The Ugly Duckling is a fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen; it was first published on 11 November 1843.[1] Its moral teaching is that inner virtues will eventually overshadow physical appearance.
Plot synopsis
A mother duck hatches her eggs and, while most of her ducklings are normal, one is grey, too large, and too clumsy to fit in among the others. Though she tries to accept him, the entire barnyard realizes that he simply does not belong and after a period of harassment he leaves to fend for himself. He wanders for the entire summer and fall, for no one will take him in, and he nearly freezes to death in an icy pond. Though he is rescued by a human, he cannot live in captivity, and he goes back to the wild.
By the end of winter he is miraculously still alive. He comes to a pond in a park or garden, where beautiful white swans are swimming. He is drawn to their beauty, though he has no reason to think that they will treat him better than anyone else has. Still, he thinks, even if they kill him, he must approach them. To his surprise, the beautiful creatures welcome and accept him; gazing at his reflection, he sees that he too is a swan. The children declare that he is the most beautiful swan of them all, yet he is not proud, for a good heart is never proud. Because of all that he suffered he now appreciates his happiness so much more.
Analysis
The moral concept of "The Ugly Duckling" is that inner beauty will overshadow the physical appearance. Its understated social moral is buried within the tale: To be born in a duck's nest, in a farmyard, is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan's egg. A human parallel would concern a child who looks or acts different from the other children around him/her.
H.C. Andersen used the story to explain his early life. Born into a lower middle-class family, he frequently felt the part of the ugly duckling. He was an admittedly effeminate youth who later reveals his homosexual feelings through correspondence. This further explains his feelings of being out of place in his day. Today, the story's significance has grown to become a metaphor for anything neglected continually, or anything neglected at first, then becoming popular or good. For example: "I can't believe Sara's so accomplished now! She used to be such an ugly duckling."
While the story is uplifting to those currently suffering harassment because of difference, it also encourages belief that the tormentors are simply destined to remain lower class, giving an otherwise innocent story a tinge of elitism and classism.
One other concern is that while the underlying theme of a youth who is not accepted among his peers finding a group where he belongs is a pleasant premise, it is ironically rather self-defeating. The ugly duckling is not accepted among his peers because he is inadvertently different from them; only later as he discovers that he has turned into a beautiful swan is he accepted into a group and finds happiness.
Some peoples believe that "The Ugly Duckling" is Andersen's autobigraphic story, because he was the illegitimate son of royalty. So he was "ugly duck" among his brothers and sisters but later he accepted by noblesse as the most beautiful "swan". Also like "ugly duck" he leaves to fend for himself as young boy etc.
Adaptations
Walt Disney produced two Silly Symphonies animated shorts based on the story, one in 1931 in black and white, and one in 1939 in Technicolor. The latter film is the more notable version, as it won the 1939 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons). In this version, the baby swan's sufferings are significantly shortened, as he is found by his real mother and father, and brothers and sisters, after only a few minutes of rejection and ostracism, instead of a whole year; also, its quack was similar to that of a motorcar horn. This abbreviated version is read by Lilo to Stitch in the 2002 Disney film Lilo & Stitch. The story has a deep impact on Stitch, who sets out to look for his real family.
The 1952 Charles Vidor musical film Hans Christian Andersen contains a song, "The Ugly Duckling", written by Frank Loesser and sung by Danny Kaye.
A musical, Honk!, based loosely on the text of Hans Christian Andersen, but more on the concept of the "Ugly Duckling," was performed in London's West End Theatre.
In 1914, the Russian-born composer Sergei Prokofiev composed a work for voice and piano based on Nina Mershchersky's adaptation of Andersen's original tale. Later in 1932, he arranged the work for voice and orchestra.
The various international "Ugly Betty" television series, beginning in 1999, have often been called modern-day adapations of the "Ugly Duckling" story.
In 2006 the Danish animation studio A. Film produced a spin-off CG feature called The Ugly Duckling and Me!, and later a children's CG TV-series Ugly Duckling Junior, featuring the same characters as the movie.
Ugly, a 2006 children's book by Donna Jo Napoli, sets the "Ugly Duckling" story in Tasmania.
References
- ^ "Hans Christian Andersen: The Ugly Duckling". Hans Christian Andersen Center. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
External links
- SurLaLune's Annotated The Ugly Duckling
- Hersholt, Jean. "A translation of Hans Christian Andersen's "Den grimme Ælling"". Hans Christian Andersen Center. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
- The 1939 Silly Symphony at The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts