The Princess and the Pea

Story

One dark and stormy night a stranger knocks on the palace door, claiming to be a real princess. The prince and his mother, the old queen, have been searching for a princess for the prince to marry. The princess is led to a bed with twenty mattresses piled high. This bed, for some reason, is highly uncomfortable.

Why we chose it

The Princess and the Pea is one of Hans Christian Andersen’s best known tales and has been retold and reimagined many times in many different forms.

Where it came from

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a Danish author, most famous for his fairy tales. The Princess and the Pea is one of his best known stories, perhaps based on a Swedish folk tale Princess Who Lay on Seven Peas. Many of Andersen’s fairy tales were based on stories he heard as a child, which he retold in a chatty, informal style. Andersen also during his lifetime had a short friendship with Charles Dickens, author of Oliver Twist (1837-9) and A Christmas Carol (1843).

Where it went next

The Princess and the Pea was actually received fairly negatively at first, and sold badly. Critics at the time disliked Andersen’s chatty style. It was first translated into English in 1846 by Charles Boner, who famously changed the ending to the annoyance of some critics. There have been several musicals based on The Princess and the Pea, as well as an animation film in 2002. There have been many different retellings of the story, resulting in many versions over the centuries.

It was one of the stories included in Emma Rice’s The Little Match Girl and Other Happier Tales, where the snobbery of the Prince leads him to lose not win the hand of the princess.

Associated stories

Other famous fairy tales written by Hans Christian Andersen include The Little Mermaid (1837), The Little Match Girl (1845), Thumbelina (1835) and The Ugly Duckling.

Mini Grey wrote and illustrated a beautiful alternative picture book telling, The Pea and the Princess in which the story is told by the pea.

In the museum

Look for the pea in one of the windows as you walk past the museum along Pembroke St.