The Emperor's New Clothes
"The Emperor's New Clothes" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Short story by Hans Christian Andersen | |||
Original title | Kejserens nye klæder | ||
Country | Denmark | ||
Language | Danish | ||
Genre(s) | Literary folktale | ||
Publication | |||
Published in | Fairy Tales Told for Children. First Collection. Third Booklet. 1837. (Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. Første Samling. Tredie Hefte. 1837.) | ||
Publication type | Fairy tale collection | ||
Publisher | C.A. Reitzel | ||
Publication date | 7 April 1837 | ||
Chronology | |||
|
Part of the Politics series |
Republicanism |
---|
Politics portal |
"The Emperor's New Clothes" (Danish: Kejserens nye klæder [ˈkʰɑjsɐns ˈnyˀə ˈkʰlɛːðə]) is a literary folktale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, about a vain emperor who gets exposed before his subjects. The tale has been translated into over 100 languages.[1]
"The Emperor's New Clothes" was first published with "
Plot
There is an emperor who has an obsession with fancy new clothes, and spends lavishly on them, at the expense of state matters. One day two con-men visit the emperor's capital. Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are incompetent or stupid. The emperor hires them, and they set up looms and pretend to go to work. A succession of officials, starting with the emperor's wise and competent minister, and then ending with the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but pretends otherwise to avoid being thought a fool.
Finally, the weavers report that the emperor's suit is finished. They mime dressing him and he sets off in a procession before the whole city. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear inept or stupid, until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all. The people then realize that everyone has been fooled. Although startled, the emperor continues the procession, walking more proudly than ever.
Sources
Andersen's tale is based on a 1335 story from the
There is also an Indian version of the story, which appears in the Līlāvatīsāra by Jinaratna (1283), a summary of a now-lost anthology of fables, the Nirvāṇalīlāvatī by Jineśvara (1052). The dishonest merchant Dhana from Hastināpura swindles the king of Śrāvastī by offering to weave a supernatural garment that cannot be seen or touched by any person of illegitimate birth. When the king is supposedly wearing the garment, his whole court pretends to admire it. The king is then paraded about his city to show off the garment; when the common folk ask him if he has become a naked ascetic, he realizes the deception, but the swindler has already fled.[6]
Commentaries
Hollis Robbins, in "The Emperor's New Critique" (2003), argues that the tale is itself so transparent "that there has been little need for critical scrutiny".[7] Robbins argues that Andersen's tale "quite clearly rehearses four contemporary controversies: the institution of a meritocratic civil service, the valuation of labor, the expansion of democratic power, and the appraisal of art".[8] Robbins concludes that the story's appeal lies in its "seductive resolution" of the conflict by the truth-telling boy.
Naomi Wood of Kansas State University challenges Robbins' reading, arguing that before the World Trade Center attacks of 2001, "Robbins's argument might seem merely playful, anti-intuitive, and provocative."[9] Wood concludes: "Perhaps the truth of 'The Emperor's New Clothes' is not that the child's truth is mercifully free of adult corruption, but that it recognizes the terrifying possibility that whatever words we may use to clothe our fears, the fabric cannot protect us from them."[10]
In 2017, Robbins returned to the tale to suggest that the courtiers who pretend not to see what they see are models of men in a workplace who claim not to see harassment.[11]
Adaptations
Various adaptations of the tale have appeared since its first publication.
Film and television
1919 Russian short film directed by Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky
In 1953, theatrical short titled The Emperor's New Clothes, produced by UPA.
In 1961, Croatian feature film The Emperor's New Clothes directed by Ante Babaja, writer Božidar Violić (see IMDB).[12]
In the 1965 Doctor Who serial The Romans, the Doctor uses the story as inspiration to avoid his disguise as a lyre player being discovered. He later claims to have given Andersen the original idea for the story in the first place.
In 1970, Patrick Wymark appeared as the Emperor in Hans Christian Andersen, an Australian musical and comedy television special highlighting three of Andersen's most famous stories. It was broadcast five weeks after Wymark's untimely death in Melbourne.[13]
In 1972,
In 1978, this story was used to create a four-episode special of
In 1985, Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre adapted the fairy tale, starring Dick Shawn as the Emperor while Alan Arkin and Art Carney starred as the con artists.
The 1987, Japanese
The Emperor's New Clothes, a 1987 musical comedy adaptation of the fairy tale starring Sid Caesar, part of the Cannon Movie Tales. series[1]
The Emperor's New Clothes (1991) animated film, by Burbank Animation Studios.
Muppet Classic Theater has an adaptation of the story with Fozzie as the emperor, and with Rizzo and two of his fellow rats as the swindlers.
Despite the phrasing of the title, the 2000 film The Emperor's New Groove by Walt Disney Animation Studios is not related to Andersen’s classic tale, although both stories involve a vain emperor being tricked.
An original video animation (OVA) episode of the anime franchise Bikini Warriors humorously adapts the tale, wherein the main characters are stripped nude by an unseen deity under the pretense that it has actually gifted them with a new, legendary bikini armor that only "idiots" are unable to see.[14]
Other media
On 1 March 1957, Bing Crosby recorded a musical adaptation of the story for children which was issued as an album Never Be Afraid by Golden Records in 1957.[16]
In 1968, on their
Use as an idiom
As an idiom, use of the story's title refers to something widely accepted as true or professed as being praiseworthy, due to an unwillingness of the general population to criticize it or be seen as going against popular opinion. The story is about a situation where "no one believes, but everyone believes that everyone else believes. Or alternatively, everyone is ignorant to whether the emperor has clothes on or not, but believes that everyone else is not ignorant."[22]
Cultural References
In the 2020 video game, Crusader Kings III, there is an achievement titled "The Emperor's New Clothes" with the requirement of "While holding any empire title, be naked."[23]
See also
References
- ^ a b Andersen 2005a 4
- ^ In Spanish:Exemplo XXXIIº – De lo que contesció a un rey con los burladores que fizieron el paño. In English: Of that which happened to a King and three Impostors from Count Lucanor; of the Fifty Pleasant Stories of Patronio, written by the Prince Don Juan Manuel and first translated into English by James York, M. D., 1868, Gibbings & Company, Limited; London; 1899; pp. xiii–xvi. Accessed 6 March 2010. This version of the tale is one of those collected by Idries Shah in World Tales.
- ^ Bredsdorff p. 312–3
- ^ Wullschlager 2000, p. 176
- ^ Count Lucanor by Don Juan Manuel as Inspiration for Hans Christian Andersen and Other European Writers. HC Andersen Centret.
- ^ Anthony Kennedy Warder (1992). Indian Kāvya Literature: The art of storytelling, Volume 6. pp. 261–262, 268–270.[permanent dead link]cited pages from Indian Kavaya Literature vol 6. 5 September 1992.
- S2CID 170513535. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
- ^ Robbins, Hollis (Autumn 2003). "The Emperor's New Critique". New Literary History. 34 (4): 670. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
- ^ Wood p. 193–207
- ^ Wood p. 205
- ^ Robbins, Hollis (20 December 2017). "The Emperor's New Clothes and Workplace Harassment". Medium. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "Carevo novo ruho" – via www.imdb.com.
- ^ "Hans Christian Andersen". IMDb.
- ^ Bikini Warriors episode 15: これが伝説の防具を手に入れた勇者たちの姿である (lit.: "This is the Appearance of the Warriors who obtained the Legendary Armor"); 7 December 2016.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (31 October 2018). "HBO Unbuttons 'The Emperor's Newest Clothes' Special Nov. 15". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
- ^ Four Fairy Stories and Other Children's Stories, record album, 1968
- ^ "Idoioms". TheFreeDictionary.com.
- ISBN 9780813533025.
- S2CID 170513535. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
- ISBN 9780275963354.
Like the villagers in the story of the emperor's new clothes, members of the inner circle were unwilling to reveal their ignorance by challenging .... As a result, they suppressed whatever doubts they had an worked even harder to make sense of what, in the final analysis, may have been nonsensical.
- ^ Hansen, Jens Ulrik (2011). "A Logic-Based Approach to Pluralistic Ignorance". Academia.edu. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
- ^ "Steam Community :: Crusader Kings III :: Achievements". steamcommunity.com. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
Bibliography
- Adams, A.I. (2013). New Emperors' Novel Clothes - Climate Change Analysed. Connor Court Publishing Pty, Limited, 2013. ISBN 978-1922168801.
- Andersen, Hans Christian (2008). The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen. Translated by Allen, Julie K. Tatar, Maria (ed. and transl.). New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-393-06081-2.
- Andersen, Hans Christian (2005). Wullschlager, Jackie (ed.). Fairy Tales. Translated by Nunnally, Tiina. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-03377-4.
- Andersen, Hans Christian (2005). The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen: A New Translation from the Danish. Frank, Diane Crone; Frank, Jeffrey (eds. and transl.). Durham and London: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-3693-6.
- Andersen, Jens (2005). Hans Christian Andersen: A New Life. Translated by Nunnally, Tiina. New York, Woodstock, London: Overlook Duckworth. ISBN 1-58567-737-X.
- Bredsdorff, Elias (1975). Hans Christian Andersen: The Story of His Life and Work, 1805–75. London: Phaidon Press Ltd. ISBN 0-7148-1636-1.
- Prince, Alison (1998). Hans Christian Andersen: The Fan Dancer. London: Allison & Busby Ltd. ISBN 0-7490-0478-9.
- Robbins, Hollis (Autumn 2003). "Emperor's New Critique". S2CID 170513535.
- Wood, Naomi (2007). "The Ugly Duckling's Legacy: Adulteration, Contemporary Fantasy, and the Dark". Marvels & Tales. 20 (2): 193–207. S2CID 162325195.
- Wullschlager, Jackie (2000). Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-91747-9.
- Zipes, Jack David (2005). Hans Christian Andersen: The Misunderstood Storyteller. New York and Middleton Park: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-97433-X.
External links
- "Keiserens nye Klæder". Original Danish text
- "Keiserens nye Klæder". Manuscript from the Odense City Museum
- "The Emperor's New Clothes". English translation by Jean Hersholt
- "The Emperor's New Clothes". Audio rendition by Sir Michael Redgrave
- The Emperor's New Clothes public domain audiobook at LibriVox