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The Emperor's New Clothes
by Hans Christian Andersen
A story perhaps more subtle than you may remember
- a thread
(I know: thread/clothing pun acknowledged)
1.
by Hans Christian Andersen
A story perhaps more subtle than you may remember
- a thread
(I know: thread/clothing pun acknowledged)
1.
The Emperor's New Clothes is a story so well-known that everyone will know the story's gist
Many will have read at least a version of it in some children's collection of tales
And like Andersen's Ugly Duckling, the story's title is now a phrase and fable itself
Yet...
2.
Many will have read at least a version of it in some children's collection of tales
And like Andersen's Ugly Duckling, the story's title is now a phrase and fable itself
Yet...
2.
...sometimes it is worthwhile to look again at stories that seem familiar
And in 2020, there is an element of the story which is worth emphasising
3.
And in 2020, there is an element of the story which is worth emphasising
3.
A couple of preliminary points
First, Andersen is a far more complex and disturbing writer than you take from the cheerful depiction by Danny Kaye in *that* film
4.
First, Andersen is a far more complex and disturbing writer than you take from the cheerful depiction by Danny Kaye in *that* film
4.
Indeed, torture stories like the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Little Match Girl would indicate that Andersen was...
...a raging sociopath who would be more at home played like American Psycho's Patrick Bateman than as Kaye's wacky funster
5.
...a raging sociopath who would be more at home played like American Psycho's Patrick Bateman than as Kaye's wacky funster
5.
And second, Andersen's stories often show insights into human weakness and manipulation - especially the fear and experience of rejection
They are not superficial stories
Andersen's stories are especially worth re-reading as an adult, perhaps more than many fairy tales
6.
They are not superficial stories
Andersen's stories are especially worth re-reading as an adult, perhaps more than many fairy tales
6.
The three most familiar elements of the Emperor's New Clothes are:
- Tricksters
- A vain emperor
- An obedient population
But...
7.
- Tricksters
- A vain emperor
- An obedient population
But...
7.
...these three elements are unexceptional in themselves - tricksters are tricky, rulers are vain, subjects are obedient
What is interesting from a 2020 perspective is how the tricksters subvert the checks and balances that would prevent vain rulers being publicly undermined
8.
What is interesting from a 2020 perspective is how the tricksters subvert the checks and balances that would prevent vain rulers being publicly undermined
8.
The Emperor is not unaware that he is open to being conned
So he sends two courtier-ministers to investigate and interrogate the trickster-weavers
And it is how those exchanges go which, for me, gives the story its political and psychological realism
9.
So he sends two courtier-ministers to investigate and interrogate the trickster-weavers
And it is how those exchanges go which, for me, gives the story its political and psychological realism
9.
The key here is the passage (in this translation):
The clothes had the "wonderful property of remaining invisible to everyone who was unfit for the office he held, or who was extraordinarily simple in character"
10.
The clothes had the "wonderful property of remaining invisible to everyone who was unfit for the office he held, or who was extraordinarily simple in character"
10.
So the first interrogating minister:
“Is it possible that I am a simpleton? I have never thought so myself and no one must know it now if I am so. Can it be that I am unfit for my office? No that must not be said either. I will never confess that I could not see the stuff.”
11.
“Is it possible that I am a simpleton? I have never thought so myself and no one must know it now if I am so. Can it be that I am unfit for my office? No that must not be said either. I will never confess that I could not see the stuff.”
11.
The second:
"I certainly am not stupid! It must be, that I am not fit for my good, profitable office! That is very odd; however, no one shall know anything about it.”
12.
"I certainly am not stupid! It must be, that I am not fit for my good, profitable office! That is very odd; however, no one shall know anything about it.”
12.
A driver of the story is not that the tricksters directly manipulate the vanity of the emperor, or exploit the obedience of people, but that they manipulate the fears and weaknesses of the ministers
They subvert the checks the emperor has put in place to protect himself
13.
They subvert the checks the emperor has put in place to protect himself
13.
As such the story is less about the vanity (and credulity) of rulers (which is always there)
Or about the passivity (and credulity) of subjects (ditto)
But about those who around power
Their fear of looking stupid or incompetent, and of losing their jobs and offices
14.
Or about the passivity (and credulity) of subjects (ditto)
But about those who around power
Their fear of looking stupid or incompetent, and of losing their jobs and offices
14.
And the blame for this is with the emperor, whose culpability is less about his vanity and credulity
His ministers are too fearful to be candid to him
And he in turn is not wise enough to realises this human weakness in his counsellors
15.
His ministers are too fearful to be candid to him
And he in turn is not wise enough to realises this human weakness in his counsellors
15.
So on this reading the Emperor's New Clothes is less about tricksters manipulating vanity/passivity but about corrupting the relationship between rulers/advisers
You in 2020 can apply this reading to the world around us
16.
You in 2020 can apply this reading to the world around us
16.
And finally:
The master illustrator of the golden age of fairy tale book publishing, Arthur Rackham, using three devices to solve the problem of showing a naked emperor in a children's book
By silhouette, shadows and third party reaction
Many thanks for reading
17 & ends
The master illustrator of the golden age of fairy tale book publishing, Arthur Rackham, using three devices to solve the problem of showing a naked emperor in a children's book
By silhouette, shadows and third party reaction
Many thanks for reading
17 & ends
ps
Translation used for this thread was at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1597/1597-h/1597-h.htm
But I compared the passages quoted against my Penguin and OUP translations, and also against @mariamtatar's outstanding annotated fairy tales collection, which I recommend you all get: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Annotated-Classic-Fairy-Tales/dp/B002SZMMTW/
Translation used for this thread was at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1597/1597-h/1597-h.htm
But I compared the passages quoted against my Penguin and OUP translations, and also against @mariamtatar's outstanding annotated fairy tales collection, which I recommend you all get: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Annotated-Classic-Fairy-Tales/dp/B002SZMMTW/
ps 5
This is a mark of Andersen's great storytellling https://twitter.com/OwenAdamsYT1/status/1279350234418745345
This is a mark of Andersen's great storytellling https://twitter.com/OwenAdamsYT1/status/1279350234418745345
