The Little Match Girl in English | Stories for Teenagers | @EnglishFairyTales

English Fairy Tales

20 Jul 201707:48

Summary

TLDROn a snowy New Year's Eve, a poor little girl named Mary struggles to sell matches. Hungry and cold, she lights matches to warm herself, experiencing visions of warmth and food. As her last match burns, she is comforted by the apparition of her deceased grandmother, who takes her to heaven, ending her suffering.

Takeaways

🎇 The story is set on New Year's Eve in a snowy city.
👧 The protagonist is a young girl selling matches.
❄️ The girl is cold and has been out since morning without selling any matches.
🍰 She sees others enjoying food and warmth, but she is hungry and cold.
👵 Her grandmother is ill and her mother sends her out to sell matches to get food.
🥿 She loses one of her mother's slippers and continues barefoot.
🔥 She lights matches for warmth and to escape her harsh reality.
🪄 Each match she lights reveals a comforting illusion, such as a warm stove or a festive table.
🌌 When she lights a match, she sees a falling star and fears for her grandmother's life.
👵 Her grandmother appears to her through the matches, offering comfort.
🌟 The girl and her grandmother ascend to heaven, symbolizing her death and escape from suffering.

Q & A

What is the setting of the story?
-The story is set in a city on New Year's Eve.
Who is the main character of the story?
-The main character is a little beautiful girl named Mary.
What was Mary's occupation?
-Mary was a match seller, trying to sell matches on the roadside.
Why was Mary selling matches?
-Mary was selling matches to earn money for food because her family was poor and her grandmother was ill.
What was the weather like during the story?
-It was snowing, and the cold was quite piercing.
Why was Mary barefoot?
-Mary was wearing her mother's slippers, but one of them broke, and she couldn't retrieve the other from the gutter.
What did Mary see when she lit her first match?
-When Mary lit her first match, she saw an iron stove that made her feel warm.
What happened when Mary lit her second match?
-The wall next to her turned transparent, allowing her to see a beautifully decorated house with a family having a meal.
What did Mary see when she saw a roasted goose in the house?
-Mary saw a roasted goose, and it appeared to come towards her, making her feel happy due to her hunger.
What did Mary wish for when she saw her grandmother after lighting a match?
-Mary wished for her grandmother to take her away from her cold, hungry, and scared situation.
How did Mary die?
-Mary froze to death in the cold night, and in the morning, she was found by people who felt pity for her.
What is the moral or message of the story?
-The story conveys the harsh realities of poverty and the innocence of a child's imagination as a means of escape from a difficult life.