In Chapter Four of the Penguin Book of Mermaids, Captain Samuel Barret Eades had stumbled upon a once-in-a-lifetime prize in the discovery of what seemed to be a true aqua-human hybrid creature. In 1822 he was presented the opportunity to purchase a dried up mermaid specimen for $6,000 from a group of dutch traders. The creature purchased was one of both wonder and dreadful ugliness. He obtained a Japanese mermaid, the stark opposite of the famous Christian mermaids known for their regal beauty and elegance. From the outside, the exchange may have been viewed as sketchy by others. Consequently, scientists continuously questioned the legitimacy of the specimen, but that didn’t stop Eades from insisting on bringing it to London. Risking his fame and fortune as a wealthy English Captain, he took the mermaid with him to London to show the world. Even though the mermaid was a short, shriveled, and wretched being, people still flocked to see the exhibit that was the body encased in a glass dish. But unfortunately, the success of the unveiling ended up also being the downfall of the exhibit and reputation of Eades himself.

Eades’ success led to false confidence in his little mermaid. The numerous articles and newspaper publications written about his special piece filled his head with infinite belief and pride in his purchase. Upon the success, he felt so confident in his specimen’s legitimacy that he ended up giving it to a respected scientist for authentication. William Clift was the authenticator who found the specimen to be nothing but stuffing and wooden parts. Luckily for Eades, his inevitable downfall was slightly delayed as he was able to pay Clift off to not disclose his findings to the public. But the scientists in London, being a tight-knit group, ended up backfiring on Eades as he had one too many naturalists falsely authenticate his mermaid. Eades would go on to get caught and then end his journey with his Japanese mermaid as the public found out and the luster ran out in 1825.

While examining the events in which Captain Eades was a part, a similarity can be drawn to the story of Raymondin and Melusine. Shortly, Eades and Raymondin likely would’ve been better off just living their lives as is and not authenticating their mermaid or walking into the sacred place of their SO. This theme of seeking excess knowledge causing ultimate downfalls seems to be present in many stories, especially when it comes to comparing the human and mermaid worlds and how they interact with each other. I feel sometimes it is just better to let things be and remain content with not being able to understand/know about everything around you, because it may just break you down even more.

This weekend’s readings of “Undine” and “The Feejee Mermaid Hoax” from The Penguin Book of Mermaids stand out and provide connecting ideas for “Freakshows and Fantasies”. I find “Undine” the most interesting due to the elemental nature of Undine and their kin as well as its depiction of merfolk/water spirits.

Undine describes itself and their kin as beings who appear human and consider themselves human while having the ability to control different natural phenomena—at the downside of temporary existences of little consequence—lacking souls, and leaving now corpses when they die. This explanation of these beings seem to function with Christian cosmology, metaphysics, and potentially racial/cross cultural thinking in mind. I can see parallels between how Europeans and their descendants may have seen other groups of people, non-human life, and the environments they encountered during the ages of reason and discovery. Undine is essentially “subhuman” despite their great talents in much the same way that African, Asian, Indigenous American and Islander groups have been considered amidst the colonial periods. 

Both “The Feejee Mermaid Hoax” and “Freakshows and Fantasies” highlight skepticism, hoaxes, and changes in the public’s perception of merfolk/their place in the world rather than fully commit these ideas to observations that stand on their own. When considering both stories with “Undine”, we can consider mermaids/water spirits to be fleeting but powerful existences which exist under entirely different rules. Spirits that are provided souls by humans become fully human down to the corpse and eternal soul, whereas the forms left by hoaxes represent the not-quite-human forms merfolk were often considered to possess—especially when without their souls.

“Westerner’s approaches to merpeople between 1800 and 1830 remained tethered to Enlightenment notions of science and wonder” (Schribner 129). Chapter 4 of Merpeople described the previously commonly accepted culture and knowledge surrounding merpeople within a past era. Many of these beliefs were seen as normal back then, but would be absurd now. For example, the existence of mermaids was seen by many as a scientific fact and studied and pursued by actual scientists of the time. Nowadays, a scientist would be stripped of all credibility and mocked if they were to try and prove the existence of the mythical merpeople. Additionally, the fact that people were fooled by newspapers and stories about mermaids would also be an embarrassment nowadays, but was considered normal then. They also popularized freak shows for people’s entertainment, similar to a circus. Back in the day, freak shows consisted of more than just mermaids but anyone deemed “different” or intriguing, like people with disabilities or people from other countries. This connects to the problematic view of mermaids people had that extends beyond sexuality and gender, but rather capitalizing off of others.

This prompted me to think of things that we as a society do today that would be considered strange or “dumb” to future members of society. If back then mermaids seemed as real as the sky, who is to say what scientific facts we “know” today are actually true or not? The quote from the chapter on page 129 above made me realize how throughout history, people’s ideas of science and wonder are connected to the same ideas of the previous generation because everything builds on top of one another. What if the era prior to us was wrong about their scientific facts, creating a paradigm that is not completely true? Additionally, things that were socially acceptable then, like freak shows, are not acceptable now, making me wonder what we as a society do now that will later on become unacceptable (or maybe the other way around?). Another example I realized is how that people back then were easily fooled by word of mouth and newspapers about the sightings of mermaids. Nowadays, people are very easily fooled by AI, especially with how realistic and convincing the videos may be. I thought that maybe in the future, people would laugh at how gullible we seem today.

The chapters Betrayal and Departure connect elements of merfolk and mermaids seen in previously encountered stories: knowledge, the unknown, and the familiar.   Raymondin and Melusine’s heirs while revisiting some cyclical elements from the Melusina story from our previous penguin books. Urian and his brother mingle in the world of power and knowledge, having become monarchs in Armenia and Cyprus while allying themselves with ruling powers across other Old World continents. Even then, they plotted to adventure into newer territories and to gain more knowledge. Their and Raymondin’s accomplishments in such little time inspire unease and desire in Raymondin to pursue further knowledge; to breach his contract with Melusine—by any means. 

The most interesting part of these chapters for me is Raymondin’s reactions to both the mystery of Melusine and his discovery of her true form. He is full of doubt, rationalizes it with his Christian beliefs, attributes her alien-ness to the Devil figure, and uses scripture-adjacent logic to justify his trespasses—such as “one body” referring to marriage. She comforts him—a gendered response women may have under patriarchy, even when wronged—then delivers her farewells and leaves gifts before committing to her exile.

In this passage, lovers learn that words—even kind or logical ones—cannot repair damage caused by betrayal; once trust breaks, language hits a wall and only silence, the body, and fate remain. Melusine speaks with care and reason. This scene provides insight between Melusine ans her husband, Raymondin amidst the aftermath of a crisis caused by their own son. She calls their son’s act “courage misdirected,” asks her husband to act like the wise prince he is, and points to God’s plan and the hope that time will correct hot youth. But her speech meets a hard stop: his “strange silence,” his eyes swinging from anger to brief softness and back to hatred. Then words do more harm—his attack (“serpent”) turns talk into accusation and breaks her standing with him. At this point the text states the rule of the scene: “There is no language that has not its limits”. That line explains everything that follows: speech cannot undo what has happened. The body takes over—fainting, tears, a doctor’s drink—and the choice to separate becomes real. Even Melusine’s final, beautiful speech—full of forgiveness and prophecy—cannot reverse the break; it only gives form to goodbye. The natural signs that once gave her strength (orchard scent, roses) also fail to persuade time to run backward. In the end, action replaces argument: Melusine rises and departs. Love may remain, but living together ends. The passage claims that grief is not cured by better arguments or more words; language can surround pain, explain it, and mourn it—but it cannot unmake it.

This scene represented in the passage, provides a rollercoaster for the readers as the emotional ups and downs of the dynamic relationship between Raymondin and Melusine are observed from the outside. The betrayal that is the reveal of Melusine’s secret is ultimately the breaking point between the two, even though her husband is still holding on to the thought of a successful relationship, even after the shattering of trust. Although Melusine will carry on the love held for Raymondin, there is no going back to the physical relationship, and she must now live her true nature.

Limits were tested, borders were crossed within the relationship, showing that no matter who you are, or what someone does, there may always be a limit, and you must be careful not to cross it.