H.C. Andersen's "Red Shoes"

[Peter Byrne Manchester <PMANCHESTER@ccmail.sunysb.edu>]

Many thanks to Karen Newcombe<kln@crl.com> for transcribing Hans Christian 
Andersen's version of "The Red Shoes."  After it she writes

>Perhaps we can prevail on Professor Manchester to give us some background
>on the morality lessons that were laid over old folk tales during the
>Victorian era to make them suitable for frightening small children
>into piety and virtue.  Plenty of mythological material here.  Note
>similarities to Little Red Riding Hood -- another old story that was
>appropriated for the purpose of expounding a moral lesson.

The question of "the morality lessons that were laid over old folk tales" is 
exceptionally important--important in itself, as well as for reaching Kate in 
her new work--and I wish I had much to contribute to it.  Unhappily, all the 
experience I have in studying the manipulation of mythical material for moral 
effect is ancient:  the adaptation of ancient Near Eastern myth by the Bible, 
and of epic and tragic literature in Greece by the philosophers.

But I'll bet the farm that there are plenty of lurkers here who know their 
way around post-medieval European folk tales well enough to have comments and 
suggestions about the scenes, themes, colors, characters, etc. in the Hans 
Christian Andersen telling of the story.  I will be glad to compile and edit 
all such, throw in what I can on my own, and post the result for Halloween.

If you recognize what Karen Newcombe is asking about and have something to 
contribute, send me e-mail (rather than posting to gaffa/love-hounds) by 
Friday, October 29.

On first quick read-through, what strikes me most immediately about the HCA 
"Red Shoes" is the weight that the reader is expected to attach to Karen's 
(Cathy's) fixation on thinking of herself in her red shoes at her 
Confirmation and at the Eucharist--where she even forgot to join in the 
"Lord's Prayer."  In the plot of the story, this is the heart of the iniquity 
that justifies the grotesque details of her purgation and repentance, and it 
is also the point of contact between the erotic and the spiritual.  Which is 
where the magical finds its power.  Children know this instinctively and 
understand it with complete authority.  Efforts by adults to tame the magical 
for morality inevitably have completely contrary results with children.

............................................................................
                                                            Peter Manchester
       "C'mon, we all sing!"                   pmanchester@ccmail.sunysb.edu
                                                     72020.366@compuserv.com