“Trust the Tale, Not the Teller: Hans Christian Andersen” by Harold Bloom: Summary and Critique

1. Andersen’s Literary Influences and Precursors

• Andersen’s work is deeply influenced by Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott, blending the fantastical with folklore.
• Bloom states: “Andersen’s prime precursors included Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott, and his best work can be thought of as an amalgam of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the almost as magnificent ‘Wandering Willie’s Tale’ from Scott’s Redgauntlet.”

2. Themes of Fate and Renunciation

• Andersen’s stories often revolve around the concept of fate and renunciation, drawing from Goethean influences.
• “Goethean ‘renunciation’ was central to Andersen’s art, which truly worships only one god, who can be called Fate.”

3. Andersen’s Homoerotic and Autoerotic Sexuality

• Bloom discusses Andersen’s complex sexual orientation, linking it to the homoerotic and autoerotic tendencies in his works.
• “Like Walt Whitman’s, Andersen’s authentic sexual orientation was homoerotic. Pragmatically, both great writers were autoerotic.”

4. Andersen’s Artistic Legacy and Children’s Literature

• While Andersen is seen as a children’s author, Bloom argues his tales transcend this label and appeal to “intelligent children of all ages.”
• “I myself see no distinction between children’s literature and good or great writing for extremely intelligent children of all ages.”

5. Psychological and Mythological Depth of Andersen’s Fairy Tales

• Bloom emphasizes the psychological and mythological dimensions in Andersen’s stories, particularly focusing on the cruelty and complexity found in The Little Mermaid and The Snow Queen.
• “Andersen’s imagination is as cruel as it is powerful, and ‘The Little Mermaid’ is least persuasive (to me) in its benign conclusion.”

6. Kierkegaard and Andersen: Diverging Projects

• Bloom compares Andersen to his Danish contemporary Kierkegaard, noting that while Kierkegaard explored existential Christian dilemmas, Andersen sought to retain his childlike perspective in a harsh adult world.
• “Andersen covertly had a rather different project: how to remain a child in an ostensibly adult world.”

7. Aesthetic and Allegorical Ambiguity

• Andersen’s stories, such as The Shadow and The Red Shoes, are noted for their aesthetic ambiguity, avoiding clear allegorical readings, which Bloom highlights as a key strength.
• “There is no consistent allegory in ‘The Little Mermaid,’ and whoever finds a moral in it should be shot.”

8. Critique of Modern Writers

• Bloom is critical of modern children’s authors like J.K. Rowling and Stephen King, advocating instead for the enduring literary value of Andersen and Dickens.
• “J. K. Rowling and Stephen King are equally bad writers, appropriate titans of our new Dark Age of the Screens.”

9. Andersen’s Personal Struggles and Desire for Fame

• Andersen’s personal life, marked by loneliness and unfulfilled desires, deeply influenced his artistic ambitions and narrative themes.
• “The driving purpose of his career was to win fame and honor while not forgetting how hard the way up had been.”

1. Reader-Response Theory

• Contribution: Bloom’s approach emphasizes the importance of the reader’s interpretation over the author’s intended meaning, aligning with Reader-Response Theory. He suggests that the stories themselves, not the author’s biography or intentions, hold the true meaning.
• Reference: “Trust the tale, not the teller,” originally a quote by D.H. Lawrence, is echoed throughout the article, underlining that readers should derive meaning from the narrative rather than Andersen’s personal life or authorial intent.
• Theory Impact: This emphasis on the autonomy of the text encourages readers to engage actively with the narrative, moving away from biographical criticism.

2. Psychoanalytic Criticism

• Contribution: Bloom analyzes the psychological depth of Andersen’s characters, particularly exploring themes of repressed desires, sexual frustration, and sublimation, which are central to psychoanalytic criticism.
• Reference: “Sexual frustration is Andersen’s pervasive though hidden obsession, embodied in his witches and icy temptresses, and in his androgynous princes.”
• Theory Impact: By highlighting Andersen’s repressed sexuality and his portrayal of androgyny, Bloom’s essay offers psychoanalytic insights into how Andersen’s personal psyche influenced his narratives, particularly through sublimation.

3. Myth Criticism

• Contribution: Bloom engages with myth criticism by identifying mythological structures and archetypes within Andersen’s tales, suggesting they have a deeper, universal resonance.
• Reference: “That vision has the strangeness of lasting myth” (in reference to The Wild Swans), and the emphasis on Andersen’s use of pagan themes and archetypal figures like witches and mermaids.
• Theory Impact: Bloom’s focus on mythic elements in Andersen’s stories places them within a broader tradition of myth-making, where archetypes resonate beyond individual tales, contributing to the collective unconscious in the Jungian sense.

4. Romanticism and Post-Romanticism

• Contribution: Bloom positions Andersen firmly within the Romantic and post-Romantic traditions, aligning his tales with the emotional intensity, existential questioning, and imagination characteristic of these movements.
• Reference: “Kierkegaard and Andersen both developed into major erotic ironists… Andersen was post-Goethean.”
• Theory Impact: This linkage to Romanticism allows for a reevaluation of Andersen’s work as part of the High Romantic tradition, showcasing how his tales explore emotional extremes, the sublime, and the inner conflicts of his characters.

5. Queer Theory

• Contribution: Bloom’s discussion of Andersen’s homoerotic and autoerotic tendencies aligns with Queer Theory, which interrogates normative sexual identities and explores hidden or marginalized sexualities in literature.
• Reference: “Like Walt Whitman’s, Andersen’s authentic sexual orientation was homoerotic.” Bloom also emphasizes the presence of androgyny and sexual ambiguity in Andersen’s characters.
• Theory Impact: This contribution allows for a Queer theoretical reading of Andersen’s work, where characters embody fluid or ambiguous sexual identities, reflecting the complexity of desire and gender in his narratives.

6. Structuralism

• Contribution: Bloom hints at structuralist approaches by analyzing recurring motifs, themes, and binary oppositions (e.g., fate vs. free will, human vs. supernatural) that structure Andersen’s fairy tales.
• Reference: “Andersen’s universe is totally vitalistic, but more malign than not,” reflects a structuralist approach to analyzing the deep structures within Andersen’s stories.
• Theory Impact: Bloom’s analysis contributes to understanding how these narrative structures function across Andersen’s body of work, revealing underlying patterns and oppositions that inform the text’s meaning.

7. Existentialism

• Contribution: Bloom draws parallels between Andersen and existentialist themes, particularly in relation to Kierkegaard’s philosophy. Andersen’s stories often explore existential dilemmas of isolation, fate, and self-realization.
• Reference: “Kierkegaard covertly had a rather different project: how to remain a child in an ostensibly adult world.” This reflects the existential tension in Andersen’s work between innocence and the adult world.
• Theory Impact: Bloom’s reading introduces existential concerns into Andersen’s tales, such as the struggle for meaning in an indifferent or malevolent universe, aligning his works with existentialist literary theory.

8. Allegory and Anti-Allegory

• Contribution: While Bloom acknowledges that Andersen’s tales can be read allegorically, he warns against simplistic allegorical readings, aligning with anti-allegorical trends in modern criticism.
• Reference: “There is no consistent allegory in ‘The Little Mermaid,’ and whoever finds a moral in it should be shot.”
• Theory Impact: This anti-allegorical stance encourages readers and scholars to avoid moralistic interpretations, instead focusing on the aesthetic, emotional, and psychological layers of Andersen’s stories.

9. Feminist Criticism

• Contribution: Bloom touches upon feminist themes, particularly in his exploration of how female suffering and gender roles are portrayed in Andersen’s tales. However, he also critiques the oversimplification of feminist readings.
• Reference: “Female suffering, in ‘The Marsh King’s Daughter’ as elsewhere in Andersen’s stories, is powerfully but unhealthily conveyed, since I cannot see how the strong elements of sadomasochism are to be evaded by readers of any age.”
• Theory Impact: While acknowledging feminist concerns about Andersen’s portrayal of female suffering, Bloom also invites a more nuanced analysis of gender and power dynamics in his stories.

10. New Historicism

• Contribution: Bloom places Andersen’s stories within the broader historical and cultural context of 19th-century Denmark and Europe, reflecting how societal norms, religious influences, and personal struggles shaped his work.
• Reference: “The driving purpose of his career was to win fame and honor while not forgetting how hard the way up had been.”
• Theory Impact: By contextualizing Andersen’s tales within his personal and cultural milieu, Bloom’s essay encourages a New Historicist reading, examining how his texts reflect and respond to the social and historical forces of his time.

1. The Little Mermaid (1837)

• Critique: Bloom reads The Little Mermaid as a tale of horror and existential sacrifice, focusing on the ghastly nature of the mermaid’s transformation and the underlying theme of renunciation. He argues that the conventional moral reading of the story (as a tale of love and sacrifice) is insufficient to capture its true aesthetic and psychological depth.
• Reference from Bloom: “On its vivid surfaces ‘The Little Mermaid’ suggests a parable of renunciation, and yet in my own literary sense of the tale, it is a horror story.”
• Approach: Rather than viewing the tale as a simple moral allegory, Bloom emphasizes its cruel aesthetic, focusing on the mermaid’s torment and the painful consequences of her desire to become human. The story’s resolution, with the mermaid’s ascension to the daughters of the air, is criticized as a sentimental overlay that does not align with the tale’s deeper existential tragedy.
• Key Theoretical Lens: Psychoanalytic Criticism (sublimation of desire, renunciation), Reader-Response (emphasis on the reader’s interpretation over authorial intent).

2. The Snow Queen (1845)

• Critique: Bloom interprets The Snow Queen as a psychological and existential narrative that resists reductive interpretations. He highlights the story’s refusal to conform to a simple moral or allegorical reading and instead focuses on the complexity of the characters, particularly Gerda’s strength and resourcefulness in rescuing Kai.
• Reference from Bloom: “The fascination of ‘The Snow Queen’ is Gerda’s continuous resourcefulness and strength, which derives from her freedom or refusal of all reductiveness.”
• Approach: Instead of reading The Snow Queen as a mere children’s adventure or a moral tale, Bloom elevates it as a story that embodies the richness of Andersen’s imagination, where characters like Gerda resist simple categorizations. The evil mirror, the Snow Queen, and Gerda’s quest are seen as symbolic, but their significance goes beyond allegory, touching on themes of perception, emotional isolation, and the power of innocence.
• Key Theoretical Lens: Myth Criticism (mythical and archetypal elements), Romanticism (individualism, emotional intensity).

3. The Red Shoes (1845)

• Critique: Bloom critiques The Red Shoes for its dark and disturbing portrayal of obsession, compulsion, and punishment. He rejects a moralistic reading of the tale, instead focusing on the over-determined nature of the narrative, where Karen’s perpetual motion and suffering reflect deep psychological and existential conflicts.
• Reference from Bloom: “The beautiful red dancing shoes whirl Karen into a cursed existence of perpetual motion, that cannot be solved even when her feet (with her consent) are cut off.”
• Approach: Bloom’s reading rejects simplistic interpretations of the tale as a cautionary moral fable about vanity or disobedience. Instead, he views it as an exploration of uncontrollable desires and the destructive consequences of yielding to them. The macabre punishment Karen endures transcends mere morality, reflecting a psychological torment that cannot be resolved even by physical sacrifice.
• Key Theoretical Lens: Psychoanalytic Criticism (over-determination, unconscious drives), Anti-Allegory (resisting moralistic interpretations).

4. The Shadow (1847)

• Critique: The Shadow is seen by Bloom as one of Andersen’s most enigmatic and complex tales, where the narrative explores the duality of self and the metaphysical implications of losing one’s identity. He suggests that the story, with its themes of doppelgängers and existential bewilderment, anticipates modernist and postmodernist concerns about selfhood and reality.
• Reference from Bloom: “The Shadow…may be Andersen’s most evasive masterpiece. The author and his shadow disengage from one another…and Andersen’s shadow is malign and Iago-like.”
• Approach: Bloom emphasizes the metaphysical depth of The Shadow, interpreting the tale as a narrative of identity disintegration rather than a mere moral or allegorical tale about good and evil. The shadow, representing an autonomous, darker self, reflects existential dread and the loss of personal agency. This foreshadows modernist works that explore the fragmentation of self.
• Key Theoretical Lens: Existentialism (exploration of self and identity), Structuralism (binary opposition of self and shadow).

Summary of Bloom’s Critique Approach:

• Key Principles: Harold Bloom’s critiques consistently advocate for trusting the complexity of the narrative itself, rather than reducing it to simple moral or biographical readings. His approach prioritizes the aesthetic, psychological, and existential dimensions of Andersen’s stories.
• Literary Theories Engaged: Psychoanalytic Criticism, Reader-Response Theory, Myth Criticism, Anti-Allegory, Romanticism, Existentialism.

1. Overemphasis on Aesthetic Autonomy

• Critics might argue that Bloom’s insistence on separating the author from the tale (“Trust the tale, not the teller”) undermines the value of contextual, biographical, or historical readings of Andersen’s work, which can offer significant insights.
• By focusing primarily on the aesthetic and psychological aspects of Andersen’s tales, Bloom could be seen as neglecting the broader socio-political or cultural contexts that shaped Andersen’s writing.

2. Dismissal of Moral and Allegorical Interpretations

• Bloom’s strong stance against allegorical and moral readings could be seen as reductive. Critics may argue that Andersen’s tales, especially those written for children, naturally lend themselves to moral interpretations, and by dismissing this, Bloom potentially overlooks an important layer of the text.
• His statement, “whoever finds a moral in it should be shot,” can be seen as extreme, disregarding readers or scholars who find value in interpreting moral messages in Andersen’s work.

3. Limited Engagement with Feminist and Gender Criticism

• While Bloom touches upon issues of gender and sexuality in his analysis (particularly through Queer Theory), his lack of deep engagement with feminist criticism, especially concerning Andersen’s portrayal of female suffering and victimization, could be seen as a gap.
• Critics might argue that Bloom does not sufficiently address the problematic gender dynamics and representations of women in Andersen’s tales, such as the passive suffering of female characters in stories like The Little Mermaid and The Red Shoes.

4. Overshadowing of Andersen’s Religious and Theological Themes

• Some might criticize Bloom for downplaying the religious elements in Andersen’s work, dismissing his Christian sentiments as “sentimental” or “pagan.” This might be seen as a narrow view, ignoring the complexity of Andersen’s engagement with Christian theology and existential questions of faith.
• His remark, “Andersen’s art is pagan in nature,” may be criticized as oversimplifying the complex interplay between Christian and pagan themes in Andersen’s storytelling.

5. Resistance to Postmodern and Poststructuralist Readings

• Bloom’s approach, rooted in a traditional Romantic and psychoanalytic framework, might be seen as resistant to more contemporary postmodern or poststructuralist readings, which would focus on deconstructing the text’s language and narrative strategies.
• His focus on myth and archetypes, while valuable, could be seen as out of step with newer critical approaches that emphasize fluidity, fragmentation, and multiple interpretations of texts.

6. Lack of Attention to Andersen’s Folk and Popular Culture Sources

• Critics may argue that Bloom’s emphasis on Andersen’s literary precursors (such as Shakespeare and Goethe) neglects the importance of the folk and popular culture traditions that greatly influenced Andersen’s tales.
• By focusing on high literary influences, Bloom could be accused of sidelining the significance of oral storytelling traditions and folklore in shaping Andersen’s narrative style and themes.

7. Elitist Dismissal of Modern Popular Writers

• Bloom’s harsh criticism of contemporary authors like J.K. Rowling and Stephen King as “equally bad writers” could be viewed as elitist and dismissive of the cultural impact of popular literature.
• Critics might argue that Bloom’s literary taste is overly narrow, failing to recognize the value of diverse literary traditions and their role in engaging a wide audience.

8. Insufficient Engagement with Children’s Literature Scholarship

• While Bloom challenges the distinction between children’s literature and great writing, some may argue that his analysis lacks a nuanced engagement with scholarship on children’s literature as a field.
• His dismissal of the genre as merely “for extraordinarily intelligent children of all ages” might overlook critical discussions about how Andersen’s work fits within the broader discourse of children’s storytelling and education.

9. Psychological Reductionism

• Critics could accuse Bloom of reducing many of Andersen’s characters and stories to psychological conflicts, particularly sexual frustration and sublimation, which may not fully account for the narrative complexity or broader thematic concerns.
• His focus on psychoanalytic criticism may overshadow other interpretive possibilities, such as sociocultural, ecological, or historical readings of Andersen’s work.