Giselle Lee Hosler
4/14/24
ECL 305
Professor Pressman
Most mermaid stories tell of the “maids”, female monsters appealing to male heroes. However, The Pisces subverts this expectation, with the main character Lucy encountering merman Theo, who subverts the expectation of the standard mermaid-human man tropes- the merman is the one who seduces Lucy, he is the one who tempts her, and he is the one that enlightens her to parts about herself that she didn’t know about. This subversion of the tropes breaks many of the normal mermaid conventions and allows for people to move away from them while embracing newer and more positive (in some ways) stories.
Our protagonist, Lucy, is a 38 year old woman who is having her midlife crisis early. While housesitting for her sister, she discovers Theo, a swimmer she eventually discovers is a bonafide merman. In the midst, she’s been going on unsuccessful dates with other men and grappling with a support group for single women, so she’s unsure of what she wants. The Pisces is an unconventional love story unlike many of the other mermaid tales before it, like the Little Mermaid and Melusina, who have the mermaid, the female figure, suffer for love and eventually die in some cases.
When Lucy discovers Theo, she regains some more zest for life, though she still struggles with some parts of herself. Through many encounters with him, Lucy comes to grips about aspects of her life, and how she can move forward from having a break up, going to a weird support group for desolate women, and ultimately her attitude and approach to life in general.
It is relevant that Theo is a merman because not only does it subvert the trope, it also exposes the truth that women are not always the seducers- Theo is the one who tempts Lucy to be curious about him and discover what he can offer her. In other mermaid and mermaid-adjacent mythology, it is the female figure that seduces, who offers the knowledge to the curious male figure. In this way, the sexuality of men is explored much more. And it is often the female figure that gets neglected in the process.
Not to mention, that the being of nature is a man, not a woman. Nature is often feminized, and the mermaid is no exception. But in The Pisces, Theo is a merman, the being of nature is masculine. Instead of being the conquerer, as the human men in mermaid tales are often portrayed, he is the conquered. He is not the taught, he is the teacher. We don’t see that often in mermaid tales, especially ones written in the past.
Of course, The Pisces is not the only merman-centered merstory out there. We have much older examples, such as Oannes, a merman-like figure who also brought enlightenment. Having these examples allows for us to see and understand that our preconceived notions about mermaids and merpeople in general are not the end-all be-all. It also helps us acknowledge that many of the stereotypes of the mermaid are merely just constructs of a patriarchal society, meant to keep women in a box.
While Lucy struggles with herself and with others, she eventually comes to realize some of her wants. While she is tempted by Theo, she ultimately manages to pull away from him and prevent herself from meeting the same fate as other women before her- and the fates of other mermaids in previous folklore- dying for her male love interest. In that she shows that women do not have to suffer or put themselves at risk for the sake of what men want.
Within the deviation of The Pisces, there are still some parts that are continuous with regular mermaid stories- that is, that the merperson attempts to cross the boundary between land and sea in order to be with their partner. His otherness is apparent, and it becomes something of a reoccurring thing between him and Lucy, but really it is to be expected from a mermaid tale. These elements of the story keep it from escaping the true mermaid tale and becoming something else entirely.
The merperson is a monster, regardless of gender. The way that gender roles interact with one another, between monster and human, between earth and sea, impacts the lessons they teach to the readers of the present and the future. Male monsters in a female dominated genre, meant to be a sort of warning to female readers… that sort of deviance from the norm does so much for breaking established gender roles within the merperson as a concept.
Having stories like the Pisces, stories that are unconventional and turn tropes on their head, allows for a better look at the societies and cultures who tell these stories. The Little Mermaid, Melusina, and other similar tales are a product of their times and standards. The Pisces, while more modern, has some elements of those stories while deviating from the stereotypes that make mermaid tales so iconic. It, like the many different tales before it, is a product of its time and has much to teach its readers.