gratitude he felt for the sensitivity and attention shown by her and her husband.

Gradually, as he faded away, her care for him became more and more necessary. His nervous nature prevented him from enduring the hardships of life, which worsened when he passed sixty. Back in 1867, while visiting the World Exhibition in Paris, he took rather tedious walks around the city. A year later, his health deteriorated significantly. It was already difficult for him to go out for a visit or for a long walk in the village. Fatigue oppressed him more and more, and to it were added attacks of malaise, headaches, nausea, suffocation, fever; although, probably, he, as a hypochondriac, was more interested in his own feelings than anyone else in his place, which seemed worse to him than in reality, but, alas, there was no doubt that he was seriously ill. It was becoming increasingly difficult for him to be alone. When the Melchior family was forced to leave for a long time in 1869, he wrote to Edward Collin: “I will have to look for a home somewhere” - words that produce a tragic impression of the horror of lonely and sick old age. Yet every year - with the exception of one time - traveled abroad, but enjoyed it less and less. He made his last trip to Switzerland in 1873, where for a while he felt better; for example, when he wrote home: “Sometimes I feel like this in my stomach.” I feel like I’ve been broken and glued back together again, but not very successfully.” On the way back he was again so ill that he fainted twice on the train. The Melchiors met him in Copenhagen and immediately took him to “Silence”.

No wonder he no longer had the will to live or Have a good mood. Back in 1860, he experienced a long period of melancholy and disgust for life. As he grew weaker, his depressed state worsened. He found it more and more difficult to control himself. The bouts of sobbing came more often, he became more and more irritable and intolerable in society, and he himself knew it. He seemed to be a witness to his own physical and mental decay, but still treated himself with some irony. In 1873, he once wrote in his diary: “Two of my doctors, Collin and Horneman, came, I sat between them, as Jeppe sits between two doctors who feel his pulse.”

One might have expected that growing weakness would stop him literary creativity, and indeed at that time he often complained that his muse had abandoned him. Nevertheless, amid the undoubted decline, he had periods of inexhaustible energy, and he wrote again. How clear his mind was can be seen from the fact that in the last years of his life he created such strong and original fairy tales, like “Dryad” and “The Great Sea Serpent”, and the story “Lucky Per”. Back in the spring of 1875, he wrote poems in which the stamp of genius is felt, for example, “Sayings of a certain young man about the weather” or “Confession of a child.”

But these were the last outbreaks vitality. The shadow of death was already hovering over him. Stomach pain, shortness of breath and insomnia were added to his other torments even earlier. Loss of strength at times prevented him from walking from his apartment in Nyhavn to New Royal Square. He could no longer go to the theater. He suffered from liver cancer, and it was clear to everyone where this was leading. His seventieth birthday on April 2, 1875 brought him an endless number of congratulations from all over the country and abroad, flowers, telegrams, deputations, and the Melchior family organized a gala dinner in his honor, which he was very happy about, but could hardly endure. Back in May, he cherished plans to go to the Riviera, but, fortunately, nothing came of it. By the end of June he was so weak that he had to be transported to the Melchiors in “Silence”. His situation was hopeless. On the nineteenth of June he did not have enough strength to write in his diary, and a month later he could not even dictate to Frau Melchior.

Death occurred on August 4. IN last days he had no pain, and in the end he quietly and imperceptibly fell into an unconscious state. On the same day, Fru Melchior wrote to her daughter: “For me it is a huge, blessed relief that he died here and not among strangers; I wouldn’t want for anything in the world to be freed from inevitable sorrows and worries; If I had followed the numerous helpful and kind advice that was constantly given to me regarding the hospital and the like, I would never have forgiven myself for sending him away from here.”

In his last days, Andersen himself was cheerful, calm and full of gratitude for the love and care shown to him in the house, which at the end of his life became his home.

The funeral service took place on August 11 in the Cathedral of Our Lady with the participation of a huge number of people and with all official honors. They reflected, as if in a mirror, the writer’s position during his lifetime. Not a single relative followed the coffin, since he did not have any. But in the church, next to the coffin, the king, the crown prince and his closest friends were sitting, and besides, whole line foreign ambassadors, Danish ministers and deputations from the municipalities of Odense and Copenhagen. Students with banners stood in the choirs, and representatives of many unions and societies lined the walls. Friends carried the coffin out of the church, immediately followed by students with banners. His relatives did not mourn him. All of Denmark mourned. In the port roadstead, the ships lowered their flags.

Andersen left behind some cash. His modest property was inherited by friends or sold at auction. Some of his personal belongings can be seen in the museum in Odense, such as a bed, a hat, a trusty trunk and a rope, which in his old age he always carried with him to lower himself out of the window if there was a fire in the hotel. Some books and albums ended up in the Royal Library, where they are kept to this day.

From the accumulated capital (a little more than 56 thousand CZK, which

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The main idea of ​​all Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales (his dream) was the victory of good over evil. But almost all of his tales are filled to the brim with sadness and sadness, philosophical meaning. Of the 156 fairy tales written, 56 end with the death of the main character. It seems that fairy tales are written for children, but at the same time there is something for adults to think about. They say that he dedicated the fairy tale "The Snow Queen" to his unrequited love - singer Jenny Lind. And the fairy tale “The Swineherd” was written in revenge on her when she rejected his love. Therefore, you can, dear author of the question, give me a minus, but in his fairy tales Andersen dreamed not only of the victory of good over evil, but also of bright love. He poured out his soul, experiences, feelings and emotions in the characters of his works. A living person, with a living...

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Andersen loved to visit the poor quarters of his beloved Copenhagen, since it was there that he found many subjects for his fairy tales.... Belinsky V. G. The Improviser, or the youth and dreams of the Italian poet. A novel by the Danish writer Andersen. Complete Works, vol. At the end of his speech, Andersen burst into tears, but Sibony saw in him... mint responded to the matchmaking of a moth in the writer's fairy tale, as if... nothing pleases me, nothing excites me; the dreams of my youth were and remain... Author: Andersen Hans Christian Genre: Fairy tale Year: 1836 Catalog: Global... all sorts of praise, especially because I doted on my little granddaughters - princesses. ..... What I didn’t dare to dream about has come true! Author: Andersen Hans Christian Genre: Fairy tale Year: 1838 Catalog: Global database All versions of the fairy tale on... Perhaps someone will put them on by mistake instead of their own and become happy. .... If I were rich, I would still be dreaming. A literary fairy tale is a fairy tale that is...

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/ Biographies / Andersen G.-H.

Andersen G.-H. -Option 1
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ANDERSEN, HANS CHRISTIAN (Andersen, Hans Christian) (1805–1875), Danish storyteller, author of more than 400 fairy tales, poet, writer, playwright, essayist, author of memoir essays The Tale of My Life (Mit livs eventir).
Born on April 2, 1805 in the city of Odense on the island of Funen.
Mother was a laundress. She dreamed of her son becoming a successful tailor, and taught him to sew, cut and darn. The father was considered an unlucky shoemaker and carpenter. Most of all, he liked to make children's toys from whatever he could find, enthusiastically sing songs, read tales from the Arabian Nights to his son, and act out scenes from the comedies of the Danish playwright Golberg with him. Andersen's imagination was forever struck by his crazy, benevolent grandfather, a great skill in carving figures of unknown winged animals and people with bird heads from wood.
His maternal grandmother...

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Hans Christian Andersen biography

Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875) - Danish writer, poet, storyteller (author of more than 400 fairy tales).

Born on April 2, 1805 in the city of Odense on the island of Fond. Andersen's mother was a laundress. She dreamed of her son becoming a successful tailor, and taught him to sew, cut, and darn. His father made his living by shoemaking and carpentry. His friends considered him a loser and an eccentric. Most of all, he liked to make children’s toys “from whatever he could find,” to sing songs loudly, to read fairy tales from “A Thousand and One Nights” to his son, and to act out scenes from comedies with him. Big influence The impressionable boy was influenced by his grandfather, a skilled wood carver. He carved figures of unknown winged animals and people with bird heads for his grandson, simultaneously writing an entertaining story about each “curiosity.”

As a child, I was fascinated by Andersen’s fairy tales: “The Snow Queen”, “The Ugly Duckling”, “Thumbelina”, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”, “The Princess and the Pea”, “The Little Mermaid”, “The Swineherd”... For some reason, the fairy tale “The Spruce” was especially memorable "
When my father brought a two-volume set of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen (1975 edition) from Chisinau, I was surprised to discover that these were not exactly the fairy tales that I read as a child, but rather fairy tales for adults.
Some researchers believe that the great storyteller Andersen did not like children. Hans Christian was irritated when he was called a children's writer. He considered himself serious writer for adults. But critics did not recognize him as a poet and novelist. But Andersen was the recognized king of the fairy tale. He paid for it at the price of personal happiness!
How did Hans Christian write his stories? Where do fairy tales come from?
Essentially this is a question about the nature of inspiration and the nature of human genius.

Since childhood, I dreamed of seeing the places where Hans Christian Andersen lived and wrote, and now my dream came true: as part of a cruise through four Scandinavian capitals, I visited Copenhagen.

I liked Copenhagen, its streets and canals. Ancient buildings harmoniously coexist alongside modern buildings, which creates a unique flavor of the city. The most delicious coffee and the most a delicious cake I tried it in Copenhagen.
It was pleasant to meet our sailors from the anti-submarine ship Neustrashimy; I even talked to one of them. That day, our famous sailing ship “Sedov” was also in Copenhagen.

Now more than 1 million people live in the capital of Denmark.
Denmark (Kongeriget Danmark) is the senior member of the Commonwealth of States of the Kingdom of Denmark, which also includes the Faroe Islands and Greenland with autonomy.
The population of Denmark is 5.5 million people (the same as in St. Petersburg).
By index better life, out of 36 countries, Denmark ranks third after Australia and the United States.
The average life expectancy for men is 78 years, for women – 86 years.
Half of the families own their own homes.
Denmark has its own currency, but the euro is accepted everywhere.

Denmark is the oldest monarchy in Europe, existing since 936.
The head of state, Queen Margaret, exercises supreme power through an appointed government. The Queen is also the Supreme Commander of the Danish Armed Forces and the head of the official state church.

In 1940, Nazi Germany occupied Denmark and the Germans entered Copenhagen. Denmark was declared a German protectorate, but Hitler promised to preserve the king's power.
The Nazis demanded that Jews wear a yellow Star of David on their chests. Then the King of Denmark attached a yellow star to his jacket and rode out to the city on horseback. Although the king recognized the power of Germany, he remained with his people.

Denmark is the birthplace of such famous people like physicist Niels Bohr, philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, film director Lars von Trier, storyteller Hans Christian Andersen.

Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2, 1805 in small town Odense, located on one of the Danish islands – Fionse. His father was twenty at that time, and his mother was a couple of years older.
The father of the future great storyteller was also named Hans Christian Andersen (1782-1816), and he was a poor shoemaker. The father of the great writer loved to read and travel. He endlessly reread the tales of “A Thousand and One Nights” to his son. One day, the father went with his son to the theater, which influenced the boy’s entire future life.
Feeling a sense of adventure, in 1812 my father went to fight as part of Napoleon's army. The family lived on the money earned by the father for three years. Four years later he returned crippled and soon died.

The grandfather of the great storyteller, old man Anders Hansen, a wood carver, was considered crazy in the town because he carved strange figures of half-humans with wings.

Mother Anna Marie Andersdatter (1775-1833), was a laundress from a poor family, she had to beg as a child. She was also not well mentally. She was buried in a cemetery for the poor.

In Denmark there is a legend about Andersen's royal origin, since in early biography Andersen wrote that as a child he played with Prince Frits, later King Frederick VII. The reason for this fantasy of Andersen was the stories of his father that he was a relative of the king.
After the death of King Frederick VII, with the exception of relatives, only Andersen was allowed to visit the coffin of the deceased.

IN early childhood Hans Christian was a reserved child. He grew up a dreamer and visionary. His favorite game was puppet show, which he made himself and where he performed his plays.
The neighbor's son Gottfred Schenk, having learned about Andersen's hobby, teased him as a “play writer” and, at every opportunity, beat him up in vain.

The boy sang in the church choir and once a week his mother took him to Sunday sermons. At the parish school, Andersen was not a diligent student. He did not study lessons, did not try to comprehend mathematics and tricky grammar, for which he received biting blows with the teacher's pointer.

After several physical punishments, Hans Christian refused to go to parish school, and his mother sent him to a Jewish school, where physical punishment of children was prohibited.
At Jewish school, Andersen became friends with a girl named Sarah, who called him cute and promised that when she grew up, she would become his wife. In gratitude, Hans Christian told her his “most terrible secret": “You know, I’m from a noble family. You’ll see, someday people will take their hats off to me...”

Andersen did not intend to become a writer, but dreamed of becoming an actor; he wanted to dance and sing on stage, recite poetry. The boy with big blue eyes had a clear voice and could read poetry and sing songs for hours.

“Someday your son will become famous, and Odense will light fires in his honor,” the soothsayer told Andersen’s mother when he was still a child.

In 1816, Andersen's father died, and the boy had to go to work. He was an apprentice to a weaver, then to a tailor, and worked in a cigarette factory.
The mother tried to get her son into a garment factory. The workers, who knew about the boy’s singing talent, asked him to sing. The clear and sonorous soprano caused general delight. However, the next day they began to laugh at Andersen’s ringing voice. Someone suggested checking to see if this lanky boy was a girl. They pulled down Andersen’s pants and checked him amid general laughter...

After this, Andersen finally retreated into himself. His best friends were wooden dolls made by his father. Hans Christian sewed dresses for them, composed funny and sad stories for them, in which the dolls came to life. For his heroes he came up with new language, a kind of cross between Danish, German, English and French.

Andersen's mother, unable to bear the poverty any longer, decided to get married again. Andersen did not get along with his stepfather, who was a poor shoemaker. The relationship with his mother, whom Hans Christian was jealous of his adopted sister Karen-Marie, also deteriorated.

For his delightful voice, Andersen was nicknamed “the little nightingale from the island of Funen.” They began to invite him to decent houses. After six months of performances, Andersen collected 13 Riksdallers and, in addition, received a letter of recommendation to the leading ballerina of the royal theater, Anna Margaretha Schell.

The patron of the young Andersen turned to the future king of Denmark with a request to support his talent. Frederick VII replied: “If a person has talent, then it will sprout on its own.”

Where and how is talent born in a shoemaker's family?
Why are some content with their origins and work all their lives as a shoemaker, cook or carpenter, while other children strive for something unattainable, incomprehensible to their parents?

When Andersen turned 14, he decided to go to Copenhagen. His mother asked him why he was going. Hans Christian replied: “To become famous!”
On September 4, 1819, he left Odense and returned to his homeland only 50 years later.

During a whole year of living in Copenhagen, Andersen tried to enter the theater. First, he came to the home of a famous singer and, bursting into tears, asked her to get him into the theater. To get rid of the annoying teenager, she promised to arrange everything, but did not keep her promise. Later, the singer explained to Andersen that she then mistook him for a madman.

Hans Christian was a lanky teenager with elongated and thin limbs, a long neck and the same long nose. But thanks to his pleasant voice and persistent requests, Hans Christian was accepted into Royal Theater on minor roles.

When the age-related breakdown of his voice began, the young man was fired. Then Hans Christian composed a play in five acts and wrote a letter to the king, asking him to give money for its publication. The book was printed, but no one bought it, and it was used for wrappers.
Andersen did not lose hope and took his book to the theater so that a performance based on the play could be staged. But he was refused with the wording “due to the author’s complete lack of experience.”

Luck smiled on Andersen in the person of the conservatory professor Sibony, the composer Weise, the poet Goldberg and the conference adviser Collin. Seeing Hans Christian's persistent desire, they petitioned King Frederick VI of Denmark, who gave money for Andersen's studies at the gymnasium.

17-year-old Andersen was assigned to an elementary class, where the students were 6 years younger.
The director of the gymnasium, Meisling, humiliated Andersen in every possible way.
– Your father was a shoemaker, and your stepfather too. You will understand how much benefit you could bring by performing the noble work of a shoemaker, repairing boots. And here, if I were you, I could really be capable person.

Where did Andersen have such faith in his own destiny? Who was the real father of the great writer?

Andersen is an example greatest faith into your talent. It was this faith that allowed him to go through all the troubles and bad weather and become a great writer.
Looking at Andersen's life, one gets the impression that every person is born with a certain purpose.

Recently, almost the first fairy tale of an aspiring writer was found in the archives of Denmark. The fairy tale "The Tallow Candle" tells about the adventures of a candle that could not determine the meaning of its existence. At the end of the story, the candle meets a flint, which lights the candle, thereby indicating its purpose.

In 1827, Andersen completed his studies. But he made many grammatical mistakes until the end of his life. For the rest of his life, Andersen retained a bad memory of his teacher Meisling.
“I learned a lot in your lessons, but I didn’t learn to hate people,” Hans Christian said to his teacher in parting.
- Get out of here, you ungrateful creature!
– People will know the one who bullied the genius Hans Christian Andersen.

When Meisling became royal censor, he continued to criticize and ridicule his former student.
“His latest tale of the ugly duckling is simply outrageous. I was forced to make a reprimand to the editors of the magazine. It is unacceptable to publish such things. This is a libel for our Motherland. In the ugly duckling Andersen portrayed himself; poultry yard this is our country, and we are all evil, disgusting inhabitants, all these turkeys, roosters, geese, peacocks, who do nothing but hiss at him, peck at him and pinch him. And he imagined himself to be a beautiful white swan... What kind of swan is he?... his arms reach to the floor... a typical baboon, orangutan..."

"Yes, ugly duck“I’m the spitting image,” Andersen admitted.

“What can the fairy tale “The King’s New Clothes” teach children? - Meisling did not stop, - where His Majesty is depicted in a completely indecent form, that is, naked ... ".

What they mocked, they later admired!

In 1829, having entered the university, Andersen published his first story - “A Journey on Foot from the Golme Canal to Amak.” The story brought him fame. Andersen received a financial allowance from the king, which allowed him to make his first trip abroad.

But truly new life began with Andersen, when in 1835 the poor and almost unknown thirty-year-old Hans Christian wrote the fairy tale “Flint”.
The first collection of fairy tales, published in 1835, was called “Fairy Tales Told to Children.” The 2nd issue “New Fairy Tales” was started in 1838, and the 3rd issue “New Fairy Tales and Stories” in 1845.

People became engrossed in Andersen's fairy tales, books were sold out instantly, and children memorized poems.
Hans Christian's travel notes, poems and fairy tales have been translated into 125 languages.
When Andersen first arrived in England in June 1847, he was given a triumphal welcome.
Andersen's fairy tale "The King's New Clothes" was placed in his first primer by Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy.

Oddly enough, Andersen despised his fairy tales, which brought him well-deserved fame. He did not like the word “fairy tale”, but preferred “story” or, even better, “history”.
Andersen wrote not only fairy tales. From his pen came plays and novels full of subtle psychologism. However, critics continued to ignore Andersen as a playwright and novelist.

Once a famous critic, visiting a person, spent a long time scolding Andersen’s book. And when he finished, the owners’ little daughter handed him the book with the words: “There’s also the word “and”, you missed it and didn’t scold it!” The critic blushed and kissed the naive child. Andersen laughed.

Famous people of that time, writers and poets sought to become friends or at least acquaintances of Andersen. But even among his acquaintances, Andersen was a strange, incomprehensible, extraordinary stranger.
One researcher wrote: “It was probably very strange for Andersen to live among ordinary people...”

Once Andersen was invited to tell fairy tales to the young Prince Ludwig - the future monarch of Bavaria - who many years later was nicknamed the “fairy tale king”. Perhaps it was Andersen's fairy tales that awakened the imagination of the fairy-tale king who built the magnificent castles of Bavaria. The most famous is Neuschwanstein.

It still remains a mystery who the real father of Ludwig of Bavaria is, and why Hans Christian Andersen’s father considered himself to be of royal blood.

In his autobiographical book “The Tale of My Life,” Andersen admitted: “From this book, the guys will learn only the sugary side of my life, I have smoothed out a lot.”

In 2007, Eldar Ryazanov’s wonderful film “Andersen. Life without love."

The film is so explicit that it is not recommended for children under 14 years of age to watch.
In the film, the king asks Andersen:
– I read your wonderful novel “The Improviser”. Admit it, dear Andersen, did you write it yourself?
“To some extent,” answered Hans Christian.
“And he writes everything from himself,” they explained to the king.

– How do you compose your wonderful stories?
- It's very simple. I sit down at the table in the morning, dip my pen into the inkwell and think about what I could write. Suddenly there is a knock on the door, I say “come in”, a woman comes in and barely audibly says “I am a fairy tale, I have come to help you.” She stands silently behind me, and suddenly faces appear in my brain, images are born, words crowd each other, phrases flow from my pen. I turn around sharply, but there is no one there.

The king asked to compose a tale of glory on the spot. Andersen immediately replied:
“Slava is a woman of gigantic stature, the size of the tower of our town hall. She watches how people, small and small, are swarming around on the ground below. Slava bends down, randomly takes one of them from the crowd, lifts it high, high to the level of his eyes, carefully examines it and says in disappointment: “not the same one again,” and drops it to the ground.”

Andersen wrote easily. Even big stories were born in just one night, the longest in two days. One day an acquaintance of his jokingly said: “Write us a new one, funny story. You can even write about a darning needle!” And Andersen wrote the life story of a darning needle.

“Fairy tales come to me themselves,” said Hans Christian. – The trees whisper them, they rush in with the wind... I have a lot of material. Sometimes it seems to me that every fence, every little flower says: “Look at me, and the story of my whole life will be revealed to you!” And as soon as I do this, I have a story ready about any of them.”

Andersen drew the plots of his fairy tales primarily from childhood memories. He actually retold the fairy tale “Flint” from what he heard in childhood. The plot of the fairy tale “The King's New Clothes” was also borrowed by Andersen from ancient sources.

“I sometimes make things up, but I never lie!” - said Andersen. “Actually, I found the plots of my stories everywhere. One day I remembered a book about a man who sold his shadow. I rewrote this plot in my own way, and thus the fairy tale “Shadow” was born.
When Andersen was told that his story exactly repeated Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello,” Andersen replied: “This is such a wonderful story that I decided to write it again in my own words.”

Just as Andersen rewrote other people’s stories in his own way, so Evgeny Schwartz rewrote Andersen’s fairy tales, turning them into his own plays: “ An ordinary miracle", "An Old Old Tale", "Shadow".

The problem of the “shadow” - the “double” has excited the imagination of people since ancient times. Ideas about the dual essence of man existed in ancient Egypt. The double also appeared in Hoffmann’s fairy tales, and then appeared in Dostoevsky’s story “The Double.”

Where do fairy tales come from? How and why do they arise in the writer’s imagination?
Were Andersen's fairy tales merely the sublimation of unfulfilled sexuality, as Sigmund Freud teaches, or were they something more?
What is the metaphysics of a fairy tale?

Andersen chose a fairy tale as a form of understanding the world; it is a certain view of the world. Therefore, his tales are philosophical in nature.
The philosophical meaning of Andersen's fairy tales lies in the idea of ​​​​the organic interconnection of all living and nonliving things. The power of love is diffused throughout everything that exists and ultimately triumphs over the forces of evil and destruction.
It is the power of love that allows Gerda to defeat the Snow Queen. It is for the sake of love that the Little Mermaid sacrifices her life, just like the steadfast tin soldier.

Some people consider Andersen's fairy tales childish and naive. But they also contain philosophical allegory, psychological depth, life truth, and morality.
“Andersen's fairy tales are an allegory life truth in the form of fiction."

The storyteller Andersen is faithful to the truth of life, and therefore most of his fairy tales have a sad ending. Andersen's tales are not so much about joyful have a fun life, so much about proud resistance to cruel reality. Almost all stories are filled with sadness, and only a few have happy ending. Of the 156 fairy tales written by Andersen, 56 end with the death of the hero.

Some researchers believe that the great storyteller Andersen did not like children. Selected works Andersen really suggests such thoughts. For example, in the fairy tale “The Girl Who Stepped on Bread,” the little heroine pays for her actions with the torments of hell. In the magical story “The Red Shoes,” a fair hatchet cuts off the legs of a guilty girl.

It is believed that Andersen composed such “horror stories” when he was overcome by depression or tormented by toothache.
The fairy tale “Ib and Kristinochka” can hardly be called a fairy tale; rather, it is a fairy tale story that has quite worthy real content for a novel.

Where did the idea of ​​the Little Mermaid come from - the sacrificial love of a fantastic creature who is ready to sacrifice her life for the sake of her beloved?
This idea was found earlier in G. Heine (“Lorelei”) and Foucault (“Ondine”).
Andersen said about his fairy tale “The Little Mermaid”: “she is the only one of my works that touched me.”
The famous sculpture of the Little Mermaid in the bay of Copenhagen has become a symbol of the capital of Denmark.

In Andersen's fairy tales, it is not so much the content that is important, but the double line of plot development (one for children, the other for adults). Adults need to read Andersen’s “children’s” fairy tales between the lines.
It must be said that the fairy tales of Charles Perrault are also intended for adults. The famous fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” is about how girls should behave when meeting wolves (men). The fairy tale “Bluebeard” is about the consequences of marrying young girls for older men.

But most of Andersen’s fairy tales are about the meaning of life and the meaning of art: “Flax”, “Tallow Candle”, “The Last Dream of the Old Oak”, “Something”...
“They won’t drive you away, they’ll let you stand here, outside the doors, and figure out how to fix your earthly life, but they won’t let you into heaven until you truly accomplish something.”

“How foolish it would be for the bow and violin to boast of their art. And how often do we, people - poets, artists, scientists, inventors, commanders! We boast, but we are all just tools in the hands of the creator! To him alone honor and praise! And we have nothing to be proud of!” (fairy tale “The Pen and the Inkwell”).

What is the nature of genius?
When people tell me “you are a genius,” I object. I am close to the idea of ​​​​the ancient Romans, who believed that every man has his own genius, every woman has her own Juno.
Socrates called this voice from above “daimon.”

Where do ideas and dreams come from?
Plato believed that ideas come from above, and that an idea precedes any thing.
His famous metaphor of the cave helps to understand the essence of human life and the shadow.

The poet is given an image (Idea), which he must decipher and put into words. Moreover, this works in the native language, but in a non-native language it does not work adequately.

Where do fairy tales come from? What is the nature of our imagination?

I am close to John Priestley’s idea that everything that arises in our imagination must exist somewhere in the Universe. In his fairy tale “June 31,” Priestley proves the connection of destinies in time and space.

People love fairy tales in which good triumphs over evil, because in life the opposite is often true.
People want to believe in the victory of love and justice, because they themselves act in the opposite way.
Where does faith in love and the triumph of good over evil come from, since everything is different in life?

Perhaps Andersen’s motives for writing fairy tales were from life, but the ideas and meanings were from Heaven! – the noosphere, as Vernadsky called the information field of the Earth, or as the ancient “Akashic Chronicles” called it. This is precisely what can explain that the same ideas arose simultaneously among several people, such as, for example, the idea of ​​​​radio by Marconi and Popov.

How do fairy tales arise?
Some believe that fairy tales are born from myths.
Saltykov-Shchedrin also wrote fairy tales. But can one really call him a storyteller?

Andersen's life was dramatic, if not tragic.
Hans Christian's childhood and adolescence were traumatized by scenes of sexual life.
Andersen had a bad character. He was tall, thin, awkward, stooped, with inexpressive features, the only noticeable detail being a long nose.
Andersen was subject to hysterics, depression, was suspicious, and could not stand criticism of himself. His actions were eccentric. He dressed without taste. He understood that he was not created for family life.

Andersen did not have success with women - and did not strive for this. But the sexual need demanded satisfaction. And one day Andersen went to a brothel. He wanted love, and he was offered sex. “You are not a man and you never will be.”
The shock of what he saw in the brothel shaped his attitude towards women for a long time.

The tragedy of the lives of many outstanding people was sexual disharmony and dissatisfaction. This includes King Ludwig of Bavaria, composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, inventor Alfred Nobel, and many others.

In his life, Andersen loved two women: the Swedish singer Jenny Lind and the daughter of Admiral Wulf Henrietta. He was offered to marry Henrietta, who was not indifferent to Andersen.
– Do you want Denmark’s first writer to have a hunchbacked wife? – Hans Christian was indignant.

In 1840, Andersen met the Swedish singer Jenny Lind in Copenhagen.

“My visit was very short, we parted as soon as we met, and she left me with the impression of a completely ordinary person, which I soon forgot,” writes Hans Christian in “The Tale of My Life.”
Three years later they met again and Andersen fell in love. He dedicated poems to her and wrote fairy tales for her. Although he was 40, and she was only 26 years old, and she addressed him exclusively as “brother” or “child”.
- You probably hate me? - Andersen asked her.
“In order to hate, I must first love...” answered Yenny.

Andersen followed Jenny Lind to London and Berlin, where she toured, but never achieved reciprocity. He admitted to Yenny that he had never had intimacy with a woman. But, despite sincere recognition, he was refused.

Andersen dedicated the fairy tales “The Snow Queen” and “The Nightingale” to Jenny Lind.
Fans of the storyteller called Yenny the “Snow Queen”; after all, even the love of the great Dane could not melt her heart.

Andersen wrote the fairy tale “The Swineherd” about his unsuccessful matchmaking with Jenny Lind. So he took revenge on his passion.

Most people read Andersen's fairy tales only in childhood. But if you re-read them as an adult, a rather frivolous meaning emerges. Only adults can fully comprehend the meaning of the Danish writer’s fairy tales.
In "Flint" a sexual scene is played out: a dog brings a sleeping princess into a soldier's closet. They spend the night together, and in the morning the princess remembers the “amazing dream.”

Erotic overtones are present in almost every Andersen fairy tale. The Snow Queen kisses the boy on the lips and, for a specific purpose, settles him in her ice palace.
The ugly duckling falls in love with the handsome swans, and at the sight of the beautiful birds he is seized with an “incomprehensible anxiety”, he becomes “as if out of his mind.” Nowadays they would call it homosexual fantasies.
The heroes of "Thumbelina" are generally obsessed with only one manic goal - to quickly indulge in passion with this little girl.
Today, for such liberties, a writer could (following the example of V.V. Nabokov) be accused of pedophilia, and the fairy tale itself could be recommended +18.
Perverted minds can even see bestiality in the fairy tale “The Swineherd”...

For my long life Andersen fell in love many times, but was always unhappy in love.
The tragedy of Hans Christian's unrequited love manifested itself in his fairy tales.

“A sad storyteller running away from love,” that’s what they called Hans Christian Andersen.
Andersen treated women all his life as something unattainable. He could awaken passion in a woman by talking romantic nonsense, but when the lady stretched out her hands to him, the storyteller hurried to escape.

In old age he became even more extravagant, spending a lot of time in brothels. He did not touch the girls who worked there, but simply talked to them. They offered him sex, but he wanted love. “It is better to invent love than to experience it in reality,” said the storyteller.

Andersen traveled all over the world and saw what his father once dreamed of. He spent almost his entire life in hotel rooms, and carried a rope with him everywhere in case of fire.
The great storyteller seriously believed that the number of teeth in the mouth affects his creativity. In January 1873, Hans Christian lost his last tooth and immediately stopped composing. “Magic stories don’t come to me anymore. I was left completely alone,” Andersen wrote in his diary.

Hans Christian Andersen achieved world fame during his lifetime, but remained lonely until the end of his days. Shortly before his death, he said: “I paid a large, exorbitant price for my fairy tales. I gave up personal happiness for them and missed the time when imagination should have given way to reality.”

In 1867, already an old man, Andersen again came to Odense. Hometown declared the washerwoman's son his honorary citizen. On the day this celebration took place, fireworks thundered in the city, all children were released from school, and a crowd of enthusiastic residents shouted “hurray” in the square!

Andersen spent his entire life ashamed of his origins and his prostitute sister.
“Hans Christian, you are a great liar and deceiver. You're leading double life. In your fairy tales you are kind, generous and noble. But in fact, you are a terrible person, you are calculating and cold. All your life you have been hiding the squalor of your origins. You were afraid that this would defile you in the eyes of the world. You hid your base, voluptuous inclinations. You betrayed our mother. When you die, not a single near and dear person will accompany your coffin, because you don’t have them. Hans Christian, you are a great liar and deceiver."

“There was a lot of vanity and vanity in my life. My ambition seemed excessive. I turned away from my mother, renounced my sister. This is my huge sin. I bowed to the rulers. He was arrogant. He could be cruel, selfish, stingy. I'm ashamed of this.
“You atoned for your guilt by suffering and not becoming embittered.” Your creations instilled goodness in the souls of people. And people repaid you with love and respect. But you are a fool, Andersen, for passing by such a miracle as the love of a woman!”

When Andersen fell ill shortly before his death, the residents of the capital decided to prepare in advance for farewell to their writer. A fundraiser for the monument was announced. The sculptor Auguste Sabø came to Andersen with a project. When Andersen saw himself sitting in a chair, surrounded by children, he was indignant: “Do you want me to read fairy tales surrounded by children hanging on my shoulders and knees? I wouldn’t even utter a word in such an environment!”
The sculptor was shocked, but removed the children.

The monument to Andersen was erected during his lifetime. And now on the square near the Town Hall in Copenhagen, named in his honor, there is a monument - a storyteller in a chair with a book in his hand and alone.

The last fairy tale was written by Andersen on Christmas Day 1872. In 1872, the writer fell out of bed, was badly hurt and never recovered from his injuries, although he lived for another three years.

Andersen died on August 4, 1875 in Copenhagen. The funeral of the great storyteller, held on August 8, 1875 at the Assistance cemetery, was attended by the poor and nobility, students, foreign ambassadors, ministers and the king himself. National mourning was declared in Denmark. People read Andersen's poems.

“How I want to believe in a fairy tale, that old dreams will come true, that I will meet my soul mate and with her we will make our dreams come true. But life whispers a different song: look at the experience of others, and show me any family where you would be happy. But there are none, everyone is unhappy, they torment each other, enduring. Dreaming is harmful and dangerous. Most people live without love. And you wanted to build a world, create an ideal hearth, where there was no need to argue, where everyone was sincerely happy, where you could love without hesitation, and could be tender without hiding, where you lived every day, smiling, giving grace to everyone around you, where every night is full of admiration and tender caress, and the whole day is filled with creation in which the soul would grow, where few words would be spoken, listening fully with the eyes, the soul would never get tired of loving lips, shoulders, eyes... But enough of the ridiculous fantasies. It's a dream or delirium in reality. Life does not tolerate fairy tales about brave bears who said “I love you.” We cannot insure our dreams from the prose of betrayals and insults. We create everything in life only ourselves, and the storyteller is hidden in our souls.”
(from my true-life novel “The Wanderer (mystery)” on the New Russian Literature website

In your opinion, WHAT IS THE MYSTERY OF ANDERSEN’S TALES?

© Nikolay Kofirin – New Russian Literature –

Essay on the topic - The appearance of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen. Andersen's fairy tales are one of the most significant phenomena in the world literature of the 19th century century. The great Danish writer enriched the literary fairy tale with new artistic qualities, making it equally interesting for readers of any age. “I always had in mind,” Andersen said about his fairy tales, “that I write them not only for children, but also for adults... Children were most amused by the very plot of the fairy tales, adults were interested in the idea put into them.”

An extraordinary, fascinating plot is combined in Andersen's fairy tales with high moral ideals, simple-minded naivety is intertwined with deep life wisdom, reality - with inspired poetic fiction, good-natured humor - with the subtlest irony and sarcasm. An amazing mixture of funny and serious, funny and sad, ordinary and wonderful is a feature of Andersen's style. His fairy tales, truly democratic in their entire structure of thoughts and feelings, are imbued with the faith of the humanist writer in the coming triumph of social justice, in the victory of the good, truly human principle over the forces of evil.

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was born in the small Danish town of Odense into the family of a shoemaker. The writer's childhood and youth were spent in poverty and deprivation. After the death of her husband, his mother worked as a day laborer, dreaming of teaching her “unlucky” son the tailor’s craft. But the absent-minded boy, always immersed in the world of fantastic dreams, was so carried away by the theater that at the age of fourteen he left native home and went to Copenhagen to seek his fortune on the stage.

Andersen's persistent attempts to become an actor, then a singer and even a dancer did not lead to success. Not wanting to break with the theater, the half-starved, homeless young man wrote, one after another, several imitative tragedies, in which, by his own admission, “the spelling was lame in almost every word.” Finally, a patron was found who secured a small scholarship for the aspiring playwright “with sparks of talent.” Eighteen-year-old Andersen enters the second grade of the gymnasium and, sitting on the same bench with the kids, not without difficulty masters the basics of science.

Despite the evil ridicule of his classmates and the bullying of the director, who believed that the son of a shoemaker had taken up the wrong business, Andersen managed not only to graduate from high school, but also to enter the university. By that time he was already the author of several poems that attracted attention. IN student years Andersen published vaudeville, travel essays, and humorous poems, gradually becoming a professional writer. His travels abroad began in the 30s.

After his first trip to Italy, Andersen wrote the novel The Improviser (1835), which brought him wide fame. Then Andersen published several more novels and dramas, imbued with a sense of protest against the surrounding wretched reality and bourgeois routine, hostile to everything living and talented.

When, from 1835, collections of his fairy tales began to appear from time to time, the entire civilized world unanimously recognized Andersen as the first writer of Denmark. Only in his homeland did the great storyteller continue to endure undeserved insults and humiliations for a long time, which he bitterly described in his artistic autobiography “The Tale of My Life” (1846). Conservative Danish critics did not want to forgive Andersen either for his plebeian origins or for his desire to “write as they say.” Ignoring picky school criticism, the writer followed his own path, boldly enriching Danish literary language common words and phrases.

Later, when it was no longer possible not to recognize the beloved folk writer, the attitude towards Andersen in Danish literary and official circles changed dramatically. In his old age, the writer gained well-deserved fame; he was surrounded by honor and attention.

A remarkable fact last period Andersen's life are his speeches before a public audience in the "Workers' Union". Giving this type of activity great importance, the writer proudly said that he was “the first to break through the ice and bring the gifts of poetry to the Workers’ Union, setting an example for others.” From 1835 to 1872, Andersen published 156 fairy tales, varied in both content and artistic form.

Along with typically fairy-tale works, Andersen’s collections contain short realistic stories, everyday sketches, lyric poems in prose, historical legends, etc. Andersen is especially close to the early fairy tales. folklore sources. “The first issue,” he wrote in his autobiography, “contained fairy tales that I heard as a child; I just wrote them down.” But in reality, the matter was not limited to simple recording. The writer transformed each plot, subordinating it to his own artistic style. From the very first lines, rapid action unfolds in the work and a living image of the hero appears before the reader’s eyes.

Andersen consciously emphasized the social subtext in folk fairy tales and further enhanced the optimism inherent in folk art. When the dashing soldier from the fairy tale “Flint” defeated the evil king and his advisers, “all the people shouted: “Servant, be our king and marry the beautiful princess!”

Little Klaus, thanks to his natural intelligence and resourcefulness, decisively deals with his tormentor, the greedy and envious rich man Big Klaus, and satisfaction is felt in the author’s tone (“Little Klaus and Big Klaus”). The extraordinary power of Eliza's selfless love for her brothers helps her to withstand all the tests and defeat the evil spell. Moreover, among the enemies kind girl we see not only the fairy-tale witch-queen, but also an ordinary Catholic bishop (“Wild Swans”).

Sometimes fairy tales turn into entire stories, in which the folklore basis is combined with free fiction. IN " To the Snow Queen", as in other fairy tales, a high moral idea follows from the plot itself. A fragment of the devil's mirror falls into the heart of little Kai. “Reflected in it, everything great and good seemed insignificant and bad, everything evil and bad looked even more evil, and the shortcomings of each thing immediately caught the eye.” But Gerda cannot leave her friend in trouble. To free him from witchcraft, she endures unimaginable tests, walking around half the world barefoot. And when the boy and girl returned from cold Lapland to their home, they felt like adults.

Let us also remember this worldwide famous fairy tale, like "The Steadfast Tin Soldier". Sad story one-legged selfless love tin soldier to the cardboard dancer is full of deep humanistic meaning. This tale sounds like a hymn to human dignity and selflessness. Toys behave like people, they are endowed with intelligence and feelings. Most often, Andersen uses only individual folklore motifs or builds his plots based on folk proverbs, signs, beliefs, creating in each individual case an independent, original work (“Garden of Eden”, “Ole-Lukoie”, “Storks”, “Elderberry”) mother”, etc.).

So, for example, regarding “Ole-Lukoje” (that is, “Ole, close your eyes”) Andersen wrote: “The idea associated with the name Ole-Lukoje, a creature that puts children to sleep, served as the only basis for this fairy tale.”

Many fairy tales, especially the later ones, are created by the imagination of the writer, who has repeatedly stated that the most wonderful fairy tales grow out of reality. It is no coincidence that the author titled his later collections not just “Fairy Tales”, but “Fairy Tales and Stories”. Fairy tale works Andersen are inspired by reality. His fairy-tale heroes performing miraculous feats are surrounded at every step ordinary people and ordinary things, sorcerers and wizards are endowed with ordinary human feelings and desires, the fictional countries surprisingly resemble small feudal-monarchical Denmark with the orders that existed in it.

In Andersen's fairy tales, not only animals, but even household items have the ability to think and reason, and people who are proud of their intelligence, wealth and position in society, in fact turn out to be so insignificant and stupid that they look like wind-up toys.

He teaches to find manifestations of true heroism and moral valor in the modesty and honest work of ordinary people, and in the tinsel splendor and pompous swagger “ powerful of the world this” - to notice the emptiness and falsehood. This “wonderful feature” of Andersen’s work was noted in his review of the French edition of his fairy tales by N. A. Dobrolyubov. The great critic wrote that “real ideas take on a fantastic character in an extremely poetic way,” that Andersen’s fairy tales “do not need a moralizing tail; they lead children to think, and the children themselves make use of the story, freely and naturally, without any pretense.”