The Snow Queen

Hans Christian AndersenFiction | Novella | Middle Grade | Published in 1844

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-5

Chapters 6-7

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Background

Literary Context: Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales

Danish author Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) penned poems, essays, and travelogs, but he is best known for his literary fairy tales. Written primarily for a young audience, these stories offer psychological and moral outlooks and lessons across a wide range of characters and plotlines. In addition to “The Snow Queen,” Andersen also wrote “The Little Mermaid,” made famous for a modern-day audience by the Walt Disney movies. As in the Disney films, the titular mermaid falls in love with a human and trades her voice for legs, but in Andersen’s story, the mermaid does not win her love’s affection. Rather, she is turned to foam, and her sisters mourn her. Unlike other popular fairy tales that deliver the anticipated happy ending, “The Little Mermaid” explores the pitfalls of wishing for things one doesn’t have and of making deals with the proverbial devil.

Another of Andersen’s noteworthy stories is “The Princess and the Pea,” which revolves around a prince who struggles to find a suitable wife and a bedraggled maiden who claims she is a princess. To test the maiden, a single pea is placed under 20 mattresses and feather beds; it is believed that only a true princess will be able to feel the pea and not be able to sleep. The princess proves her birth by feeling the pea, winning the prince’s hand, and showing that appearances can be deceptive. A similar concern with looking beyond the surface comes up in “The Ugly Duckling,” in which true beauty and goodness are found within. Such stories demonstrate Andersen’s enduring interest in The Power of Perspective, which is a key theme in “The Snow Queen” as well.

Critical Context: “The Snow Queen” as Inspiration

“The Snow Queen” has stood the test of time and has been adapted for audiences from different places and periods. Since its publication in 1844, the story has inspired movies, plays, and ballets. Most notably, the story was the inspiration for Disney’s Frozen, which was originally intended to be a more direct adaptation. In revisions, the film took a new direction but honored its roots with a focus on the winter powers of the primary character Elsa. The two versions also similarly feature love’s “thawing” effect on a character, which suggests the enduring impact of Andersen’s core themes. Several other films that are closer to the original tale have been made worldwide, with the first hitting screens in 1957, while musical plays, operas, and ballets brought dramatic song and dance to the story as early as the 1960s.

In addition to direct adaptations, “The Snow Queen” is also theorized to have influenced other famous works. Some scholars suggest that Andersen’s tale was the inspiration for C. S. Lewis’s White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, as the two characters are similar; both are powerful women with winter magic who live in frozen palaces and lure a child away from his loved ones.