History TearJerker / HansChristianAndersen

* ''The Story Of A Mother'', which is so heart-wrenching that it has been known to make people cry just with a ''plot summary''...

* "The Fir Tree", in which said tree envies the beauty of Christmas trees--but when it is chosen, after Christmas it dies alone and forgotten in an attic, [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath is promptly chopped up and thrown in the fire]].
* [[http://hca.gilead.org.il/bottle_n.html "The Bottle Neck"]] is an achingly sad story about the life of a glass bottle, which we first meet as just the bottle neck, used by a poor {{old maid}} as a drinking glass for her pet bird. As the bottle recounts its adventures, we see it was filled with wine and used to celebrate the betrothal of a young couple, then sent with the young man as he went to sea, then used as the bottle of a message-in-a-bottle as the ship went down, which was found but the locals couldn't read it... and on and on. By the time the bottle is just the bottle neck, the poor old maid is the same woman who was the young betrothed wife, never knowing what happened to her beloved and why he never came home.
* "The Daisy" is so over-the-top sad that it probably becomes {{Glurge}} for many. It's a [[ItMakesSenseInContext love story about a daisy and a lark]]. In the end, some kids catch the lark and put him in a cage, along with some turf (including the daisy) to line it, but they forget to give him any water, so he dies in agony from thirst, while refusing to harm the daisy to get any moisture. The kids hold a funeral for the lark, and the daisy mourns more than anyone else, but she's tossed out to die on the side of the road.

* "Literature/{{The Shadow|Fairy Tale}}", in which a man's LivingShadow gains a life of its own and becomes his EvilTwin. In the end, he manages to have the original man executed and take over his life. Jesus, Herre Andersen, ''what were you thinking''?! [[TrueArtIsAngsty It's made worse because they're all so beautiful]].
* ''Literature/TheLittleMatchGirl.'' The story is that of a little girl selling matches in a snowy village, and no one will pay even the slightest bit of attention to her. But if she returns home without having sold any matches, [[AbusiveParents she'll be beaten.]] So she instead retreats to a deserted back alley, where she ends up using the matches to keep herself warm until she runs out. [[DownerEnding The following morning only her frozen corpse is left behind.]] [[EsotericHappyEnding But hey, at least she gets to go to Heaven with her grandmother]].

* "Literature/TheUglyDuckling" has the titular duckling becoming so miserable that he throws himself at a flock of swans and [[SuicideByCop asks them to kill him]]. Granted, the happy ending is still there, but damn...

* ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'' --the nameless mermaid is condemned to Purgatory, [[{{Anvilicious}} and each time she hears a parent laugh from a good child, she gets years taken off; but each time she hears parents weeping over a bad child, she gets more time.]]
** [[Film/MaryPoppins P.L. Travers]] wrote an essay about fairy-stories in which she rakes Andersen over the coals for that, but good. "'But a year taken off when a child behaves and a tear shed and a day added whenever a child is naughty? Andersen, this is blackmail. And the children know it and say nothing. There's magnanimity for you."
** The mermaid's unrequited love for the prince she rescued, generally speaking. She rescues the prince, but he falls in love with the princess of a neighbouring kingdom, whom he believes rescued him. When the two set out to get married, the prince invites the mermaid, thinking that she wants to share in his happiness. However, she is heartbroken over the entire ordeal and she gets pushed to [[IfICantHaveYou kill the prince so she could use his blood to turn back into a mermaid]]. Yet, she could not bear to see the deed through so she throws the knife away and jumps into the ocean, turning into sea foam.
*** The morning after, the prince and the princess search in vain for the mermaid, then they sadly look at the sea, as if they knew she threw herself there. This suggests that they were genuinely fond of the mermaid, and were saddened to learn that she is nowhere to be found.

* The original version of "Literature/TheUglyDuckling" has the titular duckling becoming so miserable that he throws himself at a flock of swans and [[SuicideByCop asks them to kill him]]. Granted, the happy ending is still there, but damn...

* The ''[[OlderThanTheyThink original]]'' "Literature/TheLittleMermaid", before {{Disneyfication}}[[note]]though it's been said that, back when Walt Disney was alive, he wanted to do ''The Little Mermaid'' the way Anderson had it, but thought the ending would depress people, so he scrapped it[[/note]]--the nameless mermaid is condemned to Purgatory, [[{{Anvilicious}} and each time she hears a parent laugh from a good child, she gets years taken off; but each time she hears parents weeping over a bad child, she gets more time.]]

* "Literature/TheShadow", in which a man's LivingShadow gains a life of its own and becomes his EvilTwin. In the end, he manages to have the original man executed and take over his life. Jesus, Herre Andersen, ''what were you thinking''?! [[TrueArtIsAngsty It's made worse because they're all so beautiful]].

* "The Daisy" is so over-the-top sad that it probably becomes {{Glurge}} for many. It's [[ItMakesSenseInContext love story about a daisy and a lark]]. In the end, some kids catch the lark and put him in a cage, along with some turf (including the daisy) to line it, but they forget to give him any water, so he dies in agony from thirst, while refusing to harm the daisy to get any moisture. The kids hold a funeral for the lark, and the daisy mourns more than anyone else, but she's tossed out to die on the side of the road.

* The original version of "Literature/TheUglyDuckling" has the titular duckling becoming so miserable that he throws himself at a flock of swans and [[SuicideByCop asks them to kill him]]. Granted, the happy ending is still there, but damn...

* ''Literature/TheLittleMatchGirl.'' The story is that of a little girl selling matches in a snowy village, and no one will pay even the slightest bit of attention to her. But if she returns home without having sold any matches, [[AbusiveParents she'll be beaten.]] So she instead retreats to a deserted back alley, where she ends up using the matches to keep herself warm until she runs out. [[spoiler: [[DownerEnding The following morning only her frozen corpse is left behind.]]]]
** [[spoiler: Well, it's more of a BittersweetEnding . She does go to heaven to be with her grandmother.]]

* [[http://hca.gilead.org.il/bottle_n.html "The Bottle Neck"]] is an achingly sad story about the life of a glass bottle, which we first meet as just the bottle neck, used by a poor {{old maid}} as a drinking glass for her pet bird. As the bottle recounts its adventures, we see it was filled with wine and used to celebrate the betrothal of a young couple, then sent with the young man as he went to sea, then used as the bottle of a message-in-a-bottle as the ship went down, which was found but the locals couldn't read it... and on and on. By the time the bottle is just the bottle neck, the poor old maid is the same woman who was the young betrothed wife, never knowing what happened to her beloved and why he never came home.

** [[spoiler: Wel, it's more of a BittersweetEnding . She does go to heaven to be with her grandmother.]]

** [[MaryPoppins P.L. Travers]] wrote an essay about fairy-stories in which she rakes Andersen over the coals for that, but good. "'But a year taken off when a child behaves and a tear shed and a day added whenever a child is naughty? Andersen, this is blackmail. And the children know it and say nothing. There's magnanimity for you."

* [[http://hca.gilead.org.il/bottle_n.html "The Bottle Neck"]] is an achingly sad story about the life of a glass bottle, which we first meet as just the bottle neck, used by a poor {{old maid}} as a drinking glass for her pet bird. As the bottle recounts its adventures, we see it was filled with wine and used to celebrate the betrothal of a young couple, then sent with the young man as he went to sea, then used as the bottle of a message-in-a-bottle as the ship went down, which was found but the locals couldn't read it...and on and on. By the time the bottle is just the bottle neck, the poor old maid is the same woman who was the young betrothed wife, never knowing what happened to her beloved and why he never came home.

* The ''[[OlderThanTheyThink original]]'' "Literature/TheLittleMermaid", before {{Disneyfication}}--the nameless mermaid is condemned to Purgatory, [[{{Anvilicious}} and each time she hears a parent laugh from a good child, she gets years taken off; but each time she hears parents weeping over a bad child, she gets more time.]]

* ''Literature/TheLittleMatchGirl.'' The story is that of a little girl selling matches in a snowy Russian village, and no one will pay even the slightest bit of attention to her. But if she returns home without having sold any matches, [[AbusiveParents she'll be beaten.]] So she instead retreats to a deserted back alley, where she ends up using the matches to keep herself warm until she runs out. [[spoiler: [[DownerEnding The following morning only her frozen corpse is left behind.]]]]

* ''The Little Match Girl.'' The story is that of a little girl selling matches in a snowy Russian village, and no one will pay even the slightest bit of attention to her. But if she returns home without having sold any matches, [[AbusiveParents she'll be beaten.]] So she instead retreats to a deserted back alley, where she ends up using the matches to keep herself warm until she runs out. [[spoiler: [[DownerEnding The following morning only her frozen corpse is left behind.]]]]

* Creator/HansChristianAndersen
** ''The Story Of A Mother'', which is so heart-wrenching that it has been known to make people cry just with a ''plot summary''...
** The ''[[OlderThanTheyThink original]]'' "Literature/TheLittleMermaid", before {{Disneyfication}}--the nameless mermaid is condemned to Purgatory, [[{{Anvilicious}} and each time she hears a parent laugh from a good child, she gets years taken off; but each time she hears parents weeping over a bad child, she gets more time.]]
*** [[MaryPoppins P.L. Travers]] wrote an essay about fairy-stories in which she rakes Andersen over the coals for that, but good. "'But a year taken off when a child behaves and a tear shed and a day added whenever a child is naughty? Andersen, this is blackmail. And the children know it and say nothing. There's magnanimity for you."
** "The Fir Tree", in which said tree envies the beauty of Christmas trees--but when it is chosen, after Christmas it dies alone and forgotten in an attic, [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath is promptly chopped up and thrown in the fire]].
** "Literature/TheShadow", in which a man's LivingShadow gains a life of its own and becomes his EvilTwin. In the end, he manages to have the original man executed and take over his life. Jesus, Herre Andersen, ''what were you thinking''?! [[TrueArtIsAngsty It's made worse because they're all so beautiful]].
** ''The Little Match Girl.'' The story is that of a little girl selling matches in a snowy Russian village, and no one will pay even the slightest bit of attention to her. But if she returns home without having sold any matches, [[AbusiveParents she'll be beaten.]] So she instead retreats to a deserted back alley, where she ends up using the matches to keep herself warm until she runs out. [[spoiler: [[DownerEnding The following morning only her frozen corpse is left behind.]]]]