"The Snow Queen" Andersen main characters. Encyclopedia of fairy-tale heroes: "The Snow Queen" Gerda, the heroine of the fairy tale, the Snow Queen

The Snow Queen is a classic work, a fairy tale that includes a huge number of archetypal images. The main characters are Gerda and Kai, but also of course the Snow Queen.

Perhaps the main opposites in this book are Gerda and the Snow Queen.

Gerda- a young and charming girl, but the main beauty for her is not external, but internal, she combines perseverance and true friendship with gentleness, kindness and good manners. Gerda never gives up, but also does not compromise her own principles in order to achieve her goal.

The Snow Queen, on the contrary, neglects everyone except herself. She is quite beautiful, but only externally, and her inner world is poor and is built only in relation to her own desires and intentions to have power. She uses her own power excessively and is very characteristic of her external beauty, which hides the inner emptiness and immorality.

Kai- a small and innocent boy who finds himself under the spell of the queen. He is also a positive hero, but symbolizes people who may find themselves under the power of evil. Only true love, such as Gerda's love, can melt the heart of such a person when he is in the grip of the “cold”.

In addition, the tale contains a huge number of secondary charismatic characters. For example, Gerda meets a little robber who is in some ways a bad character, but also sincere and kind in her own soul, so she understands Gerda in some way.

The sorceress, who initially has Gerda, treats the main character kindly, but, in general, is selfish, she wants to keep Gerda with her forever and deceives her with her charms.

Throughout a significant part of the tale, Gerda is helped by a reindeer given to her by the little robber. This character embodies the good side of nature, a fairy-tale ally and guide.

The old woman from Finland, to whom Gerda comes, embodies wisdom and gives advice on how the heroine should proceed.

In addition, it should be noted the prince and princess, who are described in one of the episodes of the fairy tale. Gerda comes to them, because according to the stories the prince is similar to Kai, however, he turns out to be a completely different boy who simply liked the princess who was choosing a groom. These characters are positive and help Gerda with advice and supplies.

Essay Heroes of the fairy tale The Snow Queen

The name of the wonderful storyteller from Denmark H.H. Andersen is known not only in his homeland. His fame spread throughout the world. Today there is hardly a person who has not heard of such works as “The Ugly Duckling”, “Thumbelina”, “The Princess and the Pea”, “The Old Street Lamp”, “The Darning Needle” and others.

“The Snow Queen” occupies a special place among the writer’s creations.

The main characters of the fairy tale are the boy Kai and the girl Gerda. These are named brother and sister, very attached to each other. Children are poor, but they are endowed with pure hearts capable of responding to beauty. They are ready to endlessly admire the beauty and unique aroma of roses grown by their families. They love to read and listen to grandma's stories with great interest.

"The Snow Queen" begins with a story about an evil troll who made an unusual mirror that had a terrible property. It distorted everything around. Everything good and positive was seen in him as ugly and disgusting, and the evil and ugly was reflected as beautiful. These transformations brought great joy to the troll and delighted him.

The troll's students decided to make fun of the creator himself. They rose into the sky, and suddenly the mirror fell out and broke into many small fragments.

This is where the suffering of Kai and Gerda began.

One of the fragments hit Kai in the eye. He immediately screamed and immediately changed. He began to behave very strangely. He was rude to Gerda and even imitated his grandmother. The reason for everything was a shard that turned Kai's heart into a piece of ice. Now everything that the boy previously loved so much irritated and angered him.

This greatly upset poor Gerda and grandmother.

On a snowy, frosty day, Kai went for a ride in the city square and never returned home.

It is difficult to convey in words what was going on in the girl’s heart! She immediately decides to go in search of her dear friend.

Behind the external fragility and defenselessness lies a strong, purposeful character. Gerda does something that not every adult could do. She makes such a long and difficult journey in the name of saving her friend! How many trials befall her, but she overcomes everything!

What makes this little girl so strong? Of course, love! This feeling helped the heroine defeat even the Snow Queen herself! It is love, real, all-conquering, that melts the ice that has shackled Kai’s heart. The Queen of Snow and Ice, realizing that she has nothing to oppose Gerda’s sincere feelings, disappears along with her palaces.

How much joy and happiness the little heroes experienced when they were reunited!

Kai again became as well-mannered, gentle and attentive as before. Grandmother's eyes shone with happiness again.

Gerda's feelings are very difficult to convey. She accomplished a real feat. Just think: how much she had to endure! She escaped from the old sorceress, visited the prince and princess, and was able to evoke the sympathy of the little robber, who turned out to have a sensitive heart.

Many of those who meet her along the way provide the girl with great help. And this is not surprising. Gerda is rewarded for her kindness, honesty and love for Kai.

I'm sure if Gerda found herself in the same situation, Kai would do the same.

I really liked Kai and Gerda!

Several interesting essays

Regardless of who a person is and what age he is, everyone had a period in their lives when every action was under the control of their parents, Santa Claus was real, and miracles often came true.

• The image and characteristics of Deforge in the novel Dubrovsky by Pushkin

  The main and at the same time secondary character of the work “Dubrovsky” is the teacher - the Frenchman Deforge, who plays a key role in the novel. The teacher first appeared at the station in the caretaker's house

• Analysis of the work Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh

  This work belongs to the section of ancient Russian literature. Many philologists admit that “The Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh” stands apart in relation to other ancient Russian works.

• Essay on the work What to do by Chernyshevsky

  This is a truly epoch-making work. Some call it the "Bible of Nihilism." And this is not at all accidental. The author himself, Chernyshevsky, was an ardent opponent of the autocracy and did not miss an opportunity to prick the authorities

• The image and characteristics of Vasilisa Egorovna Mironova in the novel The Captain's Daughter

  It would seem that the fortress is controlled by commandant Ivan Kuzmich, but only nominally. In fact, we see how the reins of government of the Belgorod fortress are secretly placed in the hands of Vasilisa Egorovna Mironova

Andersen is a famous children's writer. I love reading his stories. They talk about brave and courageous children. This is the little mermaid who was not afraid to leave home for the sake of her love. This is the brave Gerda, who went to the ends of the world for her friend Kai.

Gerda is a small, fragile girl. She lived with her grandmother and had a named brother, Kai. They had been friends since childhood. When Kai was taken away by the Snow Queen, she went to look for him. For the sake of her adopted brother Kai, she went through many trials. Everyone Gerda met on her journey helped her. The people and animals around her were amazed by Gerda’s courage. Her desire to save Kai helped her overcome everything. She did not stay with the kind old lady. She felt good there, but she remembered Kai, her grandmother. Gerda leaves in the fall in a summer dress to save her brother. Gerda became friends with Raven.

He took her to the royal palace. There she met the Prince and Princess. They gave her warm clothes and carriages with horses so that she would not freeze in the north. Gerda was not afraid of the robbers. She was kind to animals, and the deer told her about Kai. Gerda was able to defeat the spell of the cold and beautiful Snow Queen. She destroyed her palace, rescuing her sworn brother Kai from trouble.

This small but brave girl could overcome all the difficulties. After all, faith, hope and love lived in her heart. She managed to go where perhaps even an adult could not go. When Gerda returned home with Kai, she was greeted by everyone who helped her. People and animals rejoiced with her. They admired Gerda's courage and were proud to know her. I also admire little Gerda’s courage. After all, she was ready to sacrifice herself for the sake of friendship. It seems to me that H.-K Andersen wanted to tell us that even the small and weak will always be able to achieve their goal, especially if they believe in their strength and the fidelity of their chosen goals.

The fairy tale by H.H. Andersen is dedicated to Jenny Lind, a very famous opera actress in the 18th century. She had 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 his 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 really appreciated his writing talent.

Andersen couldn’t speak beautifully about his love, so he decided to write about it and confess his feelings. Having sent a letter with Lind's confession, he did not wait for a response. This is how the famous fairy tale was born, telling about the touching love that Gerda and Kai felt for each other.

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 was better than being a nobody), thinking that Gerda and Kai were also like brother and sister.

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 was Copenhagen for him. 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 his life, Kai was never able to make Gerda fall in love with him and escape from the kingdom of the Snow Queen.

Brief analysis of the tale

G. H. Andersen is the first Danish writer whose works were included in world literature. The most famous fairy tales are “The Little Mermaid” and “The Snow Queen”. They are familiar to almost all of us. The fairy tale “The Snow Queen” tells about good and evil, love and oblivion. It also talks about devotion and betrayal.

The image of the Snow Queen in the fairy tale was taken for a reason. Before his death, Andersen's father told him that the Ice Maiden had come for him. In his fairy tale, the writer personified the Snow Queen precisely with the Ice Maiden, who took his dying father with her.

At first glance, the tale is simple and does not contain any deep meaning. Delving deeper into the process of analysis, you understand that the plot raises some of the most important aspects of life - love, devotion, determination, kindness, the fight against evil, religious motives.

The story of Kai and Gerda

This is a story of touching friendship and love between two fairy tales by Andersen. Gerda and Kai had known each other since childhood and spent a lot of time together. In the fairy tale, it is Gerda who has to prove the strength of friendship, who went 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 and melt his icy heart. Kindness and faith in her friend’s salvation gave the girl strength and confidence. The fairy tale teaches you to be faithful to your feelings, not to leave a loved one in trouble, to be kind and, despite difficulties, to strive to achieve your goal.

Characteristics of Kai and Gerda

Andersen's fairy tale describes to us the kind, attentive and sympathetic Kai. But after challenging the Snow Queen herself, he turns into a rude and angry boy, capable of offending anyone, even Gerda and his grandmother, whose fairy tales he loved to listen to. One of Kai's pranks ended with him being captured by the Snow Queen.

In the palace of the evil queen, he became a boy with an icy heart. Kai kept trying to make the word “eternity” out of ice floes, but he couldn’t. 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.

Having lost all human feelings, Kai, in fear, wanted to read a prayer, but could not. All he could think about in his head was the multiplication table. Frozen figures of regular geometric shapes were the only thing that delighted him. Kai tramples his once-beloved roses and examines snowflakes with interest through a magnifying glass.

The image of Gerda is a contrast to the character of the Snow Queen. To find Kai and rescue him from the ice castle, the girl sets out on a long and difficult journey. In the name of her love, a brave little girl sets off into the unknown. The obstacles encountered along this path did not make Gerda angry and did not force her to turn back towards home and abandon her friend in captivity of the Snow Queen. She remained friendly, kind and sweet throughout the entire fairy tale. Bravery, perseverance and patience help her not to become discouraged, 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 may be a prototype of real people and similar stories in real life. You just need to take a closer look around.

Characteristics of the Snow Queen

The Snow Queen, Blizzard Witch, Ice Maiden is 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 a lake called the “Mirror of the Mind”, she is the embodiment of cold reason and beauty, devoid 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 takes on moral meaning. Children grow older when they face harsh life trials, overcoming which Gerda managed to save her loved one, resisting the difficult quests and intrigues that the Snow Queen arranged for them. Kai and Gerda, despite growing up, retain their childlike spiritual purity. It’s as if they were born again with the goal of a new adult existence.

Christian motives in a fairy tale

Andersen's tale is imbued with Christian motifs. This is rarely seen in Russian publications. In the episode, when Gerda tries to enter the Queens, the guards do not let her in. She was able to get into it thanks to the fact that she began to read the “Our Father” prayer. After which 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 begin to dance around the rose bush and sing a Christmas carol, which is how the instructive tale ends.

And this mysterious journey from the world of good to the land of evil began with a fragment that fell into Kai’s eye. The mirror broke because trolls (that is, demons) reflected everything in the world in a distorted form. Andersen explains this by saying that the demons in the lying mirror wanted to reflect the Creator. God, not allowing this, made the mirror escape from the hands of the demons and break.

The image of Hell is reflected in the word “eternity”, which the Snow Queen instructed Kai to compose. 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 her small loving heart. And God helps her anyway.

Contrast between cold and heat

From the prologue of the fairy tale, Andersen begins to write that for some people, shards of ice fall into the heart, which freezes, becomes cold and insensitive. And at the end of the tale he describes how Gerda’s hot tears fall onto Kai’s chest and the 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 coldness and insensibility.

The children's storyteller knew how to intrigue both children and their parents, although it is worth noting that he positioned himself as an adult writer. His fantastic fairy tale “The Snow Queen” makes you empathize with every hero, because initially it is unknown whether the girl will find her friend and whether she will be able to free her friend from the icy palaces of the mistress of winter.

Surprisingly, Andersen put philosophical motives into his magical stories, and many of the characters have real prototypes. For example, the Snow Queen is Hans's lover, opera singer Jenny Lind.

History of creation

The tale of the Snow Queen was published in the winter of December 21, 1844; it was included in the collection “New Fairy Tales. Volume one." The non-trivial story about a woman with an icy heart began to be popular among bookstore regulars, and parents read lines from Andersen’s work to their children before bed. However, few people realized that the plot was not based on a joyful motive, which stemmed from the writer’s personal experience.

If we look at the biography of Hans Christian Andersen, there was nothing remarkable in his life, unlike other writers. For example, he managed to play the role of a gold digger and have an affair with more than one woman. The same can be said about the adventurous one, which was popular among representatives of the fair half of humanity.

But the storyteller, who came up with stories about and, never managed to experience carnal love; researchers believe that Andersen did not have serious relationships with either women or men. Contemporaries testified that sometimes the literary genius appeared in the “red light district,” but instead of coming to that seedy place for his intended purpose, the writer had long small conversations with young ladies of easy virtue.

Once the author of the stories managed to truly fall in love, but this experience turned out to be sad. A spark flashed in his heart when Hans saw the young opera singer Jenny Lind. The girl, known for her soprano solo performances throughout Europe, was 14 years younger than Andersen, but still addressed him as “brother” or “child.” Jenny accepted gifts and courtship from Andersen, but her heart belonged to another person. Therefore, the writer had to be content with the relationship of “brother and sister.”

Andersen was a modest man, but still dared to send a fiery message to the object of his desire. The writer's letter remained unanswered. Therefore, the woman who doomed Hans to suffering became the prototype of the cold Snow Queen. And the writer himself felt like Kai, who had found himself in an icy kingdom - the city of Copenhagen, where the ill-fated acquaintance took place.

The master of the pen decided to put a story from his own life on book pages, seasoning the plot with fantasy and magical characters. By the way, “The Snow Queen” broke the author’s personal record and became his longest fairy tale.

Image and plot

The main character of the work appears in the plot less often than Gerda, but plays a significant role in the plot. The story begins with a certain evil troll who made a mirror where everything good seemed bad, and everything bad seemed even worse.

The creator of the magical attribute liked to play with the mirror, and his students ran everywhere with this object. At one point, the little trolls climbed up to the very sky with a mirror in order to laugh at the Creator. The higher the pranksters climbed, the more the mirror tried to escape from their hands.

Ultimately, it slipped out and broke on the ground into small fragments that scattered throughout the world. Small, sharp diamonds hit people in the eyes or chest. In the first case, the person saw all the worst, and in the second his heart became cold as ice.

The boy Kai was the least fortunate of all, because by coincidence, the fragments hit the boy both in the eye and in the heart: the hero of the work immediately began to be rude to adults and imitate his own friend Gerda.

When winter came, Kai went sledding. Then the boy met a dazzling woman in a white robe riding on a large sleigh. She charmed Kai with just one glance, so, without realizing it, the young man found himself in the arms of the Snow Queen and in the icy kingdom. The Snow Queen taught the boy that selfishness rules the world. However, Gerda's love helped the captive overcome the obstacles.

Film adaptations

The work, invented by Hans Christian Andersen, migrated to cinema. Directors and animators presented quite a lot of works, so let’s look at the most popular ones.

"The Snow Queen" (cartoon, 1957)

This cartoon was probably seen by all Soviet children, because “The Snow Queen” is one of the most famous animated films created in those years. Little spectators learned from the dwarf wizard about the mistress of winter, the kidnapped Kaya and the brave Gerda.

It is worth saying that the main character is different from other drawn characters. The fact is that the Snow Queen was created using rotoscoping techniques. And the ice maiden was voiced by actress Maria Babanova.

"The Snow Queen" (film, 1966)

In 1966, Gennady Kazansky presented to television viewers a color film with animation elements. It is noteworthy that the script was written by a writer who came up with his own story, based on Andersen's original motives.

In the story, the Snow Queen kidnaps Kai, takes him to the winter kingdom and turns the boy’s heart into a piece of ice. The role of the insidious beauty went to, who worked on the same set with, Vyacheslav Tsyupa and.

"The Secret of the Snow Queen" (1986)

Filmmaker Nikolai Alexandrovich pleased those who spend their leisure time watching TV screens with his own vision of a fairy tale. The film takes place much later than the events described in the original text. Kai and Gerda have already grown up, so the characters talk about how hard it is to say goodbye to childhood.

The Snow Queen again lures the young man into her own kingdom, and the devoted Gerda goes on a search. It is noteworthy that the director shrouded the film in a certain mystery, which is hidden by the mistress of the ice throne. The main roles were played by Yan Puzyrevsky, Nina Gomiashvili and.

"The Snow Queen" (2002)

David Wu presented avid film fans with a fantasy fairy tale with a dash of action, where he meticulously worked out the characterization of the characters. Andersen's original fairy tale appears only fleetingly in the film, because the director invented a new concept that develops in the modern world.

Thus, Gerda appears as the daughter of the owner of the Polar Bear hostel, Kai acts as a messenger, and the castle of the Snow Queen, which she played, is strikingly similar to a hotel shrouded in frost and snow.

"The Snow Queen" (cartoon, 2012)

Russian animators surprised viewers with an unusual concept, because according to the plot, the Snow Queen rids the world of representatives of creative professions, be it an artist or a musician.

Brave Gerda, the daughter of a mirror maker, sets off on a journey to find her friend Kai, but getting to the winter castle is not so easy. The roles were duplicated by Russian cinema stars, which included, and.

"Frozen" (cartoon, 2015)

This time, leisure lovers were pleased by the Disney company, which released the animated film “Frozen”. The plot revolves around a young princess with magical powers: the heroine can summon snow and turn objects into ice.

This girl becomes the cause of the eternal winter that reigns in the kingdom. To bring back spring and summer, Princess Anna, Kristoff and the reindeer Sven go to the mountains to find the sorceress. The main characters were voiced by: Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff and other Hollywood stars.

• Soviet readers read and loved the abridged version of The Snow Queen because censorship removed Christian motifs from the fairy tale. So, in the original source there are mentions and prayers of “Our Father”.
• Andersen was far from the first to come up with the image of the ruler of the ice throne. Hans probably turned to Scandinavian folklore, which talks about the personification of winter and death - the Ice Maiden. However, the writer’s track record includes a work of the same name, where this heroine is mentioned. Andersen's The Ice Maiden, which was published in 1861, can be called a later variation of The Snow Queen, but in a more realistic manner.

The fairy tale “The Snow Queen” is an extraordinary story about a boy Kai and a girl Gerda. They were separated by a piece of broken mirror. The main theme of Andersen's fairy tale "The Snow Queen" is the struggle between good and evil.

Background

So, let's start retelling the summary of "The Snow Queen". One day, an evil troll created a mirror, looking into which all good things decreased and disappeared, while evil, on the contrary, increased. But, unfortunately, the troll's students broke the mirror in an argument, and all its fragments scattered throughout the world. And if even one tiny piece fell into the human heart, then it froze and became a piece of ice. And if it got into the eye, then the person stopped seeing good, and in any action he felt only evil intent.

Kai and Gerda

The summary of “The Snow Queen” should be continued with the information that in one small town there lived friends: a boy and a girl, Kai and Gerda. They were each other's brother and sister, but only until the moment when shrapnel got into the boy's eye and heart. After the accident, the boy became embittered, began to be rude and lost his brotherly feelings for Gerda. In addition, he stopped seeing good. He began to think that no one loved him and everyone wished him harm.

And then one not very good day, Kai went sledding. He clung to a sleigh passing near him. 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 was very sad 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 woman Gerda met on her way was a witch. 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, on her way she met a raven, who told her that a prince very similar to Kai had wooed the princess of his kingdom. But it turned out to be not him. The princess and the prince turned out to be very kind people, they gave her clothes and a carriage made of gold.

The girl’s path lay through a terrible and dark forest, where she was attacked by a gang of robbers. Among them was a little girl. She turned out to be kind and gave Gerda a deer. On it, the heroine went further and soon, having met pigeons, she found out where her sworn brother was.

On the way she met two more kind women - a Laplander and a Finnish woman. Each helped the girl in her search for Kai.

Domain of the Snow Queen

And so, having reached the possessions of the Snow Queen, she gathered the remnants of her strength and went through a severe snowstorm 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 there. The boy was like a statue, all frozen and cold. He didn't even pay attention to Gerda and continued playing the puzzle. Then the girl, unable to cope with her emotions, began to cry bitterly. Tears thawed Kai's heart. He also began to cry, and the fragment fell out along with the tear.

The main characters of the fairy tale "The Snow Queen". Gerda

There are many heroes in the fairy tale, but they are all minor. There are only three main ones: Gerda, Kai, and 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 she is also selfless and brave. In the fairy tale, all her strength is concentrated in her 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 her sworn brother.

Gerda is ready to do anything for her loved ones and is confident in the decisions she makes. She does not doubt for a second and helps everyone who needs it, without counting on help. In the fairy tale, the girl shows only the best character traits, and she is the embodiment of justice and goodness.

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 carries out her orders without saying a word against it. 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 and cold. Her home is an endless expanse of ice. Just like ice, she is very beautiful in appearance and also smart. But her heart doesn't know feelings. That is why she is the prototype of evil in Andersen's fairy 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, and Andersen claimed that it is connected with the story of his life.

Andersen said that “The Snow Queen,” a summary of which is contained in the article, appeared in his head when he was little and played with his friend and neighbor, the white-headed Lisbeth. To him, she was practically a sister. The girl was always next to Hans, supported him in all games and listened to his first fairy tales. Many researchers claim that she became the prototype of Gerda.

But not only Gerda had a prototype. Singer Jenny Lind has become 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 fascinated 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 has no feelings, and the kiss of death can freeze her forever.

The image of a girl made of ice attracted the storyteller, and in his heritage there is another fairy tale about the Snow Queen, who stole her lover from his bride.

Andersen wrote the fairy tale in a very difficult time, when religion and science were in conflict. Therefore, there is an opinion that the confrontation between Gerda and the queen describes the events that took place.

In the USSR, the fairy tale was remade, since 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 fairy tales creates an opposition - the opposition of 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 contrasted with the warm and kind Gerda, the embodiment of life and summer.

Kai and Gerda, according to Schelling’s natural philosophy, are androgynous, that is, the opposition of death and life, summer and winter. Children are together in the summer, but suffer separation in the winter.

The first half of the tale talks about the creation of a magic mirror that can distort good, turning it into evil. A person traumatized by its fragment acts as an opponent of culture. On the one hand, this is a myth that affects culture and breaks the connection between man and nature. So Kai becomes soulless and rejects his love for summer and the beauty of nature. But he begins to love the creations of the mind with all his heart.

The fragment that ended up in the boy's eye allows him to think rationally, cynically, and show interest in the geometric structure of snowflakes.

As we know, a fairy tale cannot have a bad ending, so Andersen contrasted Christian values ​​with the world of technology. That is why the children in the fairy tale sing psalms to the rose. Although the rose fades, the memory of it remains. Thus, memory is a mediator between the world of the living and the dead. This is exactly how Gerda, once in the witch’s garden, forgets Kai, and then her memory returns again and she runs away. 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 ravens, symbolizing the powers of the night and wisdom. Climbing the stairs is a tribute to Plato's myth of the cave, in which non-existent shadows create the idea of ​​a false reality. It takes a lot of strength for Gerda to distinguish between lies and truth.

The further the fairy tale “The Snow Queen” advances, the summary of which you already know, the more often peasant symbolism appears. Gerda, with the help of prayer, copes with the storm and ends up in the queen's domain. The atmosphere of the castle was created by the author himself. It highlights all the complexes and failures of the poor writer. According to biographers, the Andresen family had some mental disorders.

So the queen's powers can symbolize actions that can drive you crazy. The castle is motionless and cold, crystalline.

Thus, Kai’s injury leads to his seriousness and intellectual development, and his attitude towards his loved ones changes dramatically. Soon he is completely alone in the icy halls. These signs characterize schizophrenia.

Kai meditates over the ice, showing his loneliness. Gerda's arrival to Kai suggests 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 thanks to a difficult path and overcoming himself.