“File:Edmund Dulac – The Mermaid – The Prince.jpg.”
PREFACE:
Background on the artist Edmund Dulac, his artwork is featured for The Little Mermaid tale from Stories from Hans Andersen by H. C. Andersen published in 1911. He was born in France during 1882 and passed away in the United Kingdom during 1953. According to Diana Frank from Once Upon a Canvas exhibit, his arrival in London helped cultivate his drawing technique. Additionally, a new mass printing method allowed for Dulac to publish his watercolor paintings and he ventured towards “orientally influenced color palette”(Students). During this century, the European obsession with Orientalism started booming and many artists were entranced by exotic visual traits of the east. Therefore, another layer is added to the artwork considering the oriental influence on the Prince’s attire and the intricate pillar design, seen above.
For my discovery, this artwork critically engages with the patriarchal subtext of Andersen’s ‘The Little Mermaid’. It presents the Prince as a figure embodying the patriarchy– standing tall and powerful, owning the space and towering over the Little Mermaid. The painting promotes reading the story by paying attention to and how the narrative exposes and perpetuates sexist dynamics.
Noticing an obvious difference between the Prince and The Little Mermaid is the attire. The Prince has oriental royal garments compared to The Little Mermaid’s seaweed-like scraps barely covering her body. Despite them both coming from royal backgrounds, he is heavily clothed with barely any skin being shown and donning a head piece. The Little Mermaid doesn’t have any physical evidence that she is from Mediterranean sea royalty, so it was easy for the Prince to assume he is above her in status. But, also note that in the artwork, the Little Mermaid is lower and cowered inwards while sitting on the steps of the palace. Meanwhile, the Prince is standing with a relaxed stance leaning. He is touching the pillar and his demeanor seems confident and comfortable. He is making a clear connection to his environment. With the following quote, it helps solidify the Prince with a dominant role throughout the story, “She was now dressed in costly robes of silk and muslin, and was the most beautiful of all the inmates of the palace; but she was dumb, and could neither sing nor speak”(Bacchilega, 124). The Little Mermaid isn’t a guest in his palace, she’s a prisoner who is trapped there. She can’t entertain him, and for that very reason she isn’t highly valued in the eyes of the Prince. The Prince assumes The Little Mermaid’s lack of intelligence based on her disability of having no voice is accurate and none can rebuttal that, especially her, since she sacrificed her voice to be on land. Nobody would dare be against the Prince on his domain.
Revisiting the postures comparison in the artwork and it being a visual representation of the patriarchal hierarchy going on the entire time! This became more solidified with the following quote, “The prince declared that he would never part with her, and she obtained leave to sleep on a velvet cushion before his door”(Bacchilega, 124). The Prince had The Little Mermaid sleeping on the floor by his door, like an animal. It’s clear that the Prince sees her as a disposable toy that has his attention for now. The degrading nature of having her, a mute disabled young girl, sleep without basic human respect.
In conclusion, The prince is a man at the end of the day, he will become a king, he is a prince. He is gonna look out for himself and make his life easier and benefitting him. The prince is a spitting image of the patriarchy and speaks volumes to what men think of women. That is why this fairytale is timeless.
Works Cited:
Bacchilega, Cristina and Marie Alohalani Brown. The Penguin Book of Mermaids. Penguin Books, 2019.
“File:Edmund Dulac – The Mermaid – The Prince.jpg.” Wikimedia Commons. 20 Aug 2025, 12:27 UTC. <https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Edmund_Dulac_-_The_Mermaid_-_The_Prince.jpg&oldid=1075432655> 19 Oct 2025, 03:20.
Students in the German Studies course Grimm Reckonings: The Development of the German Fairy Tales (Professor Elio Brancaforte). “Once Upon a Canvas: Exploring Fairy Tale Illustrations from 1870-1942.” Tulane University Libraries , 19 Apr. 2013, exhibits.tulane.edu/exhibit/fairy_tales/. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.