The Princess and the Pea- refutation

The Princess and the Pea was written by a famous and renowned author: Hans Christian Anderson. It has received much popular praise, contrary to its misleading and artificial story-line. This story does not just give the impression that a perspective wife needs to be absolutely perfect, but also that people can be put to an unimportant test and be judged, for good or bad, based on the results. Life does not work like that. In this fairy-tale Anderson has given an inaccurate and foolish view of life. Who needs to be exposed to such unhelpful ideas?

There was a prince who was very busy looking for a princess to marry. He was never satisfied with the girls that he watched and talked to--they always had a flaw that made them imperfect; he must have a faultless wife. After deciding there was not a girl in all of his part of the country that he wanted marry, he left his home and went in search of the ideal wife. His journey was fruitless. He traveled back home and was very disappointed because he had not found a true princess, in all the land, that would suit him. One night as a storm was raging, the king heard a tapping on the door. The door was opened and there stood a young lady who claimed to be a princess. The queenly mother at once took the girl, cleaned her up, dressed her in a courtly gown, and sent her off to chat with her son. Meanwhile she placed a pea under 20 mattresses and 20 quilts. Next morning, when asked, the young lady said that she had not slept one wink that night because there was something hard in her bed (she actually had bruises to attest to the fact). By hearing this account, the prince knew right away that she was a true princess and the perfect match for him. They married as soon as possible and lived happily ever after.

There are many parts of this unbelievable fairy-story that could not possibly have happened. First off, is it realistic that a princess would be out at night, by herself? No. She would be surrounded by attendants and courtly rules preventing her from being outside alone, not to mention in the evening and during a storm. Suppose for some odd reason a princess did find herself alone at night in a storm. How likely would it be that the girl would actually make her way to another castle (probably quite a distance from her home). She would not. Secondly, how could a simple test reveal the true character of a person? If some how a person’s moral nature could be defined by a quick experiment, what is the possibility of the Queen’s pea working? A pea is a soft vegetable; when 20 mattresses and 20 quilts are pilled on top, would not the pea get smashed? Imagine that the pea does not get smashed and is able to make a big enough lump that sleeping on it was impossible. By what standard does the fact that the girl felt a tiny object in her bed mean that the she is a princess? It cannot. How then can the story be read and admired, if the beginning is so fictitiously flawed?

Having been shown full of faults, The Princess and the Pea is unsuitable for people--especially children--to read. To be worth reading a narrative needs to be profitable or beneficial to the reader; this fairy-tale is neither but instead, unwholesome. Since the purpose of writing is to persuade an audience to change or do something, think of the how the readers will be effected by this strange way of looking at the world and life in general. It will have negative effects on them and future generations. To end the discussion on this disagreeable subject, let it be said that Anderson’s fairy-story should not be read or considered grand.