“The Ugly Duckling” and Standards of Beauty Today
Jennifer Murrish
Kaplan University HU300-01RP682
“The Ugly Duckling” and Standards of Beauty Today
Of all the stories I have heard throughout the years there is one that I can think of which really stands out in my mind. The story I chose is, “The Ugly Duckling” by Hans Christian Anderson, first published in Denmark, November 11, 1843. This story has an amazing moral and always tends to make me emotional every time I hear it, and has touched my heart since the first time I heard it when I was a child. Even though this story was published close to 170 years ago the concept is one that is still an issue within our society today. Gender roles can be described as, “the way acceptable…show more content… Winter was coming and he was alone through a harsh cold, he swam during the day and at night he would have a spot where he had to constantly kick his feet to keep his hole from freezing. He was so exhausted one night he gave up and became stuck in the frozen lake. A man passing by seen the ugly duckling frozen in the hole and saved him and took him home. There the children were mean to him and tried to hurt him so he escaped and flew away until he found another water spot to live. He noticed the beautiful birds that lived there but he did not care if they accepted him or not, he was tired and just wanted to rest.
Alone and amongst the reeds winter had finally passed and spring time was a welcomed sight. He finally found the courage to swim out amongst the beautiful birds and went over to them. To his surprise the birds, which were swans, came up to him and began rubbing their heads on his and showed him affection and attention like he had never known before. Looking at his reflection in the water he saw that he had turned from the ugliest duckling into a beautiful swan. At the very end of the story he thinks to himself, how an ugly duckling like him could grow to be so beautiful and finally be happy? He was happy, finally. The moral of this story that how a person looks on the outside is not as important as how a person is on the inside, outer beauty is nothing compared to inner beauty. As I mentioned before the
