For many generations of readers, this tale has been and remains one of the most beloved. The summary of the “Snow Queen” by Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen can be retold by any child and adult, thanks to numerous scenic, cinematic and animated incarnations. But only those who read the text from beginning to end know that this is not just a children's fairy tale. This is a story of love and devotion, of good and evil. However, like any fairy tale.
Summary of the "Snow Queen"
Whatever variations are presented in films or cartoons, the core of the plot remains unchanged. The main characters are little Gerda and Kai, they are very friendly and happy. That was until the pieces of ice were pierced in Kai's heart and eyes, and the Snow Queen took him with her to her ice palace. And after this begins the story of a brave girl who is not afraid of anything and overcomes many dangers in order to find her friend. And she finds him in the far North. But Kai is not happy with her, because his heart has become completely icy, and his eyes do not see anything good and good. But Gerda’s tears melt his heart, and now they’re not at all afraid of them - this is Andersen’s term - the Snow Queen. The summary of the tale is as follows. But this is just a cursory retelling of the plot, which actually contains a number of separate stories from each other.
Summary of the “Snow Queen” in seven stories
In adapted paraphrases and cartoons for children, the first story is most often omitted, the main one is about the evil troll, who owned a magic mirror. It reflected everything only in a crooked light: beautiful seemed ugly in it, good seemed evil. With its mirror, the troll won more and more power over the earth and people. And so he wanted to get to the angels, so that nothing light remained in heaven. His minions began to raise the evil mirror higher and higher, but dropped it. It broke into a myriad of fragments that covered the Earth, dug into people's hearts, eyes, hands. They continued to soar in the air and injure people. And so begins the “Snow Queen” - a fairy tale, the summary of which is surrounded by many animated and inanimate characters, and each of them has its own fate.
In the second story, acquaintance with Kai and Gerda, as well as Kai's grandmother, who told the children about the mysterious Snow Queen, looking in the windows. Then she appears herself.
Fragments of the same mirror fall into Kai’s heart and eye, and he becomes angry and rude: offends Gerda, mimics his grandmother, trampled roses - their favorite flowers and his girlfriend. Finally, he is taken away by the Snow Queen.
The tale, a brief summary of which is further devoted to the search for Kai and the happy ending, contains five more long stories. In each of them, on the way of Gerda, there are amazing characters, but not always good ones. So, dear old woman, in whose blooming garden she fell, is not at all kind: she enchanted Gerda so that she would forget about everything in the world and stay with her. Raven and Crow, Prince and Princess penetrate her compassion and help her. The little robber holds her captive with little animals, but her heart softens when she learns the story of Gerda and Kai. She releases the deer so that he takes it to the North, to Lapland, where the Snow Queen lives. Along the way, they are assisted by two more old women - Lapland and Finca. And now their path lies right in the palace, where the boy Kai lives with an icy heart. The summary of The Snow Queen brings the reader to a climax - the seventh story.
In the halls of the Snow Queen
This palace is perfection itself. Everything here sparkles with whiteness, purity and the right lines. But quiet here and dead. Kai plays with ice figures and admires their cold beauty. He is alone in a huge hall when Gerda enters. Alas, Kai does not want to see her, even repels. But her tears shed on his chest and melt the heart. He feels pain and fever in his chest. Tears are pouring from his eyes ... and a sharp fragment of a magic mirror with a ringing falls on the ice floor. Now they are not afraid of the Snow Queen, because they are stronger than her.
“The Snow Queen” is, by and large, a fairy tale for adults. She is about real feelings: love, betrayal, fidelity, duty. And therefore, based on her motives, more and more new masterpieces of cinema and animation are being shot.