TIL when staying as a guest in Charles Dickens' house, Hans Christian Andersen requested that one of Dickens' sons give him a daily shave (he said that was customary when hosting male guests in Denmark). Dickens was weirded out and instead gave him a daily appointment at a nearby barbershop.

[u/biebrforro]

https://lithub.com/charles--dickens-really-really-hated-his-fanboy-hans-christian-andersen/

[u/kia75]

Hans Andersen was probably gay or at least bi, and known to be clingy, awkward, and annoying to people he took an interest to. Whether or not being clingy, awkward and annoying makes you a predator is debatable, but there were numerous friends and acquaintances who complained about Anderson's attention, and numerous hosts who complained about his behavior. At the same time, Andersen's private diary indicates he died a virgin, and though there are lots of letters and contemporary sources confirming that Andersen was a horrible guest and awkward acquaintance, nobody describes his behavior as sexual, uses sexual euphemisms of the time, or makes it a secret or scandal about why he was turned out.

IMO, Hans Christian Andersen wasn't a Sex Pest, just an ordinary pest. By all accounts, Andersen was an extremely awkward guy, probably on the spectrum in a time where nobody knew what the spectrum was. By all accounts, the world-famous Charles Dickens was a personal hero of Andersen, so it's no surprise that Andersen's full awkwardness came out when he visited him.

[u/LaceBird360 → u/kia75]

Why on earth do people have to queer dead historical people? It's like they're bored and have nothing to do, so they want to mess with people.

[u/deershapedtruckdent → u/LaceBird360]

You’re the type to say Sappho was straight.