"The Red Shoes" (Danish: De røde sko) is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen first published … See more

After her mother's death, a peasant girl named Karen is adopted while still very young by a rich old lady and, as such, grows up vain and spoiled. Before her adoption, Karen had a roughly-made pair of red shoes; … See more

Andersen named the story's anti-heroine Karen after his own loathed half-sister, Karen Marie Andersen. The story is based on an incident Andersen witnessed as a small child. His father, who was a shoemaker… See more

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