The Ugly Duckling
Misjudged baby bird
A fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a homely bird mocked by other ducks who matures into a beautiful swan.
The story serves as shorthand for someone whose early awkwardness or unattractiveness gives way to later beauty or success: She was the ugly duckling of the family, but look at her now.
- swanLarge graceful waterbird
- transformationThorough change in form
- feathersBird's lightweight covering
- pondSmall still body
- fairy taleMagical children's narrative
Hans Christian Andersen · Andersen · fairy tale ending · bullied · outcast · beauty · coming of age · late bloomer · flock · nest · cygnets · rejected · graceful · mockery · loneliness · belonging · metamorphosis · reflection
- Andersen TalesThe Snow Queen, Thumbelina, The Wild Swans, The Nightingale, tin soldier
- Transformation TalesBeauty and the Beast, The Frog Prince, Swan Lake, Pinocchio, werewolf story
- Danish literatureHans Christian Andersen, Thumbelina, The Snow Queen, The Red Shoes, Kierkegaard
- Nordic talestrolls, selkies, Hans Christian Andersen, Astrid Lindgren, Moomin
- bedtime storiesGoodnight Moon, storybook, fairy tale, lullaby, storytime
- ScandinavianDenmark, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Norse mythology, Icelandic sagas
The Ugly DucklingThe Picture of Dorian Gray
Novel about eternal youth's cost
fall from grace · riches to rags · Dorian Gray · fallen angel · Paradise Lost
The Ugly Ducklinggolden child
Family's most favored member
natural · chosen one · crown prince · heir apparent · prom queen
The Ugly Ducklingwolf in sheep's clothing
Concealed threat appearing innocent
Dorian Gray · gilded cage · Potemkin village · fool's gold · snake in the grass
ugly, uglier, ugliest, ugliness, duck, ducks, duckling, ducklings, ducked