Ranya Tobin
ECL 305
03/03/2024
Melusine and the Objectification of the Female Body.
In a time where the precedent depictions of mermaids were arbiters of folly and sin, that harbor ill-will and prey by means of manipulation and sexual depravity, The Romance of the Faery Melusine worked to turn the reputation of the mythical mermaid into an admirable, good-natured being—an empathetic character which humans could swoon over. Though Melusine is made to be a powerful, wise, and endlessly compassionate character, there is one aspect of her that the text takes care to highlight; Melusine’s false human body is made a main focus of the narrative. Every scene that features her vast displays of intuitive insight and selflessness is overshadowed by the descriptions of her form—a device used to point the reader in the direction of Raymondin’s focus. He is predominantly fixated on her body, more so than any other one of her more impressive traits. Once Melusine’s true form, her serpent body, is revealed to Raymondin, he rejects her not only coldly, but viciously. The scene in which Raymondin discovers Melusine’s true nature, while noting the text’s fixation on Melusine’s beautiful appearance and Raymondin’s immediate admonishment of her after her body is no longer pleasing to him, brings to light the hypersexualization of the female body in both intimate relationships and our greater society, promoting the societal norm of prioritizing physical beauty while diminishing inner qualities, ultimately misrepresenting women and holding their agency hostage.
Melusine’s attractive appearance is what initially drew Raymondin in upon their first meeting, followed by her sweetness and care, she became the perfect picture of a wife; but this surface-level image did not work to glorify the woman inside. The story repeatedly objectifies Melusine’s false human body, filling the text with in depth descriptions of her chest, hair, and face. In the passage where Raymondin breaks into her abode and betrays her trust, the story takes care to describe the image he sees from the top-down, featuring “her bent back magnificent in profile, her breasts raised, as she combed her long golden hair…” (125). In this scene, her husband assesses the aspects of her he lusts after, a perverted act shrouded by the shadow of the room. Her body is commodified in a space that was meant to be sacred, where she should feel safe to release the binds the human world demands be placed on her body. Raymondin objectifies his wife to the point he feels warranted in his uninvited leering, which exemplifies the mindset that causes him to ultimately turn on her once her form does not meet his desires. Melusine is at home in her abode, able to appreciate her natural body in privacy, and “hold[ing] a mirror…smile[s] to herself.” (125). Melusine examining herself in the mirror and expressing pride in her natural body is a crucial moment of her self-actualization—emphasizing the importance of this time alone. This is her time to reclaim her agency lost within marriage. Under the constant pressure of living in a world that determines her worth based on a certain standard of outer appearance, Melusine’s expression of love and pride in her natural self is a revolutionary moment. Raymondin catches a glimpse of this natural form, her “tail of green scales stretched under the water…like that of a fish.” (125), and recoils, “He drew back…his face fallen into the fine sand, which penetrated his nostrils, his open mouth, and grated between his teeth…” (125). He is so repulsed by this image, his senses are overwhelmed with the abode that houses it. He willingly buries his head in the sand to shrink away from this reality, but feels as though the fine gravel of the sanctum he has sullied is attacking his senses—exemplifying how the offense he feels at Melusine’s “betrayal” of hiding her true form from him was, in actuality, his own immaturity. He himself is imposing and adhering to a beauty standard set for her, just as he himself is shoving his face into the sand, so when the body he had been objectifying throughout their marriage does not please him, he experiences it as a personal transgression. This scene depicts how regarding a woman as a purely sexual being not only overshadows the human within, but gives her worth an expiration date; one that Melusine had prematurely reached in her husband’s eyes. In the instant Raymondin lost attraction for Melusine, after seeing her for the complex creature she is, “he who had been Raymondin ceased to exist…glaring at her with a look of hatred” (138). She had done all that she could to hide the most foundational parts of herself from him in order to give him the life he desired, sacrificed all but one day of the week for him, yet once her image was unattractive, he turned on her—watching her like she was a detestable stranger and outing her most vulnerable secret. His instant loathing of her the moment her body was estranged from him exemplifies the harsh reality that once a woman is made to exist under a sexualized lens, the human inside of her is lost, no matter how hard she strives to be greater than just the body she was born into.
The Romance of the Faery Melusine offers a powerful criticism of the objectification of women and the consequences of prioritizing physical beauty over inner qualities. Melusine’s initial allure, her beautiful outward appearance, sets the stage for her eventual objectification and betrayal by Raymondin. The text takes care to highlight her physical attributes in depth in order to express how Raymondin reduces her to a mere object of desire. Raymondin’s eventual invasion of Melusine’s private day, betraying their agreement, further exemplifies this objectification, as he feels no shame for his breaking of their contract and momentarily revels in voyeuristically assessing her. When Melusine’s true body is no longer pleasing to Raymondin, his immediate expression of loathing mirrors the harsh reality of objectification women are made to endure; once their physical beauty wanes, they are discarded and dehumanized. Melusine’s story has us recognize the societal attitudes that enable such objectification, and asks readers to reevaluate the value placed on women beyond their physical appearance.
Citation:
Lebey, André. The Romance of the Faery Melusine. Trans. by Gareth Knight, Skylight, 2011.