In “The Day after the Wedding, from Undine,” Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué categorizes the elements as having an “evil particular” to them because “not a vestige of [them] remains” after death since they don’t have a soul, but Humans are deemed “purer” because of this divine connection that gives them the ability to live on (Penguin 105). By making humans superior to the elements because of their permanence, humans now have the validation to reign over the environment because the elements are seen as fleeting. This allows for the industrialization of the land to create a more lasting legacy.

In the middle of her speech where she confesses to her husband that she is a spirit of water, Undine explains that “there is one evil particular to [beings like her]” since they “vanish into dust, and pass away, body and spirit, so that not a vestige of [them] remains behind” since elemental beings are soulless (Penguin 105). Before Undine even describes what “evil” elements these beings contain, it is explicitly stated that it is something that is not approved of. The use of the word “evil” by Undine showcases that she does not view this feature of elements as something to be celebrated, but as something that is a blight to their kind. This positions the reader’s mind to understand that whatever default elemental beings contain is wrongful. By describing these elemental beings as having an evil component, they are already being put in an inferior situation through their flaw that is only “particular” to them. When Undine finally reveals the crime of elemental beings in the next line as being scattered back to nature so that “not a vestige of [them] remains behind” when they die, the reader already understands that lacking a soul is a defect because they do not have a chance at a permanent afterlife. It is through this negative tone used before the reveal of the specific “evil” among the elements that paints the action of the elements “[vanishing] into dust” as something to be frowned upon. Their inability to achieve a legacy becomes an evil action since they simply “pass away” and “not a vestige of [them] remains behind.” These beings are then categorized as fleeting because they do not leave any footprint on the Earth. They do not have to worry about creating a mark or doing what is right to reach a divine afterworld because they do not have a soul to help them achieve that goal. Rather than spend their afterlives in heaven or hell, the elements cease to exist and return to the environment from which they came. Nature becomes something insignificant since it can be erased “without having aught to grieve [them]” and no one there to remember it (Penguin 105). The environment is then seen as something to be dominated because it is construed as an unimportant part of life due to its temporality.

However, further down in her speech, Undine uses a more positive tone when characterizing humans as righteous because their souls allow them to “awake to a purer life” instead of “[remaining] with the sand and the sparks and the wind and the waves” after death (Penguin 105). In these lines, Undine places humans in a superior position with the use of the word “purer” to describe the fate of humans after death. Their ability to have a permanent afterlife grants them a higher status because they are not forgotten to the “sand,” “sparks,” “wind,” or “waves,” because there is someone there to grieve them and carry on their memory, while the elements are forgotten in time. Whether through memories or physical objects, humans leave traces of their lives on Earth for generations to come long after their death – something that Undine describes as “purer.” In turn, humans become virtuous beings because of the lasting impact they have on the world around them. This signals to the reader that it is noble to be impactful and leave a legacy on Earth because it is “purer” than being left to remain with the temporary elements of the environment, such as the “sand” and “waves,” which may only last a moment. Thus, the human afterlife becomes increasingly appealing to Undine to the point where she is willing to marry a human so that she can obtain a soul and get access to an afterlife and not remain with the elements. Subsequently, the author creates a boundary between human and elemental beings, where the elementals are painted as being beneath humans because of their fleeting nature. Creating the dichotomy between good versus bad through Undine explicitly using the word “evil” to describe the plight of these elemental creatures in comparison to the “purer” humans serves to paint permanence as something to aspire to.

With this in mind, the characterization of the elements as “evil” because they are fleeting and humans as “purer” since they have the ability to leave a legacy becomes significant by giving humans the license to dominate the environment. When placing nature in an insignificant position because they have no lasting tether to the Earth, humans no longer have to worry about the preservation of the environment since it is deemed an inferior entity. There is seemingly no reason for humans to care for beings that “pass away, body and spirit” and leave no trace of their existence, which is presented by Undine as a particular “evil.” Humans can conquer the environment and use it as they see fit because it is not worthy of value since it “vanishes” back to the environment without any lasting legacy. This then leads to the industrialization of the environment because there is no reason to work with nature since it is an “evil” being, leading nature to be neglected to allow the creation of more permanent objects like buildings and homes to create large cities to fulfill the righteous action of cementing a footprint on Earth. Nature becomes a canvas for human advancement since these elementals are viewed as subservient and therefore are delegitimized, making nature there for the taking.