The Little Match Girl Free

This tragic short story paints a dismal picture of life for the poor in the s but also carries with it that grim hope of a fairy tale with visions of huge Christmas trees and shooting stars appearing before the young match girl—her dying wishes and dreams. Anderson's "The Little Match Girl" is not far from classic fairy tales by the Brothers' Grimm—they both share a certain darkness to their content, a melancholic and an often morbid obsession with consequences for actions or for merely existing. It's an often studied piece in academic circles. In "The Little Match Girl," Anderson's titular character dies by the end of the piece, but the story is much more about the perseverance of hope. In these sparse, unforgiving lines, Hans Christian Andersen packs so much simple beauty and hope: The Little Match Girl girl is cold, barefoot, and poor—without a friend in the world it seems —but she is not without hope. She dreams The Little Match Girl warmth and light, of a time when she will be surrounded by love, and filled with happiness. It's so far outside of the realm of her current experience that most of us would have long since given up such dreams, but she holds on. Still, the harsh realities of poverty haunt the little girl's reality—she must sell a match for fear of being beaten by her father upon returning home and this fear propels her to stay outside all night, which ultimately leads to her death by hypothermia. Thanks to its brevity and delicate approach to the topic of death, "The Little Match Girl" serves as a great tool, like most fairy tales, to teach children important lessons about the tougher topics in life like death and loss as well as social issues like poverty and charity. We may not want to think about the horrible things that happen every day, and it's certainly hard to explain such things to our children. It does seem, though, that we can often learn the greatest The Little Match Girl from the children—in how they deal with the most hopeless situations. In those final moments, this little girl sees visions The Little Match Girl splendor. She sees hope. But, her passing—punctuated by the shooting of a star in the night sky—is tragic and troubling. Fortunately, there have also been many adaptations of this short piece by Hans Christian Anderson including several animated and live action short films which provide an easier way for children to access the themes of this brilliant short work of fiction. Share Flipboard Email. Esther Lombardi. Literature Expert. Esther Lombardi, M. Updated January 20, ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. By using ThoughtCo, The Little Match Girl accept our. "The Little Matchstic Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen

In The Little Match Girl cold and darkness walked a little girl. She was poor and both her head and feet were bare. Oh, she had had a pair of slippers when she left home; but they The Little Match Girl been too big for her—in truth, they had belonged to her mother. The little one had lost them while hurrying across the street to get out of the way of two carriages that had been driving along awfully fast. One of the slippers she could not find, and the other had been snatched by a boy who, laughingly, shouted that he would use it as a cradle when he had a child of his own. The snowflakes fell on her long yellow hair that curled so prettily at the neck, but to such things she never gave a thought. From every window of every house, light shone, and one could smell the geese roasting all the way out in the street. Besides, her home was almost as cold as the street. She lived in an attic, right under a tile roof. The wind whistled through it, even though they had tried to close the worst of the holes and cracks with straw and old rags. Her grandmother, who was dead, was the only person who had ever loved or been kind to the child; and she had told her that a shooting star was the soul of a human being traveling to God. She struck yet another match against the wall and in its blaze she saw her grandmother, so sweet, so blessedly kind. I know you will disappear when the match goes out, just like the warm stove, the goose, and the beautiful Christmas tree. And the matches burned with such a clear, strong flame that the night became as light as day. Never had her grandmother looked so beautiful. She lifted the little girl in her arms and The Little Match Girl with her to where there is neither cold nor The Little Match Girl nor fear: up to God. In the cold morning the The Little Match Girl girl was found. Her cheeks were red and she was smiling. She was dead. She had frozen to death on the last evening of the old year. And no one knew the sweet visions she had seen, or in what glory she and her grandmother had passed into a truly new year. The Little Match Girl. Plot Summary. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of every Shakespeare play. Sign Up. Already have The Little Match Girl account? Sign in. From the creators of The Little Match Girl, something better. Sign In Sign Up. Literature Poetry Lit Terms Shakescleare. Download this LitChart! The Little Match Girl and parents! Struggling with distance learning? Themes All Themes. Symbols All Symbols. Theme Wheel. To make matters worse, the Little Match Girl has lost both her slippers, so her feet are naked on the cold ground, and her hands are so cold that they are almost numb. Eventually, she becomes so cold and hungry that she decides to light The Little Match Girl of her matches to warm her hands. In the light of that match and the subsequent ones she strikesshe has visions: an indoor fireplace to warm her feet, a holiday feast, a bright-lit Christmas tree. The Little Match Girl is surrounded by the light, wealth, and food of those around her, but nobody thinks to share with her or help this vulnerable member of the community, and even her own father prioritizes her ability to make money over her wellbeing, which leads to her death. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:. The Little Match Girl Quotes. Related Themes: The Cruelty of Poverty. Page Number and Citation : Cite this Quote. Explanation and Analysis:. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Earlier in the day, the girl The little girl sits on a street corner against a building. Although The Little Match Girl is getting colder, she does She holds her hands over the warm, The little girl strikes another match, and when the flame hits the wall of the building, the wall She implores Cite This Page. Home About Story Contact Help. LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie PolicyPrivacy Policyand Terms of Service. Previous Characters. Next Grandmother. The Little Matchgirl | Disney Wiki | Fandom

Build up your Halloween Watchlist with our list of the most popular horror titles on Netflix in October. See the list. Title: The Little Match Girl A small girl makes her living selling matches on the streets of New York. It's winter, and the hustling crowds at best ignore her, and some are outright rude. She takes shelter and, to try to stave off the cold a bit, lights a match. It gets blown out; this happens again, then on the third try, she falls into a dream. In this dream, cherubs attend her, she gets a new doll, then a new dress. The cherubs put her on a throne. Then a storm comes, and she goes toward a candle. That candle goes out, and we see that back in the real world, so did her match and her life. An The Little Match Girl comes along and takes her soul. I was fortunate enough to get hold of a Super-8mm sound copy of this animated masterpiece. Every time I watch it I promise myself I won't choke up, but it gets to me every time and I'm not emotional as a rule. That any film, regardless of subject matter or style, can still grip the emotions so strongly after sixty-odd years says something about the talents that combined to make it. It excels on so many levels: One could watch it once for its gorgeous use of color, once for The Little Match Girl visual concepts, once for its story - suffice it to say that it's a film I've never stopped discovering. And since it tells its story with no dialog, its appeal is truly universal. Looking for something to watch? Choose an adventure below and discover your next favorite movie or TV show. Visit our What to Watch page. Sign In. Keep track of everything The Little Match Girl watch; tell your friends. Full Cast and Crew. Release Dates. Official Sites. Company Credits. Technical Specs. Plot Summary. Plot Keywords. Parents Guide. External Sites. User Reviews. User Ratings. External Reviews. Metacritic Reviews. Photo Gallery. Trailers and Videos. Crazy Credits. Alternate Versions. Rate This. She takes shelter and, to try Directors: Arthur DavisSid Marcus uncredited. Added to Watchlist. The Best Horror Movies on Netflix. Seen Films s. All Movies Nominated for an Academy Award. Oscar Best Film. Early Color Feature Films. Use the HTML below. You must The Little Match Girl a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for 1 Oscar. Photos Add Image. Edit Storyline A The Little Match Girl girl makes her living selling matches on the streets of New York. Edit Did You Know? User Reviews Hasn't aged a day; still works stunningly well! Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report this. Add the first question. Language: English. Runtime: 8 min. Color: Color Technicolor. Edit page. October Streaming Picks. Back to School Picks. Clear your history.