The Tragedies of the Little Match Girl

I remember my first English Literature text in my middle school – The Little Match Girl. A well-known classic by Hans Christian Anderson, it depicts the hopes of an innocent, young girl who sells matchsticks on a freezing winter evening. The most well-known interpretation of this story relates to the indifference of society towards child labour, upon commencement of the Industrial Revolution. However, many fail to cast light on the real ordeals of the poor protagonist herself – what her fantasies and dreams actually indicate about her physical and mental health.

A 19th Century illustration of the little match girl¹

Historical Context

Sure. The setting plays a pivotal role in understanding the little girl’s position in society. The rapid industrialization of urban areas created a high demand for cheap, unskilled labour. Through the exploitation of the working class men, women, and often children, the middle class was able to accumulate wealth that would last generations.

From the perspective of the modern audience, it is puzzling why children were favoured as factory labour. Besides it being an unethical, immoral practice, it is a given that children are physically unable to do the same hard labour as efficiently as a full-grown man.

As preposterous as it may sound like, children were considered to be more cost-effective compared to their adult counterparts, the main reason being that they could be easily controlled and manipulated. This meant that there were less risks of worker strikes and complaints, thus allowing the employers to easily monopolise the profits made.

The Silent Murder of the Little Match Girls

The story of The Little Match Girl focuses on the matchstick industry. Most of the manual labour in the industry included young women due to their small, dexterous hands suited for the job.

The silent murder of the girls began in the early 19th Century. The discovery of white phosphorous (then known as yellow phosphorous; henceforth WP) made matches to be ignited more easily. This subsequently increased the demand for matchsticks, making the industry profitable.

Today, it is a well-known fact that WP is toxic. The International Berne Convention bans WP matches, and the use of it in chemical warfare is considered a war crime.

The Medical Crisis

The harsh working conditions of the 19th Century did nothing to protect the girls from the toxic chemical. They had to handle the matches dipped into the white phosphorous barehanded, and inhaled the vapourised chemical without any filter. This way, WP easily reached their teeth and jaw, causing terrible abscesses and disfigurement of their visages.

This affliction, also known as Phosphorous Necrosis, became known as the ‘phossy jaw‘. Its common symptoms included: severe pains, disfigurement of the jaw, brain damage, and the gums developing an eerie green glow. According to various sources in the RCS collection of tracts and pamphlets, most victims were women under the age of 30 who were subjected to child labour.

Illustrations of the phossy jaw and the factory environment²

It is estimated that about 11% of the factory workers exposed to WP fumes developed this condition; they could also access only a limited scope of medical treatments. Despite the enhancements in industrial processes, medical techniques remained rudimentary at the time. Most often, phossy jaws were treated by removing the affected teeth, or the entire lower jaw. However, the success rates of these surgeries were low, and patients usually died within 3 months following the development of the condition.

In the late 19th Century, workers began to recognize the gravity of the situation and decided to take matters into their own hands. Human rights activists such as Annie Beasant publicized the brutal exploitative methods used by large industrialists, calling the practice a ‘white slavery’. Since then, phossy jaws were no longer considered only a medical problem. Rather, it increasingly became a widespread social concern until the British government banned WP in 1910.

A Censored Reality

Though not explicitly mentioned, it is evident in The Little Match Girl that the protagonist suffers from multiple health afflictions. Most significantly, her malnourished, small figure is best suited to bringing out sympathy from us readers.

In most, if not every, version of the story, phossy jaws are not described, or even mentioned. However, in both historical and medical contexts, much evidence points to the fact that she was indeed a victim of white phosphorous matches.

The reasoning is simple: her visions when she lights each matchstick.

Optimistically, it could be her innocent hopes manifesting in her imagination. When regarded with pessimistic realism, however, this is an indirect reference to the brain damage caused by the chemical: she was hallucinating.

**Why is The Little Match Girl significant today?**

Regardless of whether or not the girl actually had the phossy jaw, this story poses a powerful indictment on modern society. Anderson perhaps saw the diminishing of human dignity following the boom in industrial productivity in the Industrial Revolution.

Today’s society is no different. Profit motives drive companies – both big and small, multinational and domestic – to exploit cheap capital. With the rapid advancement of technology, the incomes of unskilled laborers are diminishing. It is our task as global citizens to sever this vicious cycle of poverty, and build on an inclusive and sustainable development.

The STEAM Blog