Published in 1845, Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" is a fairy tale about an impoverished girl who, afraid to return to her violent family after not having sold any matches, strikes matches which induce hallucinations of her desires for warmth, food, prosperity, and love as she succumbs to hypothermia. From the girl's point of view, she ascends to heaven to be with her dead grandmother, while passersby see her dead body and assume she lit so many matches in an attempt to stay warm.
One of Andersen's better-known fairy tales, "The Little Match Girl" has been adapted many times for the screen, including an Oscar-nominated Disney short film released in 2006.
