Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875); A Biography
© Arden Davidson
It seems that Hans initially regarded writing fairy tales as a sideline venture, telling a friend it was an outlet for writing down stories that he remembered from his childhood. Today, ironically, Hans Christian Andersen is most remembered for the fairy tales that he wrote. His wide-spread appeal is partially due to his desire to write these tales for both adults and children. He felt that children would enjoy the plot or "trappings" as he called it, while adults would appreciate the underlying philosophy.
"The Nightingale" was one of the first tales published under this new idea of his. It was incorporated in a book of four tales entitled New Fairy Tales and for the first time the words "told for children" were omitted from the title-page.
"The Nightingale" can be understood in a variety of ways and not only as a wonderful tale for children. One is as a tribute to the singer Jenny Lind, who was often called "The Swedish Nightingale," with whom Hans was in love. Jenny Lind was virtually unknown outside of her native Sweden because opera goers still preferred traditional Italian opera. In the fairy tale, Jenny Lind becomes the real nightingale who is not known in the big palace. Hans saw Jenny Lind as a divine natural talent or born genius, much like the real nightingale in the story. Thus, Hans began creating new fairy tales based on events in his own life, as opposed to writing down the stories from his childhood.
In addition to fairy tales and travel writing, Hans Christian Andersen wrote several autobiographies one of which was finished on his fiftieth birthday and entitled The Fairy Tale of my Life. He died on August, 4, 1875, but his stories have lived on.
Check out this website for everything you could want to know about Hans Chrisitan Andersen...
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Hans Christian Andersen
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