Hans Christian Andersen and his literary legacy

Hans Christian Anderson

The mid to late 19th century was a time of questioning and change. It was the period that saw the prominence of revolutionary thinkers like Freud, Marx, and Darwin and literary innovators like Dickens and Zola. Thinking people of the period questioned what had come before them, but more importantly questioned what life had become. Social commentary and revolutionary thinking took center stage in this period (Morris). Hans Christian Andersen's tale "The Philosopher's Stone" comments on what has become of life by seeking the answer to one of the most important questions for humanity: What happens after death? Andersen weaves social commentary into the tradition of fairy tales in this piece from 1859.

The tale begins by establishing an exotic location in India that suggests the Garden of Eden before the fall. The location is far removed from the concerns of 19th century life. The magnificent tree known as the Tree of the Sun dominates the setting and suggests the idea of the tree of knowledge as the man who lives there is said to be the wisest of mortals. The tree encompasses a massive area filled with everything that is good and beautiful in nature. "While the larger boughs, with their knots and curves, formed valleys and hills, clothed with velvety green and covered with flowers. Everywhere it was like a blooming meadow or a lovely garden" (Andersen). Innocent and happy birds and animals make the shelter of the tree their home adding to the idea of a sanctuary from the changing outside world.

The only structure in the garden is a castle that is natural in form. "Each tower was erected in the form of a lily...no other roof arose than the blue firmament and the sun and stars" (Andersen). What should be a man-made structure is naturalized into this setting where all is peace and harmony. Yet, the wise, although nameless man, who lives in the castle is not entirely satisfied. It seems that he has it all, but he questions. This questioning is a motif that Andersen uses in several tales to discuss how "curiosity and striving, in short desire, is a fundamental human characteristic" ("Motif: The Garden of Eden"). The man's curiosity about life after death drives him to seek the answer in his Book of Truth. However, the book will not reveal that information to him despite his wisdom. The man cannot rest; he must know more and believes that he must find the philosopher's stone to do so. This need to quest for knowledge even though he has so much is perhaps Andersen's comment on what he saw in European society at his time (loyno.edu). People were constantly seeking answers to vital questions, yet, had so many things at their fingertips.

A focus of the wise man's questioning is on Christianity. "Christianity placed before him in the Bible a promise of eternal life, but he wanted to read it in his book" (Andersen). If he had been willing to listen to the answers provided to him by tradition, he would have been satisfied on this issue. However, he will not accept another's answer and seeks his own. Interestingly, he seeks it by proxy. The wise man does not go out into the world; his gifted children do it for him as each one attempts to find the philosopher's stone which their father describes to them as the merging of the true, the beautiful and the good.

The wise men's sons are all blessed with one extraordinary sense. Each son's special gift will cause him to perceive something different about the outside world. The oldest son has the gift of acute sight. Like most heroes on a quest, the oldest son sets out with the expectation of achievement. In this case, he is guided as he crosses the threshold to the outer world by the wild swans. Birds in this tale seem to represent something that is innocent but can easily cross the boundary into the world of experience and return to innocence. Although these birds are not the famous Phoenix bird that Andersen uses in other tales, the birds here have some of the same characteristics. They are linked to the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Knowledge and a purity of living ("Motif: The Phoenix Bird").

The son soon finds that even with his superior sight that there is little in the world to admire:

He observed that the wreath which rightly belonged to the beautiful was often given the hideous; that the good was often passed by unnoticed, while mediocrity was applauded, when it should have been hissed. People look at the dress, not at the wearer; thought more of a name than of doing their duty; and trusted more to reputation than to real service. (Andersen)

In short, he found nothing that was good, true or beautiful. Anderson is commenting on the way that people behave and perceive each other in 19th century life. People saw an image without evaluating its true value and were easily deceived by appearances (loyno.edu and Morris). The son sees this and wishes to change it, but his sight is soon corrupted by the evil one and he loses his ability to see the world for what it is. Additionally, like so many who become discouraged, he "no longer had faith in it (the world)" (Andersen).

The birds convey the oldest son's failure to his family and escort the second son who possesses the gift of hearing out into the world. He soon finds the world much too loud for his sensitive ears. Andersen speaks of the "rascally boys of sixty years old" whose words are greeted by applause. Who are these men? Politicians, businessmen, leaders of social change? He speaks of "falsehood (that) thrust itself forward and played the hypocrite" (Andersen). People are being misled by leaders of the secular world and the religious world as evidenced by the torturous ringing of the church-bells. Things that are perceived to be good by the masses, the hearer recognizes as lies and hypocrisy. At last he cannot bear to listen and must stuff his fingers in his ears until he is tainted and becomes "silent and suspicious, and at last trusted no one, not even himself" (Andersen). This kind of criticism is typical of some of the writers of the time such as Dickens and Zola who sought to represent the working class and how they are manipulated and made victims of supposed higher authority (jahsonic.com). Anderson inserts this same type of criticism into this relatively short tale.

The third son with the gift of a keen nose and poetic ability decides to try to reach the outside world and seek what his father desires. For a time, he is successful; his beautiful words when set to the music of a drummer went throughout the land. When it seems that he is finding what he seeks, the evil one fills his nose with incense and makes him forget his quest and wander like his brothers. His loss of self is mourned more distinctly by the birds than his brother's. The birds grieve deeply and do not sing for three days. There is the suggestion of a failed Christ-like figure here with the idea of a messenger who is mourned for three days. However, there is no resurrection yet. The third son is connected more closely to the Phoenix bird as used by Andersen in other tales where the bird is identified with poetry and Christ ("Motif: The Phoenix Bird").

The fourth and youngest son who has a strong sense of taste confidently approaches the world in an air balloon. The way taste as used here has a double meaning. It suggests literal taste of the mouth and also a sense of refinement. In keeping with that refinement, he holds himself above the rest by perching on a church steeple and watching the world. What he sees below him displeases him. The chimneys are all smoking suggesting the mask that covers people. He sees through the masks to reveal what people are really like. All he sees are pride and vanity. One is "proud of his purse; another, of the key he carried behind him, though he had nothing to lock up; another took a pride in his mouth-eaten coat; and another, in his mortified body" (Andersen). With this sentence, Andersen points to problems in 19th century society. People are too concerned with money and possessions (Morris). Poverty is rampant amongst the working class both despite of and due to a spreading capitalist economy (jahsonic.com).

Another concern in the fourth son's observations from the church is the issue of Christianity as it attempted to face the onslaught of the modern world. Andersen seems to comment that religion has led to falsehoods as the man who is proud of his mortified body would suggest. Organized religion struggled during this time period as science began to challenge some of the biblical teachings. Darwin's famous work caused a crisis of sorts for Christianity by suggesting evolution. Furthermore, governments were making education more secular in nature due to the growth of scientific thought (loyno.edu). As a result, Religion was viewed skeptically by many people, particularly educated ones at the time.

The youngest son is skeptical. He sees the problems of the society, but holds himself above them. His unwillingness to engage in life around him causes him to be easy prey for the evil one who does not even have to deceive him; he is fooled by the wind as he waits for it to change. He waits too long and is lost like his brothers.

Only the wise man's daughter is left with him and he has given up hope of understanding life after death. Now, he has only a blind daughter to comfort him. She is the embodiment of the traditional female as the reader sees her connected to a spinning wheel and described as clinging to her father and hoping for "his happiness and peace" (Andersen). She is the ultimate mother figure as she is prepared to sacrifice herself for her brother's return and her father's contentment. Her engagement into the "Cult of Domesticity" that was rising during the 19th century is obvious. The "Cult of Domesticity" saw women as primarily mother figures who were the "guardian(s) of the moral purity of all who lived" in the home (Hartman). Their function was to make the home "a haven of comfort and quiet" (Hartman). The daughter reflects exactly what a woman was supposed to be during Andersen's time. Yet, despite her feminine representation, she is not feeble and wishes to please her father and save her brothers by embarking on the quest as well.

Her ability to be effective should be compromised by her blindness. However, it is her blindness that makes her more successful than her brothers. Blindness of a character is a standard motif in many works of literature. The daughter possesses two of the standard motifs for blindness used in literature. First, she has the gift of "blindness as compensatory or miraculous power" (Jernigan). This is the idea that blindness gives the person special powers in other areas. In the tale, the daughter is said to possess "a gift which all the others lacked. This was a determination to throw herself entirely into whatever she undertook" (Andersen). Her brothers had all been led astray by something; she does not suffer this fate due to her gift.

Her determination and connection to domesticity lead her to plan a way home which her brothers deemed unnecessary. She pulls a very thin thread with her as she embarks into the wide world. She witnesses many of the same things as her brothers did in the outer world; she hears the voices of the good mingled with the voices of the evil. However, she possesses something that they do not. She has a permanent link to her home and the goodness that it represents which she physically carries with the thread and carries internally due to her virtue.