PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Hans was born April 2, 1805 in Odense, Denmark
Young Hans Christian was educated in boarding schools for the privileged
In 1819, Andersen traveled to Copenhagen to work as an actor.
Eventually though he returned back to school, and began writing.
Andersen's work first gained recognition in 1829.
The promising young author won a grant from the king, allowing him to travel across Europe and further develop his body of work.
In 1835 he began writing fairy tales, but they were not directed only for children. He wrote for all ages.
Andersen sustained a serious injury in 1872 after falling from bed in his Copenhagen home.
Shortly after his fall he started to show signs of liver cancer that would eventually take his life.
Andersen died on August 4, 1875, in Copenhagen.
It is said that he was interested in both men and women, including the famed singer Jenny Lind and Danish dancer Harald Scharff.
Andersen's personal life has fueled academic analyses of possible homoerotic themes in his work.
Characteristics
- Dramatic
- Extreme narrative description
- Very poetic
- very dark
- Lack happy endings
- Explicit narrative voice
The sources of his stories were mostly Danish folk tales, collected and retold by his immediate predecessors J. M. Thiele, Adam Oehlenschlæger, and Bernhard Ingemann.
Andersen was primarily a writer, and his objective was to create new literary works based on folklore
He also found inspiration in the literary fairy tales by the German Romantics such as Heinrich Hoffmann and Adelbert von Chamisso.
