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Chapter 1
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Danish Girl, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gender Transitioning
Self-Transformation
Freedom and Constraint
Love and Acceptance
Courage
Loss and Grief
Summary
Analysis
Greta is six years Einar’s junior. She was born in California into a dynasty made wealthy by citrus groves. She and her family—father, Mr. Apsley Waud, Jr.; mother, Mrs. Waud; and twin brother Carlisle—moved to Denmark when Greta was 10 because Mr. Waud had accepted a post at the American embassy there. His mother was Danish. As a girl, Greta was self-assured and independent—she has what she considers a “Western spine” that makes her ready for anything. Especially in comparison to her brother Carlisle, who is disabled from a childhood accident. She enjoyed the attention she got from handsome young men—even those well below her social station, like the butcher’s delivery boy—but she hated the idea of having to get married and settle down.
The description of Greta’s childhood illustrates her courage and independence and shows how she bristles at—and enjoys circumventing—social expectations and norms. This in turn gives context to her relationship with Einar, particularly her support of him. She doesn’t care what others think about her or her decisions. Moreover, she values autonomy—something her relationship with Einar allows her to retain—over almost everything else. It’s clear that he doesn’t tell her what to do.
Active
Themes
Greta was 17 in the fall of 1914, when she enrolled at the Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen and met Professor Einar Wegener. Greta found her shy, awkward professor fascinating, and she almost immediately began to pursue him. He always turned down her social invitations. Eventually, she stopped giving him a choice, insisting that he would escort her to her upcoming 18th birthday party. He tried to decline, but when she took his face into her hands and kissed him, he unexpectedly kissed her back. But before the party happened, Mr. Waud, worried that the fighting between France and Germany might reach Denmark, sent his family back to California.
Greta resisted the idea of being confined by a traditional marriage but her relationship with Einar isn’t traditional in any way. She is the active party, pursuing him, rather than the other way around. This is part of what makes their relationship work and what lays the solid foundation of trust and intimacy they have many years later, when Lili begins to express herself.
Active
Themes
But by the spring of 1925, when Lili first appears, Greta and Einar have been married for six years. At first, Lili feels like a secret and Greta is unsure how to broach the topic until Einar confesses that he’s been thinking about her. Greta invites Lili to come back. Several days later, Greta comes home from an appointment to find Lili, clad in a blue dress, sitting in the studio with Edvard IV on her lap. She’s reading a book and barely acknowledges Greta. Eventually, Greta withdraws to give Lili privacy and when she comes home again, she finds Einar hard at work in the studio. He says Lili was there for less than an hour. Her perfume—which smells of mint and milk—still hangs in the air.
Active
Themes
The annual Artist’s Ball takes place every June. Einar had previously made it clear that he wasn’t interested in going, but one night when they’re at the theater for a performance of Tristan and Iseult (in which Anna is singing the role of Iseult’s maid), Greta asks if Lili wants to come instead. Einar doesn’t answer. But the next day, after Greta returns from an errand, Einar accepts the invitation on Lili’s behalf.
Active
Themes
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Lili’s visits become more frequent. But she is painfully shy and mostly communicates with Greta through little notes left around the apartment. She worries about excluding Einar from the ball and frets that she’s not pretty enough. Greta tries to reassure her.
Active
Themes
To pave the way for Lili’s public debut, Greta has told friends and acquaintances that the Wegeners are expecting a visit from Einar’s female cousin. She’s a little annoyed that Einar struggles to help maintain this story, always acting surprised when people ask about his cousin. Greta resents having to protect Lili’s secret alone. But she doesn’t mention it to Einar, because she’s afraid of losing him.
Active
Themes
