Hans Christian Andersen
....) When his father died in 1816 he was forced to work. Andersen worked as a weaver, tailor, and worked in a tobacco factory. Growing up poor Andersen knew he was the one who would change his life, this is why he worked so hard for the things he loved such as theatre and writing. For a few years Andersen failed at everything. He tried many different careers until he finally found one than would stick with him forever. Hans tried careers in acting, singing, dancing, and playwriting and failed at all of them. Andersen did not let himself down though, and he kept trying harder even after his first published book in 1822. “His first published book sold so poorly that the pages of unsold copies were used as wrapping paper” (Rosenberg 117). In response to his first book, Andersen wanted to educate himself, but he couldn’t do it on his own. King Frederick VI liked what he saw in Andersen, and he decided to send him through public school or grammar-school, for five years free of charge, at Slagelse and one year of private tutoring in Elsinore. After all of this, Andersen took his university entrance exam and passed but decided not to further his education, but instead, he wrote poems, short stories, and plays while he made money writing lyrics for operas and doing translations. His reason for not following through with school is that he thought his years at school were the darkest and bitterest in his life. In 1833, Andersen unhappy with life in general but mainly his love life, he decided to take up traveling and write travel books. In 1835, coming from his travels was Andersen’s first breakthrough, “The Improvisatore” meaning one who composes and recites rhymes and short poems extemporaneously; it was Andersen’s autobiographical novel that he wrote from his experiences in Italy. This novel brought him fame and led him to move on to children’s stories. Later on, in 1846, he returns to Italy, only to develop another piece of literature, “The Shadow.” This children’s story was inspired by his feelings and experiences during his stay in Naples, Italy. This story resembles a well-known German story about a man without a shadow, but “The Shadow” is Andersen’s own version, and it is one of his best works. “To Andersen, the tale was the ultimate form of poetry” (Rosenberg 117). Andersen’s tales give hope to all who are made fun of or put down for being different. Andersen did not live a very fun, exciting or extraordinary life, instead he was sometimes regarded as an outcast. “His identification with the unfortunate and outcast made his tales very compelling” (Hans Christian Andersen). Andersen loved to observe others around him. He writes: “Every character is taken from life; I know and have known them all.” After all of Andersen’s stories ...