‭ NGLISH‬

E
‭LITERATURE‬
‭PROJECT‬

‭ ame:Khyati Vyas‬
N
‭Study Centre: X ‘C’‬
‭Session: 2022-23‬
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‭THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL:‬
‭A REFLECTION OF‬
‭VICTORIAN SOCIETY ,‬
‭THEMES & SYMBOLISM‬

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 ‭ACKNOWLEDGEMENT‬

I‭ take this opportunity to thank my English‬

‭Educator, Mrs.Nashera Rahman Ma'am‬
‭and the school management for giving me‬
‭such a fantastic project for the session‬
‭2022-23 which made me curious to go‬
‭deeper into the story:The Little Match Girl‬
‭and the life and works of the writer, Hans‬
‭Christian Andersen.‬

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 ‭CONTENT‬

‭Serial No:‬ ‭Content‬ ‭Page Number‬

‭1.‬ I‭ ntroduction:Life and works of Hans‬ ‭5‬
‭Christian Andersen‬
‭2.‬ ‭ ictorian Society during Andersen’s‬
V ‭6‬
‭Time‬
‭3.‬ ‭ eflection of Victorian Society in the‬
R ‭7‬
‭story‬
‭4.‬ ‭Themes‬ ‭8‬
‭5.‬ ‭Symbolism‬ ‭9‬
‭6.‬ ‭Conclusion‬ ‭10‬
‭7.‬ ‭Bibliography‬ ‭11‬

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 ‭Life and Works of Hans Christian Andersen‬

‭ ans Christian Andersen was a Danish author‬‭born in‬

H
‭Odense, Denmark on 2 April 1805.‬‭. Although a prolific‬
‭writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best‬
‭remembered for his literary fairy tales.Andersen's fairy‬
‭tales, consisting of 156 stories across nine volumes and‬
‭translated into more than 125 languages,have become‬
‭culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness,‬
‭readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of‬
‭virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature‬
‭readers as well.‬
‭His most famous fairy tales include "The Emperor's New‬
‭Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", "The Nightingale", "The‬
‭Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Red Shoes", "The Princess‬
‭and the Pea", "The Snow Queen", "The Ugly Duckling",‬
‭"The Little Match Girl", and "Thumbelina". His stories‬
‭have inspired ballets, plays, and animated and live-action‬
‭films. In early 1872, at age 67, Andersen fell out of his bed‬
‭and was severely hurt; he never fully recovered from the‬
‭resultant injuries. Soon afterward, he started to show signs‬
‭of liver cancer. He died on 4 August 1875, in a house called‬
‭Rolighed‬‭(literally: calmness), near Copenhagen, the‬‭home‬
‭of his close friends, the banker Moritz Melchior and his‬
‭wife.‬

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 ‭Victorian Society During Andersen’s‬‭Time‬
‭Victorian era, in British history, the period between approximately 1820 and‬
‭1914, corresponding roughly but not exactly to the period of Queen‬
‭Victoria’s reign (1837–1901) and characterised by a class-based society, a‬
‭growing number of people able to vote, a growing state and economy, and‬
‭Britain’s status as the most powerful empire in the world.‬

‭During the Victorian period, Britain was a powerful nation with a rich‬
‭culture. It had a stable government, a growing state, and an expanding‬
‭franchise. It also controlled a large empire, and it was wealthy, in part‬
‭because of its degree of industrialization and its imperial holdings and in‬
‭spite of the fact that three-fourths or more of its population was‬
‭working-class. Late in the period, Britain began to decline as a global‬
‭political and economic power relative to other major powers, particularly‬
‭the United States, but this decline was not acutely noticeable until after‬
‭World War II.‬

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 ‭Reflection of Victorian Society in the story‬

‭ ndersen portrays in this tale not only a realistic and crude‬

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‭view of society in Victorian Times, but also a deep criticism‬
‭of social class differentiation. During those times, children‬
‭were not regarded the same way people regard them‬
‭nowadays. Instead, they were viewed as ‘Miniature Adults’‬
‭and were usually used for cheap labour.Andersen takes‬
‭advantage of these strong social differences to leave a‬
‭moral teaching at the end of his tale, this consists of the‬
‭idea that children should be considered as creative people,‬
‭able to transcend difficult situations through the power of‬
‭imagination.‬
‭The girl suffering from the cold and ignorance of the‬
‭people around her and maybe as a result of these, is still‬
‭capable of imagining certain things that would make her‬
‭feel better about the situation- The grand Christmas Feast,‬
‭a huge Christmas Tree and her grandmother’s loving face.‬
‭During this historical period,while the ‘middle class’‬
‭emerged and took over an important percentage of work‬
‭places, the ‘under class’ grew resentful of both aristocracy‬
‭and middle class, remaining unemployed and living in‬
‭property.Although Andersen does not explain the girl’s‬
‭background, he denotes social differentiation by opposing‬
‭the extremes. Nevertheless,it can only be assumed that the‬
‭story is set in the Victorian Times.‬
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 ‭THEMES‬
‭ he Little Match Girl presents a poignant critique of cultural‬
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‭attitudes to extreme poverty and inequality during the era of the‬
‭Victorian Society. Using imagery and juxtaposition, Andersen‬
‭contrasts the poverty of the little girl with the surrounding wealth.‬
‭Bareheaded and barefoot, the girl slowly succumbs to hypothermia‬
‭while wealthy people are safe indoors, ensconced in warmth and‬
‭luxury of roast goose. She is nearly run down by fast-moving‬
‭carriages that show no concern for her plight. The desperation of‬
‭the poor is conveyed through the boy who steals her slipper,‬
‭thinking one day that he’ll use it to cradle his child. The boy’s own‬
‭desperate need leads him to take what he can when he can, with no‬
‭regard for the girl’s safety. The tale starkly highlights the cost of‬
‭an unequal society.Another major theme is the cruelty directed‬
‭toward the little girl. Cruelty comes from all directions: her father‬
‭will beat her if she returns home without having sold any matches;‬
‭carriages nearly run her down in the snow; a boy steals her‬
‭slipper; and no one tries to help her as she freezes to death. Despite‬
‭these injustices, the girl remains virtuous, never questioning or‬
‭fighting back or practising cruelty herself. Her ascendence to the‬
‭heavens is her means of escape from the cruelty she endures.‬
‭Another of the story’s major themes is imagination, and people’s‬
‭relative capacity to utilise it. The little girl has profound‬
‭imaginative abilities: with each strike of a match, she conjures a‬
‭new vision of the warmth, food, prosperity, and love she lacks in‬
‭her material reality. By contrast, when people see her frozen body‬
‭at the end of the story, the narrator comments that they cannot‬
‭imagine what was in the girl’s mind and heart before she died. All‬
‭they see is an impoverished child who tried to keep warm as she‬
‭froze.‬
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 ‭SYMBOLISM‬
‭Shooting Star‬
‭ hile staring at the sky after hallucinating a Christmas tree, the little girl‬
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‭sees a shooting star. She interprets the star as a sign someone must be dying,‬
‭because her grandma used to say that a falling star represents a human soul‬
‭ascending to heaven. She does not realise she is the person dying.‬

‭Matches‬
I‭ nitially, the little girl's matches represent safety, as she needs to sell them to‬
‭avoid a beating from her father. The matches' symbolic value is fleshed out‬
‭more as the story progresses and the little girl strikes her matches for‬
‭warmth, discovering their magical ability to imaginatively satisfy her desires‬
‭for safety and comfort in the form of warmth, food, prosperity, and love.‬

‭Fair Hair‬
‭ he little girl is described as having long fair hair. In the time Hans‬
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‭Christian Andersen was writing, blonde hair was a symbol of purity and‬
‭youth, and therefore emphasises the little girl's innocence.‬

‭Goose‬
‭ he goose represents the girl’s childish innocence, which persists despite her‬
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‭horrible situation. When the girl imagines the roast goose, she sees it‬
‭waddling towards her. This creates a comedic image despite her tragic‬
‭situation, so the goose shows that the girl’s innocence allows her to see‬
‭positivity through difficult situations.‬

‭Christmas Tree and Candles‬

‭ he tree and candles represent the girl’s ideal life. It has been previously‬
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‭established that the girl places importance on holiday spirit. Thus, the‬
‭perfect tree she imagines exemplifies this belief she holds.‬

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 ‭CONCLUSION‬
‭ ndersen’s short tale is not a sad holiday story reminding‬
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‭us to give during the season, but a reality check.His way of‬
‭portraying the characters and his youthful theme bring us‬
‭closer to becoming aware of relevant social issues and‬
‭transcends us beyond human comprehension with his‬
‭depth of imagination.The story teaches us how selfish and‬
‭insensitive human beings can be. The people are so selfish‬
‭in the real world that the little match girl had experienced‬
‭when nobody even bought a single match box from her and‬
‭everyone was busy at their homes on New Year’s Eve.One‬
‭message that this story holds is that we should not‬
‭underestimate the power of one's mind and imagination.‬
‭The little girl was physically freezing but was able to‬
‭transport herself to a hopeful and warm place with the‬
‭visions in her head.‬

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 ‭BIBLIOGRAPHY‬
‭1.‬‭https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Christian_Andersen‬

2‭ .‬‭https://www.shaalaa.com/question-bank-solutions/anders‬
‭on-through-story-little-match-girl-gives-idea-about-victoria‬
‭n-society-his-times-writing_84866‬

3‭ .‬‭https://www.gradesaver.com/the-little-match-girl/study-g‬
‭uide/symbols-allegory-motifs‬

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