Essays on literary works - 2023
A fairy tale is the birthplace of feelings (H.K. Andersen “The Snow Queen”)
Andersen Hans Christian
Formed national traditions and a fairly high level of artistic skill in Danish literature at the beginning of the 19th century led to the appearance of Hans Christian Andersen - the author of novels and novels, poems and plays, travel essays and many wonderful fairy tales. It was fairy tales that brought him world fame and creative immortality.
"The Snow Queen" occupies a somewhat separate place in the works of H. K. Andersen. It belongs to the genre of fantastic tales. Its main content boils down to the formula: "The right to happiness can be earned only by true selflessness and true love. The one who cannot resist temptation will pay bitterly for it with long days of punishment, and perhaps with life."
In the fairy tale "The Snow Queen", the author glorifies and praises the great power of love, courage, steadfastness and selflessness. These forces are indomitable, they are able to overcome all obstacles, grief and separation, they are able to restore life to those doomed to death.
In the fairy tale, the writer reflects on eternal questions: why does evil exist? Who will dare to oppose him? What do people become who have lost kindness? What will lead to the loss of the ability to enjoy life and do good to people?
According to Andersen, the world is beautiful and goodness is primordial. 1 therefore, the greatest evil for a person is his state in which he ceases to enjoy life.
The families in which Kai and Gerda are raised are so poor that they live under the very attic. Instead of a garden and a vegetable garden, each of them had "a large wooden box" for growing root crops and a box in which roses grew.
Children are pure and kind at heart, they love each other like brother and sister. Kai realizes himself as Gerda's protector. To her frightening question, whether the Snow Queen will dare to break into their home, he confidently answers that he will be able to protect Gerda: "I will put her on a warm stove, and she will melt." Kai and Gerda love flowers and books. Realizing that they are a part of nature, they are happy and enjoy life: "...the children sang, kissed the roses, looked at the sun's reflections and talked with them... It seemed that their happiness would have no end..."
The tie-in of the plot is an episode in which Andersen says that Kai "stabbed something in the heart, and something got into the eye." Little Gerda hurries to help the named brother. her weapon is love, care and kindness.
The complete opposite of Gerda is the Snow Queen, who wants to distance Kai from people. She destroys the memory of those to whom he is attached by heart. With her kiss, the Snow Queen finally froze the boy's heart - he retained the memory of only a small part of his past.
As long as Kai was good. The Snow Queen had no power over him. And Kai treated her differently. Seeing her for the first time, Kai was scared. Then, when he was injured by the shards of the mirror and stopped being caring and sensitive, the boy became like her. His view of the world changed: everything repulsive and evil began to seem beautiful to him: "Kai looked at her. She was so beautiful! He could not imagine a more intelligent, more charming face. Now she did not seem to him to be icy, as at that time, when she appeared outside the window and nodded to him, - now she presented herself to him as perfection."
A formidable queen and a little girl... Can their powers compare? Will Gerda be able to defeat such an enemy? How can she return Kai, who under the influence of spells has become powerless and passive, having lost the will to resist?
Devotion and kindness - Gerda's weapons - turn out to be stronger than the coldness and treachery of the Snow Queen and the troll.
Gerda selflessly fights the Snow Queen, as a symbol of mental coldness and cruelty, childishly naive. But this immediacy is the strongest weapon in the fight against evil. Gerda's hot and pure tears "fell on Kai's chest, penetrated his heart, melted his icy skin, and the fragment became..." Revived to life by her love, the boy regained the ability to feel and suffer: "Kai suddenly burst into tears and sobbed so so violently that a shard fell out of his eye, tears washed it away."
Now he has become the former Kai - Gerda's protector: the destructive indifference has left him. A saving memory returned to him, and with it - and former feelings.
So, the beloved heroine of Andersen Gerd turned out to be stronger than powerful, but hostile to people forces. her image embodies the idea that dedication, affection, loyalty, willpower can defeat any evil.