Happily
Ever After: Rethinking Andersen’s Fairy Tales in The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar
Himanshu Kumar
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Hansraj College
University of Delhi, India
Abstract:
Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), an
acclaimed Danish writer is renowned for his fascinating fairy tales that have
captured the hearts of readers all over the world. His stories have gained
adoration due to their captivating stories, memorable characters and profound
messages. At first glance it may seem that Andersen's tales adhere to the
formula of ‘happily ever after’. However upon examination one discovers a
tapestry of emotions and complexities that disregard simplistic resolutions.
His characters grapple with dilemmas, existential crises, and personal growth.
As a skilled storyteller Andersen weaved narratives that defy the typical
"happily ever after" archetype and are filled with realism and
intricacy reflecting the complexities of emotions and the unpredictability of
life. This paper explores how Andersen goes beyond fairy tale boundaries when
it comes to depicting "happily ever after" providing readers with a
deep and multi-layered perspective. It studies tales such as ‘The Little
Mermaid’ and ‘The Little Match Girl’ in order to analyse how Andersen’s
characters confront adversity and redefine happiness. His narratives delve into
emotional depth exploring complex psychological aspects within his characters
and encourage a deeper understanding of human emotions and desires that remain
relevant even today.
Keywords: Fairy tale, Archetype, Storytelling,
Folklore, Self-exploration
Fairy tales constitute a unique form of
literature that borrows elements from folklore to explore and critique the
desires and needs of a growing bourgeois audience. While some fairy tales
present robust social criticism and envision a better world, the majority tend
to present a cheerful affirmation of the existing order. The term ‘fairy tale’
originates from the French phrase "contes de fées," but is “only a
convenience since few stories we call by that name contain fairies, elves,
leprechauns, or similar creatures” (Sale 23). These tales have survived for
centuries because they tap into the very essence of life itself—its passions,
anxieties, fears, desires, and love. Fairy tales do not attempt to explicate or
demystify themselves; instead, they fearlessly embrace and weave together the
complexities of human existence into seemingly simple narratives.
To Hans Christian Andersen
(1805-1875), the fairy tale was an unrestricted playground without the
constraints of genre norms. While admitting that some of his stories were
influenced by the tales he heard as a youngster, he also maintained his own
talent and imagination’s ability to create literary fairy tales. Instead of
archetypal figures, we frequently encounter characters who are the author’s
alter egos. Andersen was a keen observer of social issues, and as a Romantic,
he pondered the human–nature relationship. According to Ursula K. Le Guin,
Andersen is “one of the great realists of literature” owing to his “willingness
to see and accept the consequences of an act or a failure to act” (61).
Maria Tatar (b.1945), the
John L. Loeb Professor of Folklore & Mythology and Germanic Languages and
Literature at Harvard University, is one of the foremost experts on fairy
tales. She published The Annotated
Classic Fairy Tales in 2002, a curated collection of twenty-six stories
that were all illustrated, somewhat annotated, and few of them translated
specifically for the publication. The 'familiar' is thoroughly dissected and
discussed in Tatar’s annotations for each story. She skillfully leads readers
through the stories, examining their cultural intricacies, historical roots,
and psychological impacts.
Like Andersen’s personal
life, his fairy tales are not always cheerful. Hence, he uses the phrase
"happily ever after" sparingly. Andersen believed that enduring
hardship(s) was a sign of spiritual greatness. Many of his stories end in a
cemetery and include details of bodily humiliation – the tin soldier melts in
the oven, the match girl freezes to death, the daisy wilts away, and the fir
tree is hacked down and used as firewood. This paper examines two stories,
namely ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘The Little Match Girl’, whose tragic
conclusions raise the question of whether happy endings are required in
children’s literature.
One of Andersen’s most
well-known stories is ‘The Little Mermaid’ (1837). Its pathos has managed to
strike a chord with many people. Rosellen Brown mulls over “Why ‘The Little
Mermaid’ so fascinated me that I shuddered and read it again and again”,
contemplating that “perhaps [she] was a simple child to believe the worst”
(56). She did not, however, appreciate the "fake good cheer" that
Andersen occasionally delivers and preferred the tragic endings instead.
Perhaps this is the case because the story gives readers a chance to confront
their anxieties and cleanse themselves of negative emotions and undesirable
impulses.
‘The Little Mermaid’ is a
clear illustration of how Andersen’s tales depart from 'standard' fairy tales.
The mermaid’s self-effacing nature seems baffling, to say the least. So is the
case with her resurrection from death and her unceasing efforts to obtain
immortality. The tale is inspired by a literary folktale or ‘Kunstmärchen’ by
the German Romantic Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué called Undine (1811). Interestingly, Andersen “reversed the roles and
downplaying the motif of the Christian versus the pagan, created a beautiful
and tragic story of impossible love.” (Zipes 60).
While comparing Andersen’s
marine world with that of Walt Disney’s 1989 film The Little Mermaid in The
Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, Maria Tatar notes that the latter’s
underwater inhabitants didn't merely "sing and dance" (303). In the
Disney version, Triton is a more powerful character who strives to rescue his
daughter Ariel from the clutches of the crafty sea witch (Ursula).
Andersen continuously deals
with transformations in form and identity. The mermaid is transmuted from a
marine creature to a mermaid in human form and then to a "daughter of the
air," unlike other fairy tale protagonists who metamorphose from human to
animal form. However, unlike the eleven brothers of Elise in ‘The Wild Swans’,
who were forced to become swans, or Lucius in The Golden Ass, who accidentally transformed into an ass, these
alterations are motivated by the mermaid’s own wishes. The story’s conclusion
indicates that the mermaid’s transformation, like that of the sea maidens and
swan maidens of Scandinavian legend, is revocable but not without a price.
The story emphasises having
a voice and the capacity to exhibit its artistry. The mermaid’s voice is what
makes her so enticing to everyone. The little mermaid loses her ability to talk
and sing, just like Philomela (in Ovid's Metamorphoses),
whose tongue was amputated by Tereus. She realises the shortcomings of the deal
she had with the sea witch only after she observes the Prince enjoying the
slave girls’ songs because "she knew that she herself could sing far more
beautifully"(323). And she ends up losing the Prince to her opponent in
love because she is unable to communicate.
The sea witch inhabits a
world of degradation, devastation, and death. In an effort to obtain external
salvation, the mermaid seeks the assistance of ‘corruption personified’, but is
unsuccessful. She can only be rewarded with the chance to achieve immortality
when she gives up the black art. The sea witch appears to be more of a
'technician' carrying out the strict laws of the universe. The mermaid
experiences pain only when she strives to overcome her nature.
Despite the criticism of
being self-effacing, the little mermaid is more daring and inquisitive than
most fairy tale heroines. In spite of being the youngest, "she swam more
closer to the shore than any of the others dared" (324). Notwithstanding
the excruciating discomfort in her legs, she also voluntarily donned a page’s
uniform to go on a horse ride and climb to the top of the high mountains to
take in the beautiful scenery.
The tale's resolution was
given a disciplinary twist by Andersen. The conclusion implies that children’s
behaviour is being continuously watched by an unseen entity and that the
actions of the former determine the fate of the latter. Even though this lesson
isn't as terrifying as the tortures the little mermaid endures (as Tatar
claims), it is adequate to keep the kids on their toes all the time.
A fine children’s book
appears to have several important requirements, one of which is the
protagonist’s success. However, in Andersen's ‘The Little Match Girl’, which
honours the suffering of a match vendor who freezes to death on New Year's Eve,
this is not the case. A cruel father and a merciless society are responsible
for the girl’s plight. She does not even get refuge in the lap of Mother Nature. We get chills just thinking
about the poor girl out there in the cold. She is finally rescued through
supernatural intervention. The story is still one of the most enduring
childhood memories and weighs heavily on our collective imagination.
Over the past century, ‘The
Little Match Girl’ has undergone numerous adaptations and revisions, most
notably in a 1944 version that spares the primary character’s life and ensures
that she lives ‘happily ever after’. Andersen wrote the original during a
decade of social turbulence and political turmoil and would have been extremely
upset had he survived to read the revised version. This is the case because
eliminating the death scene from the story is equivalent to removing the spirit
from the body. J.C. Oates persuades us to observe the original match girls
despite replacing the little match girl with a strong and successful lady in
his story entitled ‘You, Little Match Girls’. He says, “maybe our lives are no
more than a match girl’s flaring matches; we live so long as they burn, and
then they are gone” (233).
The descriptor 'little'
before a girl’s name usually foreshadows her doom. Like the little mermaid,
little Eva (in Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin),
and little Nell (in Dickens’ The Old
Curiosity Shop), the little match girl is foreordained to embrace death as
a child. She is not even half as fortunate as the match girl in Wilde's ‘The
Happy Prince’, who benefits from the Prince's munificence.
The story ‘The Little Match
Girl’ begins with a penurious little girl “wearing nothing on her head and
walking in bare feet” (279). Andersen, whose father was a cobbler, frequently
places the protagonist’s misery in their feet. The match girl standing outside
in the cold cuts a pitiful figure and makes us feel bad for her. She is
nonetheless in a better shape than individuals who gloat over their footwear
and end up in serious problems, such as Inge and Karen in ‘The Girl Who Trod on
the Loaf’ and ‘The Red Shoes’ respectively.
Andersen frequently
presents a diorama of pain and anguish to us. He uses intricate descriptions of
suffering to depict beauty in this story. For example, the match girl “crouched
down and huddled in the cold, with her legs tucked under her. But she just got
colder and colder” (280). Andersen, who had experienced poverty and adversity
in life, always felt compassion for the poor and the needy. The little
shivering girl who lights matchstick after matchstick in a desperate attempt to
keep herself alive mirrors the life of Andersen’s mother, who used to sell
goods in the cold as a child.
The innocent girl is turned
cold by the Angel of Death at the end of the tale. Her demise is beautiful
because she has managed to rise above the material world. Her destitution can
be viewed as a prerequisite for movement into a higher realm with "no
cold, no hunger, no pain" (233). Like Karen, God showers her with mercy
and ensures that her spirit soars to her heavenly Father.
Thus, life unfolds in
Andersen’s tales the way it does in reality rather than as a fantasy. They
enable us to perceive the truth of suffering that others try to conceal.
Andersen experienced and captured this suffering, and as a result, he created
works of remarkable creativity and beauty that are both fulfilling in their
anguish and troubling in the issues they unmask. His perception of reality sits
at the centre of his fancy’s most exquisite web.
Works Cited
Brown, Rosellen. “It is You the Fable is
about”. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women
Writers Explore their Favourite Fairy Tales. Ed. Kate Barnheimer. New York:
Anchor Books, 1998. Print.
Le Guin, Ursula K. “The Child and the
Shadow”. The Language of the Night:
Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction. Ed. Susan Wood. New York: G.P.
Putnam’s Sons, 1979. 59-71. Print.
Oates, Joyce C. “You Little Match Girl”. Black Heart, Ivory Bones. Ed. Ellen
Datlow and Terri Windling. New York: Avon Books, 2000. Print.
Sale, Roger. “Fairy Tales”. Fairy Tales and After: From Snow White to
E.B. White. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978. 23-48. Print.
Tatar, Maria, ed. The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales . New York: W.W. Norton and Co,
2002. Print.
Zipes, Jack. The Oxford Encyclopedia of
Children’s Literature. Oxford: OUP, 2006. Print.