The tale of H. H. Andersen is dedicated to the very famous opera actress Jenny Lind in the 18th century. She had a phenomenal range. She was applauded by Berlin, Paris, London and Vienna. Her voice was admired, and her performances were sold out.
Andersen was captivated to the depths of her soul by her beautiful voice. Lindh and the writer met in Copenhagen. Literally at first sight, he fell in love with the singer. Whether this feeling was mutual is unknown. But she greatly appreciated his writing talent.
Andersen could not speak beautifully about his love, so he decided to write about it and confess his feelings. Having sent a letter of confession to Lind, he did not wait for an answer. So the famous fairy tale was born, telling about the touching love that Gerda and Kai felt for each other.
The prototypes of heroes in a fairy tale
Two years later, Lind and Andersen met. The actress invited Andersen to become her brother. He agreed (since it’s better than being nobody), thinking that Gerda and Kai were like brother and sister too.
Perhaps in search of a real feeling, Andersen spent a lot of time traveling, trying to escape from the kingdom of the Snow Queen, which for him was Copenhagen. In life, everything is not like in a fairy tale. The image of Kai and Gerda, invented by Andersen and personifying him and Lind, was just as pure. In life, Kai was never able to fall in love with Gerda and escape from the kingdom of the Snow Queen.
Brief analysis of the tale
G. H. Andersen is the first Danish writer whose works entered world literature. The most famous are the fairy tales "The Little Mermaid" and "The Snow Queen". They are familiar to almost all of us. The Snow Queen fairy tale tells about good and evil, love and oblivion. It also tells of loyalty and betrayal.
The image of the Snow Queen in the fairy tale was taken for a reason. Andersen's father before his death told him that the Ice Maiden had come for him. In his fairy tale, the writer personified the Snow Queen with the Ice Maiden, who took his dying father with her.
At first glance, the tale is simple and does not contain deep meaning. Delving deeper into the process of analysis, you understand that the plot raises some of the most important aspects of life - these are love, devotion, purposefulness, kindness, the fight against evil, religious motives.
The story of Kai and Gerda
This is the story of the touching friendship and love of two Andersen fairy tales. Gerda and Kai had known each other since childhood and spent a lot of time together. In a fairy tale, it is Gerda who has to prove the strength of friendship, who set off on a long and difficult journey after the boy who became a prisoner of the Snow Queen herself. Having charmed Kai with a piece of ice, she turned him into a callous, spoiled and arrogant boy. At the same time, Kai was not aware of his changes. Having managed to go through many difficulties, Gerda managed to find Kai, melt his icy heart. Kindness and faith in the salvation of a friend gave the girl strength and confidence. The tale teaches you to be faithful to your feelings, not to leave your loved one in trouble, to be kind and, despite difficulties, strive to achieve your goal.
Characteristics of Kai and Gerda
Andersen's tale describes to us a kind, attentive and responsive Kai. But after a challenge thrown to the Snow Queen herself, he turns into a rude and angry boy, capable of offending anyone, even Gerda and his grandmother, whose fairy stories he loved to listen to. One of Kai's tricks ended up being held captive by the Snow Queen.
In the palace of the evil queen, he became a boy with an ice heart. Kai all the time tried to lay out the word "eternity" from pieces of ice, but he did not succeed. Then she promised to give him skates and the whole world. Kai's desire to comprehend eternity indicates his lack of understanding that this cannot be done without true feelings, without love, having only a cold mind and an icy heart.
Deprived of all human feelings, Kai in fear wanted to read the prayer, but could not. All that was in his head was the multiplication table. Frozen figures of regular geometric shape - this is the only thing that delighted him. Kai tramples his once favorite roses, and examines snowflakes with interest in a magnifying glass.
Gerda's image is a contrast to the character of the Snow Queen. To find Kai and rescue him from the ice castle, the girl embarks on a long and difficult journey. In the name of her love, a brave little girl goes into the unknown. The obstacles encountered along the way did not make Gerda angry and did not make her turn back towards the house, throw her friend in captivity at the Snow Queen. She remained friendly, kind and sweet throughout the story. Courage, perseverance and patience help her not to lose heart, but to humbly overcome all failures. Thanks to this character, she managed to find Kai. And love for him was able to melt his icy heart and cope with the spell of the evil queen.
The description of Gerda and Kai can be a prototype of real people and similar stories in life. It is enough just to take a closer look around.
Snow Queen traits
The Snow Queen, the Snowstorm Witch, the Ice Maiden are a classic character in Scandinavian folklore. Lifeless and cold space, snow and eternal ice - this is the Kingdom of the Snow Queen. A tall, beautiful ruler on a throne located on the lake, which is called the "Mirror of the Mind", she is the embodiment of cold reason and beauty, devoid of the manifestation of feelings.
Growing up of fairy tale heroes
Having visited the kingdom of the Snow Queen, the heroes become adults. The motive of growing up acquires moral meaning. Children grow older when they face severe life trials, overcoming which Gerda managed to save a loved one, resisting the difficult searches and intrigues that the Snow Queen suited them. Kai and Gerda, despite growing up, keep their children's mental purity. They seemed to be reborn with the goal of a new adult existence.
Christian motives in a fairy tale
Andersen's tale is saturated with Christian motives. This is rarely seen in Russian publications. In the episode, when Gerda tries to enter the Queen, she is not allowed there by the guards. She was able to get into it thanks to the fact that she began to read the prayer "Our Father". After that, the guards, turning into angels, paved the way for the girl.
While Gerda and Kai return to their home, the grandmother reads the Gospel. After the meeting, the children all together begin to dance around the rosebush and sing a Christmas carol, which ended the instructive tale.
And this mysterious journey from the world of good to the land of evil began with a splinter that fell into Kai's eye. The mirror broke due to the fact that trolls (that is, demons) reflected everything in the world in a distorted form. Andersen explains this by the fact that demons in a lying mirror wanted to reflect the Creator. God, not allowing this, made it so that the mirror tore out of the hands of demons and broke.
The image of Hell is reflected in the word "eternity", which the Snow Queen instructed to lay down Kai. Icy eternity, not created by the Creator, is an image of hell.
In the episode where the deer asks the sorceress to help Gerda and give her the strength of twelve heroes, she replies that she cannot make the girl stronger than she is. Her strength is a small loving heart. And God helps her anyway.
Contrasting cold and warm
With the prologue of the fairy tale, Andersen begins to write that some people get shards of ice in their hearts, which freeze, become cold and insensitive. And at the end of the tale, he describes how Gerda's hot tears fall on Kai's chest and a shard of ice in his heart melts.
Cold in a fairy tale is the personification of evil, everything bad on earth, and warmth is love.
Therefore, in the eyes of the Snow Queen, Andersen sees the absence of warmth, the presence of cold and insensitivity.
The Snow Queen fairy tale is an extraordinary story about the boy Kai and the girl Gerda. A shard of a broken mirror separated them. The main theme of Andersen's fairy tale "The Snow Queen" is the struggle between good and evil.
Background
So, let's start retelling a summary of the "Snow Queen". Once an evil troll created a mirror, looking into which all goodness decreased and disappeared, while evil, on the contrary, increased. But, unfortunately, the students of the troll smashed the mirror in an argument, and all its fragments scattered around the world. And if even one tiny piece fell into a human heart, then it froze and became a piece of ice. And if he got into the eye, then the person ceased to see the good, and in any act he felt only malicious intent.
Kai and Gerda
The summary of the "Snow Queen" should be continued with the information that friends lived in one small town: a boy and a girl, Kai and Gerda. They were brother and sister to each other, but only until the moment when shards fell into the boy's eye and heart. After the accident, the boy became embittered, became rude and lost brotherly feelings for Gerda. Besides, he stopped seeing goodness. He began to think that no one loved him and that everyone wished him harm.
And then one not very good day, Kai went tobogganing. He clung to a sleigh passing by. But they belonged to the Snow Queen. She kissed the boy, thereby making his heart even colder. The queen took him to her ice palace.
Gerda's journey
Gerda grieved very much for the boy for the rest of the winter and waited for his return, and without waiting, she went in search of her brother as soon as spring came.
The first on the way Gerda met a woman-sorceress. She cast a spell on the girl that deprived her of her memory. But, seeing the roses, Gerda remembered everything and ran away from her.
After that, a raven met on her way, telling her that a prince very similar to Kai had wooed the princess of his kingdom. But it was not him. The princess and the prince turned out to be very kind people, they presented her with clothes and a carriage made of gold.
The girl's path lay through a terrible and dark forest, where a gang of robbers attacked her. Among them was a little girl. She turned out to be kind and gave Gerda a reindeer. On it, the heroine went further and soon, having met the pigeons, she found out where her named brother was.
On the way she met two more kind women - a Lapland woman and a Finnish woman. Each of them helped the girl in her search for Kai.
The Snow Queen's Domain
And so, having reached the possessions of the Snow Queen, she gathered the remnants of her strength and went through the strongest storm and the royal army. Gerda prayed all the way, and angels came to her aid. They helped her get to the ice castle.
Kai was there, but the queen was not. The boy was like a statue, frozen and cold. He didn’t even pay attention to Gerda and continued playing the puzzle. Then the girl, unable to cope with emotions, wept bitterly. Tears thawed Kai's heart. He also began to cry, and the shard fell out along with the tear.
The main characters of the fairy tale "The Snow Queen". Gerda
There are many heroes in the tale, but they are all secondary. The main ones are only three: Gerda, Kai, the queen. But still, the only truly main character of the fairy tale "The Snow Queen" is only one - little Gerda.
Yes, she is very small, but also selfless and courageous. In the fairy tale, all her strength is concentrated in a kind heart, which attracts sympathetic people to the girl, without whom she would not have reached the ice castle. It is kindness that helps Gerda defeat the queen and unfreeze the named brother.
Gerda is ready to do anything for the sake of her neighbors and is confident in her decisions. She does not hesitate for a second and helps everyone who needs it, not counting on help. In a fairy tale, the girl shows only the best character traits, and she is the embodiment of justice and kindness.
Kai's image
Kai is a very controversial hero. On the one hand, he is kind and sensitive, but on the other, he is frivolous and stubborn. Even before the fragments hit the eye and heart. After the incident, Kai is completely under the influence of the Snow Queen and follows her orders, without speaking a word against. But after Gerda frees him, everything is fine again.
Yes, on the one hand, Kai is a positive character, but his inaction and passivity prevent the reader from falling in love with him.
The image of the Snow Queen
The Snow Queen is the embodiment of winter, cold. Her home is an endless ice space. Just like ice, she is very beautiful in appearance and also intelligent. But her heart does not know the feelings. That is why she is the prototype of evil in Andersen's tale.
History of creation
It's time to tell the story of the creation of Andersen's fairy tale "The Snow Queen". It was first published in 1844. The tale is the longest in the author's bibliography, moreover, Andersen claimed that it is connected with the history of his life.
Andersen said that "The Snow Queen", a summary of which is contained in the article, appeared in his head even when he was little and played with his neighbor white-headed Lisbeth. For him, she was practically a sister. The girl was always close to Hans, supported him in all games and listened to his first tales. Many researchers claim that she became the prototype of Gerda.
But not only Gerda had a prototype. Singer Jenny Lind became the living embodiment of the queen. The author was in love with her, but the girl did not share his feelings, and Andersen made her cold heart the embodiment of the beauty and soullessness of the Snow Queen.
In addition, Andersen was carried away by Scandinavian myths, and there death was called the ice maiden. Before his death, his father said that the maiden had come for him. Perhaps the Snow Queen has the same prototype as the Scandinavian winter and death. She also lacks feelings, and the kiss of death can freeze forever.
The image of a girl made of ice attracted the storyteller, and in his legacy there is another tale about the Snow Queen who stole her beloved from his bride.
Andersen wrote the tale at a very difficult time, when religion and science were at war. Therefore, there is an opinion that the confrontation between Gerda and the queen describes the events that took place.
In the USSR, the tale was redone, since the censorship did not allow the mention of Christ and the reading of the Gospel at night.
"The Snow Queen": analysis of the work
Andersen in his tales creates an opposition - the confrontation between good and evil, summer and winter, external and internal, death and life.
Thus, the Snow Queen has become a classic character in folklore. Dark and cold mistress of winter and death. She is opposed by the warm and kind Gerda, the embodiment of life and summer.
Kai and Gerda, according to Schelling's natural philosophy, are androgynes, that is, the opposite of death and life, summer and winter. Children are together in summer, but in winter they suffer separation.
The first half of the tale tells about the creation of a magic mirror that can distort good, turning it into evil. A person injured by its splinter acts as an enemy of culture. On the one hand, it is a myth that strikes culture and breaks the link between man and nature. So Kai becomes soulless and rejects the love of summer and the beauty of nature. But he begins to love the creations of reason with all his heart.
The shard that ended up in the boy's eye allows him to think intelligently, cynically, to show interest in the geometric structure of snowflakes.
As you know, there can be no bad ending in a fairy tale, so Andersen opposed Christian values \u200b\u200bto the world of technology. That is why the children in the fairy tale sing psalms to the rose. Although the rose withers, the memory of it remains. So the memory is a mediator between the world of the living and the dead. This is how Gerda, once in the witch's garden, forgets Kai, and then her memory returns again and she escapes. It is roses that help her in this.
The scene in the castle with the false prince and princess is very symbolic. In this dark moment, Gerda is helped by crows, symbolizing the forces of night and wisdom. Climbing the stairs is a tribute to Plato's cave myth, in which non-existent shadows create a representation of a false reality. Gerda needs a lot of strength in order to discern where the lie and where the truth.
The further the fairy tale "The Snow Queen" progresses, the summary of which you already know, the more often peasant symbols are encountered. Gerda, with the help of prayer, copes with the storm and falls into the queen's domain. The atmosphere of the castle was created by the author himself. It emphasizes all the complexes and failures of the poor writer. According to biographers, the Andresenov family had some mental disabilities.
So the powers of the queen can symbolize actions that can drive you crazy. The castle is motionless and cold, crystal.
So Kai's trauma leads to his seriousness and intellectual development, and his attitude towards loved ones changes dramatically. Soon he is completely alone in the icy palaces. These signs characterize schizophrenia.
Kai meditates on the ice, showing his loneliness. Gerda's coming to Kai presupposes his salvation from the world of the dead, from the world of madness. He returns to the world of love and kindness, eternal summer. The couple reunites again, and the person gains integrity through a difficult path and overcoming oneself.
Grandma tells a tale about the Snow Queen Kai and Gerda. The first thing Kai asked, remember? He asked in a longed voice: "Is she beautiful?" Strange, isn't it? He has a beautiful and kind Gerda, it would seem, what more could you want? And from the very beginning he was interested in another woman, and the Coolest one. As cool and cold as he would like to see himself. After all, feelings are not for a real man. Kai doesn't want to be able to worry, doesn't want to be pitied. This is the beginning of the demise of many of our men who want to look cool, but can't do it with a mommy.
That bad boy who was pricked by a splinter always slept in Kai. And it could not be otherwise, because living with Gerda is not at all fun. It's a mommy woman. You can't be Cool in front of her. After all, she is ready to take care of you always, even if you are completely drunk. While searching for the Snow Queen, Kai implements a neurotic scenario. Didn't he hook his sleigh to hers himself?
Kai's script is to plunge into history, repent and receive forgiveness from a woman-mom. This is the scenario of a latent alcoholic. Moreover, half of the fairy tales are based on this scenario: an all-forgiving woman makes a man out of a dissolute man. Beauty and the Beast, Nutcracker, Pinocchio, Scarlet Flower, Lady and the Tramp, Aristocratic Cats ...
Fairy tales teach us that everything ends well. The man repents and becomes an exemplary family man. But life is not like that.
It would be possible to shoot another 2-3 episodes of the continuation of the Snow Queen. Because behind the snow queen there will be some other woman who will charm Kai and draw him into some kind of adventure. Well, let's say, the same Rogue is quite suitable for this role. Kai will most likely run away with the Robber, again plunge into some kind of story, lose everything and come to ask for forgiveness from Gerda. Or rather, she herself will look for him in the basements.
Hdon't choose men like Kai. However, if you are Gerda, then you have no choice.First, a sweet man, roses and "I will never hurt you." Then - rudeness and "overturned sled" (the first violence). Then - going on a spree. And Gerda still believes that he was bewitched. And that she - is able to disenchant. What do our girls' fairy tales teach? In fact, it is impossible to disenchant such a man. Better not to bewitch the little boy. Teach him that feelings and tenderness are not a shame. That there is no need to be a cool or closed monster, a bear, where a gentle man is hiding under the skin, and this skin will have to be removed by someone ... Neither Gerda nor the Snow Queen can save Kai. He will continue to rush between these two roles involved in the script. One - supports his skin of coolness ("you are a strong macho"), the other - sweeps up the consequences of this coolness behind him ("you are a weak poor thing"). Poor Kai, because he should not be one or the other!
I really do not like this cartoon because Gerda is presented as the ideal woman. She's obviously addicted to Kai. He makes it clear several times that there is no need to save him, but everything is not enough for her. And when she finds out that another woman has taken possession of him and that he is happy (erroneous story with the princess) - any normal loving girl would say "And thank God" and go away. But not Gerda. After all, Gerda didn't really need Kai's happiness. If there was a question about his happiness, she would be glad here for him. But Gerda was rushing ahead, because she had to "save". The lifeguard script was the meaning of her life. And the more victims she suffers along the way, the more she will feel needed. The golden carriage inevitably had to be plundered. And it's better to walk in the snow barefoot. Definitely hungry. With the last bit of strength. So that the victim is more visible and there is a feeling of gratitude. It's just that Gerda can't offer a man anything else. Who needs a lifeguard? Someone who is constantly plunging into history.
That's why I don't believe in Kai's salvation. That he is able to cast off his cold guise and become a man who is between “weak”, as Gerda sees him, and “strong”, as the Snow Queen sees him. That is, normal. Maybe he would have become like that next to a normal woman. But, alas, they will not notice each other. Is there a way out of this vicious circle? They say that personal growth. Pinocchio, for example, got down to business, and immediately the thirst for adventure somehow disappeared. He found the golden key to himself.
07.01.2016
Many of us have read the fairy tale "The Snow Queen" by the famous children's writer Hans Christian Andersen at least once. There is probably no better story about the triumph of good over evil and the value of true friendship. In this tale, so many characters, emotions and feelings are intertwined that it may well become a good textbook that will tell about human values \u200b\u200band shortcomings with examples. So what is the story of the Snow Queen that prompted the writer to come up with such an instructive tale?
The Snow Queen: creation story and autobiographical moments
The fairy tale "The Snow Queen" was written more than 170 years ago and first saw the light of day back in 1844. This is the longest tale of Hans Christian Andersen, which, moreover, is very closely related to the life of the writer. 
Andersen himself once admitted that he considers the "Snow Queen" a fairy tale of his life. She lived in it since the time when the little boy Hans Christian played with his neighbor, the blond Lisbeth, whom he called his sister. She accompanied Hans Christian in all games and undertakings, and was also the first listener of his fairy tales. It is very possible that this particular girl from the childhood of the famous writer became the prototype of little Gerda. 
Not only Gerda actually existed. Andersen's biographers state that the Snow Queen was inspired by Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind, with which the writer was in love. 
The girl's cold heart and unrequited love prompted him to write the story of the Snow Queen - a beauty who is alien to human feelings and emotions.
You can also find information that Andersen was familiar with the image of the Snow Queen from early childhood. In Danish folk legends, death is often called the Ice Maiden. When the boy's father was dying, he said that his time had come and the Ice Maiden came for him. Perhaps Andersen's Snow Queen has a lot in common with the Scandinavian image of winter and death. Just as cold, just as insensitive. Her kiss alone can freeze the heart of any person.
The story of the Snow Queen: interesting facts
In addition to Scandinavian mythology, the image of the Ice Maiden is also present in other countries. In Japan it is Yuki-onna, and in Russia it is Mara-Morena.
Andersen really liked the image of the Ice Maiden. In his creative heritage there is also the fairy tale "The Maiden of Ice", and the prose "Snow Queen" in seven chapters was narrated by the fairy tale of the same name in verse about the mysterious Snow Queen who stole the groom from a young girl.
The tale was written in a difficult year for history. There is an opinion that Andersen wanted to show the struggle between science and Christianity in the image of the Snow Queen and Gerda.
They say that H.-G. Andersen wrote the tale with many grammatical errors. When pointed out by the editors, he pretended that it was his idea.
It was Andersen's Snow Queen who inspired the writer Tove Jansson to create The Magic Winter.
It should be mentioned that in the Soviet Union this story came under censorship. There was no mention of Christ, the Lord's Prayer and the psalm sung by Kai and Gerda. It was also not mentioned that the grandmother read the Gospel to the children; this moment was replaced with an ordinary fairy tale. 
Andersen's fairy tale has gained immense popularity. It was translated into the languages \u200b\u200bof different countries so that the story of the Snow Queen would be known to children all over the world. In addition, there are multiple film adaptations and dramatizations, the most famous of which are the film "The Secret of the Snow Queen" and the cartoon "Frozen". The story of Kai and Gerda became the basis for the opera of the same name.
Be sure to read The Snow Queen again. Now, knowing the history of the creation of this fairy tale, you will definitely discover something new and understand it in a different way.
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The tale of H. H. Andersen is dedicated to the very famous opera actress Jenny Lind in the 18th century. She had a phenomenal range. She was applauded by Berlin, Paris, London and Vienna. Her voice was admired, and her performances were sold out. Andersen was captivated to the depths of her soul by her beautiful voice. Lindh and the writer met in Copenhagen. Literally at first sight, he fell in love with the singer. Whether this feeling was mutual is unknown. But she greatly appreciated his writing talent. Andersen could not speak beautifully about his love, so he decided to write about it and confess his feelings. Having sent a letter of confession to Lind, he did not wait for an answer. So the famous fairy tale was born, telling about the touching love that Gerda and Kai felt for each other. The prototypes of the heroes in the fairy tale Two years later, Lind and Andersen met. The actress invited Andersen to become her brother. He agreed (since it’s better than being nobody), thinking that Gerda and Kai were like brother and sister too. Perhaps in search of a real feeling, Andersen spent a lot of time traveling, trying to escape from the kingdom of the Snow Queen, which for him was Copenhagen. In life, everything is not like in a fairy tale. The image of Kai and Gerda, invented by Andersen and personifying him and Lind, was just as pure. In life, Kai was never able to fall in love with Gerda and escape from the kingdom of the Snow Queen. A Brief Analysis of the Fairy Tale G. H. Andersen is the first Danish writer whose works entered world literature. The most famous are the fairy tales "The Little Mermaid" and "The Snow Queen". They are familiar to almost all of us. The Snow Queen fairy tale tells about good and evil, love and oblivion. It also tells of loyalty and betrayal. The image of the Snow Queen in the fairy tale was taken for a reason. Andersen's father before his death told him that the Ice Maiden had come for him. In his tale, the writer personified the Snow Queen with the Ice Maiden, who took his dying father with her. At first glance, the tale is simple and does not contain deep meaning. Delving deeper into the process of analysis, you understand that the plot raises some of the most important aspects of life - these are love, devotion, purposefulness, kindness, the fight against evil, religious motives. The story of Kai and Gerda This is the story of touching friendship and love of two fairy-tale characters in Andersen's tale. Gerda and Kai had known each other since childhood and spent a lot of time together. In a fairy tale, it is Gerda who has to prove the strength of friendship, who set off on a long and difficult journey after the boy who became a prisoner of the Snow Queen herself. Having charmed Kai with a piece of ice, she turned him into a callous, spoiled and arrogant boy. At the same time, Kai was not aware of his changes. Having managed to go through many difficulties, Gerda managed to find Kai, melt his icy heart. Kindness and faith in the salvation of a friend gave the girl strength and confidence. The tale teaches you to be faithful to your feelings, not to leave your loved one in trouble, to be kind and, despite difficulties, strive to achieve your goal. Characteristics of Kai and Gerda Andersen's tale describes to us a kind, attentive and sympathetic Kai. But after a challenge thrown to the Snow Queen herself, he turns into a rude and angry boy who can offend anyone, even Gerda and his grandmother, whose fairy stories he loved to listen to. One of Kai's tricks ended up being held captive by the Snow Queen. In the palace of the evil queen, he became a boy with an ice heart. Kai all the time tried to lay out the word "eternity" from pieces of ice, but he did not succeed. Then she promised to give him skates and the whole world. Kai's desire to comprehend eternity indicates his lack of understanding that this cannot be done without true feelings, without love, having only a cold mind ...