1. We're told that the nameless "scholar" of this tale has come from the "the colder north" to a "hot country," so hot indeed that he and his shadow shrank by day, only returning to normal after sundown. What do you see as the significance of this contrast of climates?
2. Early on we're told that the scholar told no one about the loss of his shadow, because he was worried that such a story was already well known (this was the 1814 novel Peter Schlemihl, about a man who sells his shadow to the Devil in exchange for a bottomless wallet). Why is the scholar -- and why might Andersen -- be so worried about being unoriginal? -- and what does that anxiety tell us about him?
3. Once the scholar meets with his shadow, he at first refuses an offer to travel with him, all expenses paid. Later, after he's been ill, he relents -- and indeed he agrees to several other conditions, such as not calling the shadow by his first name. What is happening to him here? We're also told that no one likes the books he writes -- is that connected somehow?
4. By the time he finally refuses the shadow's demands, it seems to be too late. What could he have done differently -- or was it already too late at the very beginning of the tale?
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