Category Archives: Discovery #1

Femininity Through the Male Lens

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Women have always struggled with living in a patriarchal world, constantly being told what to do and how to live. In “The Revenge of the Faery Melusine”, André LeBey uses the character of Raymondin in his distressed ascent to Melusine to highlight how femininity is adjusted through the male gaze of mistrust and domination. Raymondin’s suspicion exposes how male imagination defines a woman’s reality rather than through female actions. These thoughts in Raymondin’s head portray the patriarchal impulse to see female freedom as wrongdoing, inevitably forcing women, like Melusine, to live within a narrative constructed from male fear over veracity. 

From the moment they got married, Raymondin and Melusine had agreed on one thing: that Raymondin must never disturb her on Saturday nights. This agreement lasted many years, until Raymondin’s imagination got the best of him. LeBey states that as Raymondin was making his way up the steps to Melusine, he thought to himself, “He climbed quickly in his eagerness to strike, his heart pumping…there where he had never been before. Neither he, nor anyone, except her—and—who else? He believed there must be someone, but without entirely believing it” (Lebey 121). The language LeBey uses in this passage portrays Raymondin’s fears and imagination that led him to break his promise with Melusine. The use of his “eagerness to strike” and “his heart pumping” presents the notion of desire and hostility that Raymondin is experiencing. This wording is significant to the storyline because of how it portrays his relationship with Melusine, the fusion of rage and love. It portrays Raymondin as an intruder of Melusine’s precious space by expressing his actions as a “strike”. His motivation at this moment is jealousy rather than love; he no longer wants to understand Melusine but to conquer her. This, as a result, displays Raymondin’s desire to control a mystery that intimidates and threatens his masculinity. Not knowing this one aspect of Melusine’s life creates a more significant issue for his identity because she is choosing her own space over him.

LeBey’s language provides a deeper context for Raymondin’s toxic masculinity towards Melusine and her female freedom. When it’s stated that he was making his way to a place “where he had never been before. Neither he, nor anyone” (LeBey 121), it enhances the idea that Melusine has a space that has been untouched by the male presence. A space that gives her independence from Raymondin. This independence is the exact reason Raymondin feels he must defy it, furthering the idea that Melusine is forced to live in a male narrative created out of fear and jealousy. This furthers the thoughts that he had while scaling the stairs to Melusine. 

As Raymondin thinks, “her—and—who else? He believed there must be someone” (LeBey 121), it materializes from nothing but his own imagination, furthering his own insecurities. By providing the context of using his own imagination, LeBey can show how patriarchal narratives are created. Not by how women inherently act, but by how the men in their lives interpret female actions, based on their own imagination and free will. This assumption stems from the patriarchal idea that women hold secrets that are incomprehensible to their male counterparts. Secrets which Raymondin feels entitled to know at this moment in time. Without thinking about how Melusine might feel about his intrusion or “strike” into her female space. This loss of common sense is shown when Raymondin thinks, “He believed there must be someone, but without entirely believing it” (LeBey 121). Highlighting the aspect of suspicion without confirmation, further forcing this narrative he has created onto Melusine. This exposes the idea that Raymondin feels that he knows his wife, but has been so corrupted by the patriarchal gaze of control and mistrust. By picturing Melusine as an unfaithful wife, he can keep her in a story that he is ultimately controlling.

Overall, LeBey’s language in describing Raymondin’s inner thoughts in this passage highlights the male-created narrative Melusine has been forced to live in during her marriage. It’s important to note how this use of language exposes how Raymondin’s want to “strike” stems from this narrative he has created in his mind to control Melusine. Through the relationship and mistrust of Raymondin and Melusine, LeBey can critique the unsteady male authoritative foundation that makes it so easy for uncertainty to mutate into allegation. This passage sheds light on the concept of how female narratives stem from the male fear. Ultimately proving how patriarchal narratives are built to control the lives of the women they are forced onto. 

Christianity’s Claims

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Christianity meanders its way through mermaid stories like an unrelenting river, unbothered by obstacles as large as mountains or as abrupt as fallen trees. The river of Christianity carries poisonous fresh water to powerful salt-laden mermaids, brackishly destroying their environment to favor its own. Crushing their spirits, but wait, they have no spirits. The overt portrayal of mermaids to want, no, to need a soul is like a sodden Stockholm syndrome. By picking up where Undine and Melusine left off, Hans Christian Andersen’s terracentric language in his reiteration of a lack of an afterlife in “The Little Mermaid” perpetuates man’s dominion over nature.

The stories of the relationships between water deities and noble men use the guise of love to convey the superiority of humanity. The little mermaid wants to enter the human world to be with her prince, but more than that, she would give up everything for one human day “to have the hope of sharing in the joys of the heavenly world.” Andersen escalates the message we learn from Undine by reiterating the ascent to heaven: “a soul that lives eternally… even after the body has been committed to the earth— and that rises up through the clear pure air to the bright stars above! Like as we rise out of the water to look at the haunts of men, so do they rise to the unknown and favoured regions, that we shall never be privileged to see.” (118) In the case of the little mermaid, Undine, and even Melusine it is not love that they are truly after, it is a soul; a pure eternal existence that is thrust above love. This supports a modern Christian’s school of thought: getting into heaven is more important than earthly love.

What distinguishes the air of superiority of man over nature is the language that Andersen uses. He describes the “clear pure air”. The air not only clear but pure. Pure and heavenly, but also pure as in unmixed. Unmixed, non-hybrid humans that can ascend to heaven. This is a clear message that breathing air, living on land is preferable than being in the ocean where the sea-folk dwell. Andersen also categorizes the deep as clear, “clear as the purest crystal” in fact, but it is the crystal that is pure, it is not pure within itself, it is not untainted by immorality as the air is. The water is mixed up, salty, contaminated and filled with hybrid, mixed creatures, where land is filled with the “haunts of men”. It is the soul that does the haunting. This precise choice of the word “haunts” gives men souls, it gives the beings above the water superiority. Andersen goes on to explain the ascent is into a “favoured region”. No matter how beautifully the ocean is presented, it is not the favored region, not compared to what is above it, and what is above that. Why is upwards always better? Because the higher you go the closer you are to heaven; and the lower, to hell. And who lives in the lowest region of all? It is not unlike the portrayal of maps. Pre-dominantly white nations/continents laid above. The favored regions, the above, have the right to conquer what is below, whether it be land or sea. Describing upward as a favored region gives men dominion to all below them. It is interesting then, that the notion of heaven, that a claim to what is above in turn gives claim to what is below. This language: “pure air”, “haunts of men”, and “favoured regions” though not earthly in a sense, is terracentric because it advocates land over the sea.

Although this is the first story that actually gives us a visual of merpeople, their culture, their architecture, their familial relationships, even their hopes, wants and dreams, the fact that they are still missing a soul, and are yearning for heaven is a greater acclamation for superiority. That the little mermaid is willing to leave her beautiful home and her whole family behind in the sea to become foam, so she can live eternally in heaven promotes Christianity’s claims to the earth. Genesis 1:26 asserts man’s dominion, stating “…and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth…” It is clear for men that they have dominion over birds, cattle, and land. But the ocean is a mystery. It is a mystery now, it was Mars 200 years ago. How could Christianity advertise their claim of a realm they knew almost nothing about, not even a fraction of what lived there. Merpeople were their answer. Depicting hybrid humans who could express a desire for a Christian soul and a “pure” immortal life finalizes the terms in Genesis 1:26. From a stone carving of a split tail mermaid, silently attempting to warn of heathenism and immoral women, to centuries later, spun into tales of earthly dominion. Mermaids: a true test and showcase of Christianity’s subservient, authoritarian followers.

It is not just the moral of the little mermaid that perpetuates the need for heaven, or the above over below, it is language. Steve Mentz puts forth the idea that terracentric language guides our way of thinking about our environment. Readjusting earthly phrases will help propagate a fonder outlook on the watery parts of our world. I would like to elevate this notion and claim that terracentric stories further influence our perception on the environment and its functions. “The Little Mermaid” has been adapted numerous times. But what we really need to be able to tear down the Christian colonization of the ocean, is not a mermaid story but a human story. In other words, not a story where a mermaid discovers and yearns for our world. A story where a human yearns for the mermaid’s world, decentralizing the Christian concept of humanity’s dominion over land and sea.

“Who Tells Your Story:” The Importance of Legacies in Undine

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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.

Honouring Boundaries: Marital Alliances Reflecting in the Political Environment

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In The Romance of the Faery Melusine the violation of Melusine’s boundaries when her husband Raymondin disregards their agreement of her seclusion on Saturdays, reflects the patriarchal fear of autonomy in women and the unknown. When boundaries are violated domestically or politically it creates distrust in partners, severing a relationship which brought prosperity and safety to them and their society. 

On the first meeting of Melusine and Raymondin he comes to her in a position of weakness. “too broken to have any pressing need for the unknown” (Lebey, 23). He has killed a family member and fears the retribution of his family, leaving him isolated and ready to flee his homelands. Melusine offers him an alternative to this fate by joining in a marital alliance with him, promising “without me, without my counsel, you cannot escape being accused of murder…if you listen to me, and take account of what I say, I promise to make you the greatest lord of your line and the wealthiest” (25). She is offering a partnership that will not only save him from the consequences of his actions but also improving on the position he held before the crime he committed. In return she asks for a marriage between the two and his acceptance of her maintaining a boundary of her body and time.

He agrees to this martial alliance, in part for its favorable promised outcome but also because he is enamored with her beauty. It is a beneficial relationship, marriages of his position were often made for the alliance of two families and territories, desire for the spouse was not necessary. Though in his reasoning he is pulled by the thoughts about her of “whom he wanted to know more and more, and above all to possess” (27). This attitude towards Melusine as being a possession was and is a mindset of some who dehumanize women or wives, as they do not find them to be equal to men. A woman can be to some another territory to conquer and rule over.

When Raymondin does agree to her terms, unlike when he first meets her “he began to feel a man again, full of vigour” (26). This alliance has strengthened him, not only in his mind but in his position in the world. He is not alone, but now part of team. 

In political alliances, while each partner maintains their own territory it does present a united front that is larger than they are on their own. Like in the marriage of Raymondin and Melusine, political alliances give access to shared monetary and defense resources. If a foreign or domestic threat strikes at the alliance, they are attacking a united front. When kingdoms and countries form alliances it is to benefit both and within this political relationship there is an emphasis of mutual respect for each other’s autonomy.

Melusine does keep her promise of the alliance. Raymondin and the heirs she births into the world accomplish and conquer many things, pursuing their own journey of the unknown. Her upholding of their alliance benefits both as well as their family. The marriage is not without problems as the children have various forms of deformities, but Raymondin is still made happy by the marriage and the success it has given him. 

Raymondin has kept his vow as well, respecting Melusine’s boundary of not seeing her on Saturdays. Though as time has passed Raymondin has grown comfortable in this position of power and forgets the position he once occupied which his wife secured for him with her power and resources. Relationships both personal and political evolve with time but also can stagnate when not nourished. It is only when a cousin of Raymondin, a part of his family he once feared for retribution, calls into question Melusine’s fidelity in claiming this time for herself does Raymondin think to violate his marital vow. 

This is an interesting departure of commitment for Raymondin to Melusine. Raymondin has had the privilege to age, he is no longer fueled by a need for the unknown in the world outside of the castle Melusine built for him. He has conquered parts of the world as has his sons, which he is reminded of while reading a letter from them before he breaks the boundaries of his wife’s territory. This coupled with the suggestion of his cousin about Melusine reignites this desire for the unknown, because Melusine with her boundary was not entirely his possession like he hoped for when they first met. She still maintained the autonomy of her own body, her territory. She had not been conquered and enveloped into his territory. His cousin reminds him of this inadequacy, setting off the events that will lead to the destruction of the marital alliance.

Raymondin often refers to honour, in his first meeting of his wife and then while he prepares for the violation of their agreement. Later Raymondin declares, “women do not know, know nothing of what we call Honour!” (138). While he has thought of Melusine and himself as one, he conveniently separates her from himself in this statement. Implying woman do not have the capability of honour like men, it categorizes Melusine’s position as his partner as not being equal. After she sees this disrespect towards her and all she has provided him in their long relationship the alliance is broken and the power they both held together. 

There are consequences of this broken alliance with violating her boundary, Melusine’s fate is now to be separated from Raymondin and her soul unable to reach a Christian afterlife. She then explains after Raymondin is out of power, “no man will be able to hold the country in such peace as we have seen” (142). Outside of him not having the same strength as their united front, betraying her reflects on his character and will change the perception of any alliance he hopes to make after. Raymondin is now isolated and not trustworthy in the political and personal realm. He is a now target for those who were not strong enough to conquer his empire when it was strengthen by his marital alliance. Making Melusine’s prophecy true, because once a great territory loses its footing it is nearly impossible to recover. There will be stain of his betrayal in his life and heirs with the fallout of the turbulent political environment he created by not honouring the sovereignty of another.

Work Cited:

Lebey, André, and Gareth Knight. The Romance of the Faery Melusine. Skylight, 2011. 

Close reading essay #1: Taught to fear the unknown

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In his children’s book The Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Andersen explores the human relationship with nature through the nature’s point of view, telling of fictional mermaids who live under the sea. These “other” beings long to be with humans, and desire things we have. However, humans and mermaids have a limited understanding of each others’ worlds, and their actions end up scaring each other away. Through this relationship, Andersen reminds us that we only have surface-level knowledge of the ocean, and the deeper parts remain inscrutable to us. As a result, The Little Mermaid teaches us to fear things we cannot understand.

Mermaids are commonly thought of as an embodiment of not just the feminine body, but of hybridity. They are a result of humans trying to integrate themselves with nature, allowing them to exist in and with the environment. However, the thought of mermaids existing with the human world is something we cannot fully grasp, since the blending of human and non-human traits is considered a violation of the laws of nature. Andersen demonstrates this through the mermaids’ attempted interaction with the humans during a storm. In his story, the mermaids “sang most sweetly of delights to be found beneath the water, begging the seafarers not to be afraid of coming down below. But the sailors could not understand what they said, and mistook their words for the howling of the tempest, and they never saw all the fine things below, for if the ship sank the men were drowned, and their bodies alone reached the sea-king’s palace.” (Penguin 112-113)

The sailors’ misinterpretation of the mermaids’ calls for “the howling of the tempest” illustrates how an irrational mind alters our perception of the world, including our perception of the other. When we panic, our brains prioritize survival over rational thought which incapacitates our ability to think clearly. The mermaids’ calls are drowned out by the “howling” of the storm, as though they were a part of the storm itself. The sailors are implied to be in a state of panic in fear of their ship sinking, and they are too focused on survival to hear the words of these other beings. The “howling” adds to the sailors’ fears because very strong winds can capsize a ship and lead to them drowning.

The imagery of the men drowning and “their bodies alone reach[ing] the sea-king’s palace” captures our incompatibility with the ocean. Humans have not evolved to breathe underwater unlike sea mammals, so we rely on machinery to know what happens in the deep ocean. However, the crushing pressure in deeper parts makes this infeasible, as if it is a boundary we cannot cross. The line, “their bodies alone reached the sea-king’s palace” also emphasizes how most human bodies, like shipwrecks, are never recovered in ocean-related deaths. The bodies of those who have died there are found on the ocean floor, which can be miles below the surface. As such, we are never able to see “all the fine things below” because we would not be alive to see it.

Moreover, the line “the sailors could not understand what they said” highlights the inscrutable nature of these mermaids and the world they live in. To understand something is to comprehend it. If we cannot comprehend it, our mind defaults back to fearing it. Andersen tells the readers that the ocean is home to many “delights” that are only found under the sea, but since we do not have the means to reliably explore the deep ocean, it is unknown if there are any “delights” to be found if at all. This makes us doubt the mermaids’ words, since we do not know if these so-called “delights” are good or bad. And since we cannot comprehend the unknown, we fear what we cannot understand.

Despite being a story for children, Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid features much darker elements compared to the stories we tell today, yet it sends powerful messages. For one, it teaches us that most decisions do not come without a cost. For two, it tells us that a soul is what makes us human. And lastly, it reminds us that the deep ocean remains unknown and uncharted, and that’s why humans fear it so much.