SOURCE: "The Plays of H. C. Andersen," in Hans Christian Andersen and the Romantic Theatre: A Study of Stage Practices in the Prenaturalistic Scandinavian Theatre, University of Toronto Press, 1971, pp. 30-64.

In the excerpt below, Marker discusses Andersen 's often-neglected dramatic works, focusing on Andersen's early dramatic influences and arguing that his works form part of a significant bridge between the romanticism of the early part of the Century and the realism that later followed.

'In Denmark there is but one city and one theatre,' wrote Kierkegaard in 1848,¹ and his characteristic comment suggests the central place occupied by the Royal Theatre in nineteenth-century Danish culture and society. Architecturally as well as intellectually, it dominated the daily life of Copenhagen; it was 'the most important daily and nightly topic of conversation,' Andersen declared, and it 'ranked among the finest in Europe.'² It is no surprise, then...