The ugly duckling
August 18th, 2008 | by Ben Hoare |
‘The Ugly Duckling‘ was originally told by Hans Christian Andersen - and, if Jackie Wullschlager’s biography of the writer is to believed - the story is partly autobiographical.
In the story, a cygnet, shunned by the other animals because of his ugliness, matures into a beautiful swan, eventually getting the respect he deserves.
We can describe the ugly duckling story in more general terms: an ordinary or lowly protagonist discovers that he or she has extraordinary origins, and eventually finds his or her true place in society.
It’s a common pattern, particulary in stories for children. See, for example:
Escapism
The ugly duckling story is popular, I believe, because it performs one of the possible functions of fantasy: escapism.
In a general sense, fantasy can help us to escape the confines of ordinary life. In a more specific sense, the ugly duckling story gives us a protagonist we can identify with - a completely ordinary (or duller than ordinary) character - then breaks the boundaries of what we imagine possible for such an ordinary person.
Perhaps we want to be the ugly duckling, or perhaps we just enjoy being told the story of something exciting happening to an ordinary person.
Rags to riches
The ugly duckling story is just one branch of the so-called “rags to riches” family. All branches follow the same mechanism, whereby the ordinary protagonist achieves a higher status. But different stories present different explanations for this elevation.
In the ugly duckling story, the change is owing to the protagonist’s noble origins, which are revealed as he or she grows up.
Other versions of the “rags to riches” story present mechanisms such as:
- The protagonist succeeds by revealing his inner beauty or nobility, showing that what is on the surface doesn’t matter.
- The protagonist earns his new status by completing a quest, or working hard.
- The protagonist acquires his new status through luck.
In some ways, the ugly duckling story is the least satisfying of all of these.
While appearing to defy traditional social boundaries, the ugly duckling story actually reasserts them: the cygnet only acquires his new status because of his origins - because he actually belongs to the elite anyway. It’s a passive kind of success, with no real action required on the part of the cygnet.
This problem also poses a wider question: do things happen to us because of who we are, or because of what we do?
That cygnet was lucky - he was always going to end up as a swan. But what about the other ugly animals? What about the worms and rats, and bats, and llamas? Or these guys? How will they make their way in life?
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