Traveling around almost the entire Earth in search of your best friend? For the heroine of a fairy tale, this is not at all difficult. Brave and courageous Gerda will overcome any trials in order to save a loved one. And what obstacles can we talk about if a sincere faith in goodness lives in the heart.
History of creation
In 1844, the collection “New Fairy Tales. Volume one ". The book includes a story about the adventures of a girl named Gerda, who was desperately looking for her missing friend.
Scientists claim that “ The Snow Queen"- the most long tale a writer. Hans Christian Andersen himself called the work "the tale of my life." Such a statement is justified. Most of the characters in this fascinating story are not invented - they are real people accompanying Andersen on the path of life.
The prototype of the brave Gerda was a girl named Lisbeth. The future heroine of the fairy tale lived not far from little Hans and often came to visit. Over time, the children became so good friends that they began to call each other "sister" and "brother". Lisbeth - the first listener of the still uncertain, but already interesting stories Andersen.
There is a theory that in the confrontation between Gerda and the Danish writer, he reflected the struggle between religion and science. This idea did not take root in the Soviet Union. It is not surprising, because the fairy tale reached the USSR in a truncated version. The obligatory censorship through which foreign works passed, erased religious motives from the fairy tale - in the original version, the memories of.
Biography
Gerda was born into a poor family. Despite the difficult financial situation, parents and grandmother tried to give the child happy childhood... The family lives under the very roof of the apartment building. The young heroine has an attractive appearance:
"The hair was curled, and the curls surrounded the girl's fresh, round, like a rose, face of the girl with a golden radiance."
Mom and Dad built a flower garden for Gerda, which the girl looked after together with the neighbor's boy Kai. The guys have been friends since childhood and spent a lot of time together.
The relationship changed when Kai became hostage to the fragments of the magic mirror, distorting the perception of the world. Having hit the boy in the eye and in the heart, the fragments turned Kai against Gerda.
The girl's best friend goes missing, the adults decide that the boy is dead. Only Gerda does not accept such a truth and with the onset of spring goes in search. The first person to whom the girl addresses is the local river. Gerda offers the elements an exchange: the river returns Kai to her, and the heroine gives her only value - new red shoes. The river does not help the girl, but carries her to the house of the old witch.
The naive Gerda allows herself to be bewitched and carelessly lives in the old woman's house at the end of spring and all summer. The chance reminds the girl of the purpose of her path. After consulting with local flowers and finding out that Kai is not buried in the ground, Gerda returns to the search.
The road leads a brave girl to a beautiful castle. The questions of the talking raven confirm the hunch - Kai lives in the palace and is quite happy with the local princess. The girl persuades the crow to take her inside. Alas, another boy turns out to be the bridegroom of the princess.
Kind rulers listen to the sad story and present the girl with warm clothes and a golden carriage. The gifts came in handy. Gerda again embarks on a difficult journey. In a nearby forest, bandits attack the expensive carriage.
A little robber saves Gerda from death, deciding to take the girl into her collection of curiosities. At night, when the robber falls asleep, the white doves tell the girl where to look for Kai. Overjoyed Gerda shares what she has learned with the jailer. Despite the environment, the heart of the young robber has not yet hardened. The thief releases Gerda, giving the accompanying reindeer.
So, on the back of a mighty animal, the heroine gets to Lapland. The duo makes their first stop at the house of an old Lapland woman. The woman, having learned the fate of the deer and Gerda, gives the heroes a strange message on the road, written on dried cod. The old woman asks to convey a message to a friend of the Finns.
Arriving at Finnmark, Gerda finds the old woman's dwelling. While the heroes are warming up after a long journey, the Finca carefully examines the incomprehensible letters. The reindeer, who, during the trip, became imbued with sympathy for his companion, asks his new acquaintance to help Gerda. But the Finn, seeing the character traits of the girl, has a different opinion on this matter:
“Can't you see how great her strength is? Can't you see that both people and animals are serving her? After all, she walked around half the world barefoot! It is not for us to borrow her strength! Strength is in her sweet, innocent childish heart. If she herself cannot enter the palaces of the Snow Queen and extract the fragments from Kai's heart, then we will not help her even more! "
Having reached the entrance to the Snow Queen's garden, Gerda is left alone - the reindeer is waiting for her at the entrance. Prayers help the girl to reach the castle. The angels who came to the rescue drive away the Snow Queen's guards from the heroine and do not allow them to harm Gerda.
The house of the evil lady of the snow bewitches the girl, although during the journey the castles ceased to amaze Gerda. Seeing Kai, the heroine throws herself on her friend's chest. Warm tears rolling from the girl's eyes melt the ice in the boy's heart, and the mention of Christ in his favorite psalm makes Kai himself cry. So the fragments of the cursed mirror came out from the body of the young man.
The happy heroes set off on their way back and, having reached home, realize that during the trip they have matured a lot. Only their hearts remained the same kind and pure.
Screen adaptations
The first cartoon about the adventures of a brave girl was filmed in the USSR in 1957. The Snow Queen cartoon won international prizes and has been translated into six foreign languages... The actress became the voice of Gerda.
In 1967, the Lenfilm film studio released the fairy-tale film The Snow Queen. In the film, in addition to living people, dolls participate, and elements of animation are inserted. The role of Gerda was played.
The premiere of the New Year's musical of the same name took place on December 31, 2003. She performed the role of Gerda. In addition to the original plot, other Andersen stories are also present in the musical motion picture.
Inspired by the tale of a Danish writer, Osamu Dazaki created an anime dedicated to the adventures of a brave girl. The cartoon almost does not depart from the original source. The character of Gerda was created by Akio Sugino, and the voice was presented by Ayako Kawasumi.
In 2012, a new one was released cartoon"The Snow Queen". Later, the tale was continued - "The Snow Queen 2: Re-freeze" (2015) and "The Snow Queen 3: Fire and Ice". In the first and second parts, Gerda was voiced by the singer (Anna Shurochkina), in the third - by Natalia Bystrova.
- The name "Gerda" came from Scandinavia, the meaning of the name is the protector of people.
- A polar bear named Gerda lives in the Novosibirsk Zoo. In August, the animal toiled from the heat, and the attendants brought real snow to the aviary. The video of Gerda rejoicing in the snow has spread all over the world.
- Poetess Stefania Danilova dedicated a verse to Gerda in which the heroine enters the palaces of winter. The work ends unexpectedly: Gerda confesses her love not to Kai, but to the Snow Queen.
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 every hero empathize, because initially it is not known whether the girl will find her friend and whether she will be able to free her friend from the ice halls of the mistress of winter.
Surprisingly, in magical stories Andersen put in philosophical motives, and many characters have real prototypes. For example, the Snow Queen is Hans's beloved 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 ". A non-trivial story about a woman with an icy heart became popular with regulars at bookstores, and parents read lines from Andersen's work to children before bedtime. However, few people guessed that the plot was not based on a joyful motive that stemmed from the writer's personal experience.
If we turn to the biography of Hans Christian Andersen, then 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, which was popular with the representatives of the fair half of humanity.
But the storyteller, who came up with stories about and, did not manage to know carnal love; the researchers believe that Andersen did not have serious relationships with either women or men. Contemporaries testified that sometimes the genius of literature appeared in the "red light district", but instead of coming to that hot spot as intended, the writer conducted small talk with ladies of easy virtue for a long time.
Once the author of the stories managed to really 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 solo soprano performances throughout Europe, was 14 years younger than Andersen, but she still referred to 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 sighing. The writer's letter remained unanswered. Therefore, the woman who condemned Hans to suffering became the prototype of the cold Snow Queen. And the writer himself felt like Kai, who fell into the ice kingdom - the city of Copenhagen, where the ill-fated acquaintance took place.
The pen master decided to put a story from own life on the 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 tangible role in the plot. The story begins with a certain evil troll who made a mirror, where everything good seemed bad, and everything bad was even worse.
The creator of the magic attribute liked to play with the mirror, and his students ran around with this object. At one point, little trolls with a mirror climbed to the very sky in order to laugh at the Creator. The higher the pranksters climbed, the more the mirror tried to escape from the hands.
Ultimately, it slipped out and shattered on the ground into small fragments, which scattered all over the world. Small sharp diamonds fell into the eyes or in the chest. In the first case, the person saw all the worst, and in the second, his heart became as cold as ice.
Boy Kai was the least fortunate of all, because by chance 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 mimic his own girlfriend Gerda.
When winter came, Kai went sledding. Then the boy met a dazzling woman in a white robe, riding on a large sled. She charmed Kai with just one look, therefore, without realizing it, the young man found himself in the arms of the Snow Queen and in the ice kingdom. The Snow Queen taught the boy that the world is ruled by selfishness. However, Gerda's love helped the prisoner to cope with obstacles.
Screen adaptations
The work, invented by Hans Christian Andersen, migrated to the cinema. Directors and animators presented a lot of works, so we will consider the most popular of them.
The Snow Queen (cartoon, 1957)
This cartoon, perhaps, was seen by all Soviet children, because "The Snow Queen" is one of the most famous animated films created in those years. The little spectators learned from the dwarf wizard about the mistress of winter, the kidnapped Kaya and the brave Gerda.
It is worth saying that main character different from other hand-drawn characters. The fact is that the Snow Queen was created using the rotoscoping technique. And the ice maiden was voiced by actress Maria Babanova.
The Snow Queen (film, 1966)
In 1966, Gennady Kazansky presented a color film with animation elements to the audience. It is noteworthy that the script was written by a writer who came up with his own story, based on the original motives of Andersen.
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 Mystery of the Snow Queen (1986)
Filmmaker Nikolai Alexandrovich delighted fans of spending leisure time in front of TV screens with his own vision fairy tale... The film takes place much later than the events described in the original text. Kai and Gerda have already matured, so the heroes 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 in search. It is noteworthy that the director shrouded the picture with a kind of 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 tale with an admixture of an action movie, where he meticulously worked out the characteristics of the heroes. Andersen's original fairy tale sounds only fleetingly in the film, because the director has invented a new concept that develops into modern world.
So, Gerda appears as the daughter of the owner of the hostel "Polar Bear", Kai acts as a messenger, and the castle of the Snow Queen, whom she played, is strikingly similar to a hotel shrouded in frost and snow.
The Snow Queen (cartoon, 2012)
Russian animators surprised the audience with an unusual concept, because according to the plot, the Snow Queen riddles the world of representatives of creative professions, be it an artist or a musician.
Brave Gerda, the mirror-maker's daughter, sets off to find her own friend Kai, but it's not so easy to reach the winter castle. The roles were dubbed by the stars of Russian cinema, which included, and.
"Frozen" (cartoon, 2015)
This time, leisure lovers were pleased with the Disney company, which released the animated film Frozen. The plot revolves around a young princess with magical powers: the heroine knows how to cause snow and turn objects into ice.
This girl becomes the cause of the eternal winter that has reigned in the kingdom. To bring back spring and summer, Princess Anne, Kristoff and Sven the reindeer travel 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 fell in love with the shortened version of The Snow Queen, because the censorship removed Christian motives from the fairy tale. So, in the primary source there are references and prayers "Our Father".
- Andersen was far from the first to come up with the image of the ruler of the icy throne. Probably, Hans turned to Scandinavian folklore, which speaks of the personification of winter and death - the Ice Maiden. However, in the writer's record there is a work of the same name, where this heroine is mentioned. Andersen's Ice Maiden, which came out in 1861, can be called a later variation of The Snow Queen, but in a more realistic manner.
We all remember from childhood about the poor barefoot girl who defeated the powerful and rich snow beauty.
What is the psychological meaning of these fairytale heroes? What archetypes are hidden in the images created by the great storyteller Andersen?
This article is devoted to the psychological analysis of the heroes of the fairy tale, and how these archetypes can manifest themselves in real life.
The Snow Queen is beautiful, powerful and cold - the archetype of narcissistic values.
This is the part of our psyche that is responsible for the “facade” of the personality. She really does not like failures and always strives to “be on top”. Always beautiful, always successful. However, this is possible only if a person is completely devoid of feelings, that is, frozen. Underlying the formation of a narcissistic personality is an unconscious repressed shame. It is extremely unpleasant to experience him, and therefore such people try to hide the power from others, and from themselves, the shadow aspects of their personality.
In life, the manifestation of this archetype can be seen in people who, with all their might, strive to show their success to others. Their main message is: "Look how good I am." Their pages in social networks will create the appearance of good relationships, beautiful children and a joyful pastime. The expression "a mannequin from the store" on their faces. At the same time, the reality is often very different from what is displayed. However, it seems to them that if they manage to deceive others by what they show, then their life is not in vain.
Women often try to freeze their age with plastic surgery or modern cosmetology. However, this does not add liveliness to faces, but only helps to replicate photos of the same type.
They bear many features of the archetype of the snow queen due to their emotional underdevelopment, since in this case sensual "frozenness" also appears.
Such a person has lost touch with his feelings, and therefore lives in a world of narcissistic illusions in a boring, ice-cold palace.
If we talk about relationships, then such individuals can have a family and children, but at the same time have no idea about close heart relationships. At best, this is mutual use, and most often manipulation and coercion. However, this does not mean an open display of aggression. After all, the queen has no feelings, and therefore she achieves her goal with cold-blooded cunning manipulations or blackmail, but so that no one knows that she may somehow act ugly. After all, everything should be perfect ...
Let's remember how the Queen took Kai for herself. He himself sat down with her in the sleigh. She didn’t force him to anything, at least through external actions.
Why, exactly, did the snow magic affect Kai?
Let's go back to the beginning of the tale. And it begins with how evil trolls broke a magic mirror, and millions of fragments scattered to Earth. One of these fragments hit Kai in the heart, and the other in the eye. The kind and open-minded Kai changed a lot after this incident. He became irritable towards Gerda, mocking and overly proud.
This situation symbolizes childhood narcissistic trauma.
After all, the splinter hit Kai's heart, and it hurt him, but after a while the pain passed, but the splinter remained inside, and Kai's behavior changed. It is a metaphor for the formation of a classic narcissistic defense against experiencing pain through devaluation, humiliation, or criticism of the other. The shard is inside, but it does not feel pain, as it suppresses it and is protected by the mechanisms described above. It is very important that Kai could not remove this splinter on his own, which symbolizes the helplessness of the child's psyche in front of some difficult situations that the child could get into.
As a result, such a person, growing up, experiences difficulties in creating intimate relationships, and often creates, performing a dependent or counter-dependent position.
Namely, such a person is most susceptible to various influences and influences, since his sensory center of the personality is blocked, which means it is easy to control him. He can be obstinate and stubborn, due to actively working devaluation, but this only further prevents him from seeing his dependent situation in life.
This state of affairs is used with great pleasure by the prudent "snow queens" who do not believe that relationships can be alive and natural, and therefore strive to do them the way they can, that is, through submission to their will.
The inside of the snow queen is empty, there is one beautiful and shiny ice shell. She is afraid of loneliness, and cannot build human relationships. There is simply nothing. And therefore, she acts against the will of others, in complete indifference to the feelings and pain of another person.
She wanted to take Kai to her palace, so she did, despite the feelings that the children had for each other.
Kai ends up in the ice palace, he completely forgets about Gerda and those feelings that he once felt for her. He likes to play with ice, and he does not notice what is really happening to him:
“Kai turned completely blue, almost blackened from the cold, but did not notice this - the kisses of the Snow Queen made him insensitive to the cold, and his very heart was like a piece of ice. Kai fiddled with flat, pointed ice floes, laying them in all sorts of ways. After all, there is such a game of folding figures from wooden planks - which is called a Chinese puzzle. So Kai also put together various intricate figures, only from ice floes, and this was called an ice game of reason. In his eyes, these figures were a miracle of art, and folding them was of the utmost importance. "
However, the frozen heart begins to malfunction pretty soon. And in real life, such Kai eventually fall into depression, alcohol, sexual or other addiction.
And the only salvation can only be true warm love
Gerda is a symbol of true love and devotion. It is a resource of that liveliness that remains in us no matter what. This belief in goodness, in yourself and people. Yes, she is weak and defenseless in front of the magic power of the Snow Queen, however, the people around her help her go through all the trials and difficulties in search of her brother.
Another interesting fact is that Kai and Gerda were not siblings. However, in the tale, Gerda is looking for her named brother.
It is a symbol of heartfelt love, acceptance and friendship.
After all, it is impossible to walk barefoot half of the world on sexual attraction. :)
And from the Queen, Kai receives cold kisses, which is possibly a symbol of sexual relations without love.
The Snow Queen seems to be much older than Kai and Gerda, however, her size and age are in contrast to childish naivety and openness. These are just different approaches to the perception of our different parts of the psyche. Initially, in the fairy tale, the Snow Queen is large and powerful, and then she melts and disappears, which speaks of the spiritual development and transformation of the heroes.
Gerda goes through a series of trials, as a result of which she grows up and becomes stronger. She finds many compassionate friends who become her support.
This symbolizes the healthy development and maturation of the psyche, when we learn to experience grief and loss through support, and not devaluation of the significance of what is happening, when we begin to fight for our happiness and take responsibility for what happens in our life.
Gerda believed in true love between her and Kai, and this gave her the strength to continue on the path and fight for her happiness, even with a seemingly stronger and more powerful enemy.
The Snow Queen is large and strong, however, inside her is emptiness. Gerda is small and weak, but true love lives inside her!
Which will be stronger?
Gerda manages to get into the castle and find Kai. However, the main battle lies ahead. And not at all with the queen ...
As it turned out, all her efforts were useless! Kai simply does not remember her and does not recognize her!
She was looking for him so much, she was so bored! She came barefoot to the ends of the world!
Tears of despair burst from her heart, and she begins to cry! After all, despite all the trials she had overcome, she lost this battle with the snowy beauty.
And then what is called an ordinary miracle happened ...
Her tears water Kai, fragments fall from his eyes and heart, he comes to life and remembers Gerda.
Only the living energy of real feeling was able to awaken Kai from his cold sleep.
“Gerda! Dear Gerda! .. Where have you been for so long? Where was I myself?
And he looked around. - How cold, deserted here! ”
“Gerda kissed Kai on both cheeks, and they blushed again like roses; kissed his eyes, and they shone; kissed his hands and feet, and he again became vigorous and healthy. "
“Gerda immediately recognized both the horse - it was once harnessed to a golden carriage - and the girl. It was a little robber.
She also recognized Gerda. What a joy it was!
Look, you tramp! she said to Kai. "I would like to know if you are worth it to be chased to the ends of the earth?"
Does an ordinary miracle happen in real life?
Were there people in your life for whom it was worth going to the ends of the world? After all, this can only be decided if the feelings and relationships were very valuable!
Do you know how to appreciate real feelings or do you prefer to freeze yourself in the appearance or self-deception that everything is in order?
I think that everything depends on your faith in true love!
And if you don't believe in her, then you risk freezing in the castle of the ice beauty! :)
And if you have already got there and want to get out, then choose the right eyes!
Proud emptiness in bright eyes
Shines with bright cold light
Silent depth in dark eyes
Beckons with a warm familiar storyline
Will the cold dissolve in the warmth?
Or will he kill all living things in the darkness,
To only shine yourself
Among the dark hell of fake people?
Only the facade covers the evil
Only calculation rules fate
Only deception surrounds the whole house
How to find the path of love
Amid the terrible power of cold lies?
Shouldn't we call the clear Sun?
Shouldn't a beautiful heart be kindled?
And it can burn out!
No problem!
After all, it cannot endure any longer!
"Snow Queen" characterization of heroes - Kai, Gerd, Snow Queen
"Snow Queen" characteristics of heroes
Gerda
Gerda is the main heroine of the tale.
Description of Gerda:
"... her hair was curly, and curls with golden radiance surrounded her sweet, friendly face, round and rosy, like a rose."
Gerda is kind, affectionate, brave. She loves Kai like a brother and goes to long and long way to save him... A hot heart pushed Gerda to such a step. Gerda believed that Kai was alive, and she must definitely help him.
Gerda's traits: strong, courageous, faithful, brave, sincere, purposeful, persistent
Scientists helped the girl in her search crows , a prince with a princess, who gave Gerda warm clothes and mittens , a little robber and a deer.
During her long wanderings, Gerda manifests herself only with better side... She is sweet, friendly, kind and this attracts not only various people to her, but also animals and birds. She is brave, patient, persistent, and this helps her not to lose heart from failures and not to lose faith in the fact that she will find Kai. She is faithful, loving, reliable, and this helps her to cope with the spell of the Snow Queen herself and melt the ice in the boy's heart. If Gerda were a real, and not a fabulous girl, she would have a lot of friends. I don't doubt that in the least.
The Snow Queen enchanted Kai's heart and turned it into a ball ice ... But Gerda's hot tears and her love saved the boy.
Gerda turned out to be stronger than the Snow Queen. After all, the Snow Queen has a cold heart, and Gerda has a hot one. Gerda is the embodiment of the best human qualities. Therefore, she defeats evil, wins Kai from the Snow Queen.
"Snow Queen" characteristic Snow Queen
Description of the Snow Queen:
- “She was so lovely and tender, but made of ice, ... and still alive! Her eyes shone like stars, but there was neither warmth nor peace in them. "
Gerda and the Snow Queen are strong personalities.
Gerda and the Snow Queen: Similarities and Differences
Characteristics of Kaia "The Snow Queen"
At the beginning of the tale, this is a kind and sympathetic boy. After Kai enters the Snow Queen's palace, his heart turns to ice - now he is a rude, evil and insensitive boy. Kai does not understand that one cannot live without true feelings - such an existence is meaningless. Gerda, with her true love, saves Kai from ice captivity.