The Red Shoes
The enchanted red shoes of Andersen's tale of Karen, a proud village girl who wants shoes finer than her station. Once she puts them on they carry her dancing without rest, over fields and thorns and into the church, until she begs the executioner to cut off her feet, and only after years of humble repentance does she find peace. The tale, rooted in the strict dress codes of village life, made fine shoes a symbol of vanity punished, and it has been read ever since as a warning about pride and desire. It is one of Andersen's darkest tales.