Archetype Of Mermaids

Authors and artists, both classical and modern, convey messages about their respective societies through their art, often indirectly by building upon an idea already associated with a common character or imbuing it with new meaning. One such messenger is the mermaid. The mermaid in any given work is typically one of the most prominent females, if not the only one, and its common characterization is consistently negative. They are described as beautiful, sinister enchantresses, tempting many a man to his doom or disgrace. Despite their dangerous aspect, mermaids are portrayed as inferior to humans, often in both mind and morals. These shared traits are troubling, taking into account the lack of positive female representation in mermaid tales, …show more content…
This archetype is exemplified in “Clerk Colvill”, an old Scottish ballad, which states that a married man “saw the mermaiden…taen her by the milk-white hand…And he’s forgotten his gay ladie” (“Clerk Colvill” 1). The mermaid is able to tempt Colvill away from his wife with only her appearance and fairly innocent speech, not only implying that she is wicked and sly, but also insinuating that her very form is nefarious in nature. The alluring mermaid is the main female representation in the ballad and is clearly an allegory for women as a whole. The concept of the female as an amoral temptress appears in art involving mermaids as well. The painting "The Mermaid and the Knight” depicts a serpentine mermaid with exposed, voluptuous features wrapping her tail around a man trapped in vines and kissing him. The image of the nude mermaid juxtaposed to the fully clothed man creates a perception of the woman as the promiscuous villain. This stark contrast is the apotheosis of the temptress: a profligate, deceptive woman preying upon a hapless, but dignified, man. This archetype is typical of patriarchal literature and art and is used to reinforce the idea of women as dishonest, inherently sinful …show more content…
Mermaids sometimes act maliciously, such as in “Clerk Colvill”, which states that, “merrily laughed the mermaiden, ‘It will ay be war till ye be dead’… he has unbent his bow, ‘Twas never bent by him again” (“Clerk Colvill” 2). Clerk Colvill had developed an excruciating headache from going away with the mermaid, who then deceived him into thinking it could be cured, but it killed him instead. This establishes mermaids as not only dishonest, but also dangerous to those foolish enough to believe them. In other cases, there is an inherent risk for a man to even associate with a mermaid. In “The Fisherman and His Soul”, the mermaid is soulless, but fairly innocuous, yet the man still ends up dead. The fisherman’s soul “besought him to depart, but he would not, so great was his love… And the sea covered the young Fisherman with its waves” (Wilde 15). The mermaid does nothing to physically harm the fisherman, yet her very existence is still dangerous enough to destroy him. This dangerous power imbued in the mermaid conflicts with another gender role associated with the character, which portrays women as helpless and inferior. The discrepancy between the two concepts of the female sex does not disparage the gender roles presented by the mermaid, but rather strengthens it by associating female power with the destruction and disgrace of men. The final common characteristic of mermaids in

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