Kiersten Brown
ECL 305
Professor Pressman
3/3/24
Close Reading:Undine

Undine’s story is still important today because of how it shows the impact of the patriarchy on women’s lives and the depiction of women in our society. When closely reading Undine’s story, not only do I observe the effects of the partiracy on her life, but also how being a woman affected the outcome of her storyline. This story brings up many ideas and questions to mind, but the relevance of a man-made society is prevalent here.
Undine’s tale is quite interesting, as it discusses the storyline of a young woman/mermaid, who is looking for the love of a human man. My first observation of this: Why is Undine so set on finding a Human man to love her, to make her complete? Well, first of all this can be answered quite easily: A patriarchal society and its norms. This applies to when the first tale of Undine was written and even now in our society. Women have always been expected to marry a man, reproduce, and look over the home. Although this has quite changed in the 21st century, those societal norms are still prevalent today. We still see those traditional norms pushed on women, and whether or not we have progressed as a society some people still see the world this way. Undine’s tale is one of the many like this, where a woman is expected to find pure happiness with a man. In this folklore I can see how this affects the course of her life, and her overall demise/loss of happiness.
Undine is a half woman-half mermaid (or water princess) and her story portrays these ideals of a patriarchal society. When Undine is first introduced, I learned about how mermaids have no souls, and they only move through the elements. This is a big aspect as to why Undine “needed” her Knight Huldbrand, in order for her to have a soul. She needed a human man to have a soul, it was not enough for her to exist on her own, but she had to co-exist in order to be whole. This concept was not only because she is a mermaid, but also because she is a woman. On page 105 it says “Thus my father, who is a powerful water-prince in the Mediterranean Sea, desired that his only daughter should become possessed of a soul, even though she must endure many of the sufferings of those thus endowed.” This quote stood out to me because of the significance of a soul, not necessarily to her, but to her father. It was her father who desired her to obtain a soul. A man desired her to find a soul, no matter the sufferings, when Undine could have probably found another mermaid or water creature that would fulfill her just as much, or even then no one. In order to obtain a soul her human lover would have to accept her for what she is. This comes to show how the course of Undine’s life was changed because of the patriarchal wishes of her father, his desires for her life, not her own. If she had not followed his wishes and searched long and hard for a human husband, she could have done a lot more with her life. The social structure of status then (and even now) were men above women, and the opinions of the men around Undine in her life significantly affected her. Not only do the men in Undine’s life have a say in her future, but it was not her own wish to obtain a soul.
This brings out the questions as to why she needed one in the first place. In the depiction of her story, and many other mermaid-like folklores we have read, they all desire the same thing. The Human experience. They are all described as longing to have legs, be on land, love a human, and be able to do human things. We can see this in Undine’s tale, as all she desires is to be accepted by her husband and his people. She wants to have the human experience, and the book states “If you do not make my whole life miserable. For what is to become of me, if you avoid and reject me?” (page 106) Undine is speaking here as she beares herself and her true form to Huldbrand. She quite literally says she doesn’t know what she will do if he rejects her, she’d go home and wallow in her sadness. This is not her fault that she feels this way, it is the patriarchal society she grew up in and how she was molded to act and feel. Her life was not really ever her own, and her husband ended up betraying her for another human woman. The society she was born into, back when this was written in the 1800s, was even more patriarchal than now. Undine definitely had to follow her fathers wishes and desires for her life, for her to find a soul, which led to her later heartbreak and betrayal from her husband. Her life was viewed as basically worthless, without a soul or husband. To me, Undine’s marriage to Huldbrand, her human husband, felt more like a business deal. This is what the basis of marriage was built upon, it was built upon a business transaction and deal between families and wealth. In Undine’s case she was gaining a soul from this “business transaction.” Even though she claims to love him, at the end of the day their relationship was built on a business deal and the obsession or lust Huldbrand felt for her. He was under her spell, entranced by her beauty that she radiated, an otherworldly beauty. Was he even in love with her? Did he desire her or love her? I believe that it was lust, for her beauty and his obsession with her. When thinking about how Undine’s story connected to the effects of the patriarchy on her life, we see this with the downfall of her marriage when he later betrays her. She relied all her happiness on him, because that’s what women were expected to do, rely on other men for their happiness. They were not allowed to hold jobs, worth, or hobbies really outside of the marriage and the family.
Not only is the patriarchal society what affected Undines life, but it is still prevalent today in other folklore stories and real life. In our society today we can still see how women do not have the same opportunities as men, there is still that traditional stigma there, as we see in Undine’s story. The idea of needing a partner to be full, is still an idea we see in the media today, not only mermaid stories or depictions. Every Disney princess movie, romantic comedies, the Little Mermaid, are all examples of this patriarchal society. Even if it is not the intent, we can see how the stereotypes of women and their happiness are still depicted as needing a man, even in the 21at century. People will argue this is not true, and yes we have really made changes and women have lots of opportunities, more than before. But we cannot ignore that these stereotypes still exist and still affect women and their lives. It’s what happened to Undine. Overall, when close- reading this text, not only do I see this depiction of Undines worth being connected to a man, but also the affect the patriarchal society held on her life.


Works Cited
Bacchilega and Brown, The Penguin Book of Mermaids, Penguin books, 2019
Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, Undine, 1811