Tag Archives: melusina

Week 5: Christian Themes and New Interest for Men

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For this weeks reading, I found that there were more Christian themes and new interest for men. A lot of the stories we have read previously, where, somewhat putting women as mermaids in which they were sexualized, lusted, dangerous, but in this weeks, reading, we kind of continue that theme of the siren, where women now offer men knowledge. Some of the reading for me was a little bit difficult to understand, but what I picked up on from “The Legend of Melusina” and the other three versions of the same tale was sort of the curiosity of the unknown. This theme almost reminded me of somewhat the Christian sort of wanting the readers to fear this unknown or better yet stay true to their promises and have faith. The stories, in a way, reminded me of Adam and Eve, and not trusting that same serpent symbol. If Eve were to have simply listened to what God said, then there would be no trouble, and in this case, if the king were to have listened and not seen Melusina on Saturday, then all would have been well. It’s as if the church was trying to push the message that you need to have faith and discipline, regardless of your curiosity of the unknown; to essentially not be led into temptation. I just enjoyed how, in this case, the unknown was the sort of knowledge thing rather than the temptation of a woman’s body, or what women might dangerously do. This is the sort of spreading I was used to before coming into this class, rather than putting women into negative light in order to teach them and spread messages.

Week 5: Melusina, the Ghost Mermaid

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One thing I absolutely love about this course is the fact that we are learning so much about other cultures’ core values and beliefs through these stories. This week, we took a look at France through the story Legend of Melusina. Count Raymond is married to a beautiful woman named Melusina in the story. She promises their love will be long and plentiful as long as he never tries to see her on Saturdays. Greed (a recurring sentiment we should all be familiar with by now) takes over Raymond’s heart, and he makes a point of seeing her on a Saturday – but he is shocked to see that she has transformed into a snake. After this, she curses him and his lineage and turns into a spectral entity that – when seen – is the precursor for the current crown’s death. This feels like a campfire story, and that’s awesome. It’s got clear morals like don’t give in to greed and respect your partner’s boundaries – the combination of the two makes this piece genuinely progressive and timeless.

What’s more is the fact that, even though she put a hex on Raymond and his bloodline, she isn’t necessarily portrayed as a malignant entity. She’s simply the victim of a broken promise. This isn’t a cautionary tale of vicious monsters or women who are up to no good. This isn’t a story about a righteous man who can do no wrong. Melusina is the victim – and the man, Raymond, is a fool. This is a story about appreciating what you are given, especially if you didn’t ‘earn’ or create it. I am excited to hear other students’ interpretations of the piece, its message, and its literary value compared to some of the other stories we’ve covered. It’s cool to see a story that wants its audience to treat each other respectfully.

Also, I wasn’t sure where to fit this in, but Melusina is doomed to spend eternity in pain and suffering as a ghost – which hammers in the idea that she isn’t the ‘monster’ here. I am a little worried about the detail of Raymond and Melusina’s children being born with deformities – it almost makes me feel like the intended moral of the story is something more along the lines of “don’t be so blinded by desire that you don’t recognize the monster in your home.” However, as we saw with the Oxford English Dictionary definitions of day one, words can stay the same and change meanings. No matter an author’s intent, it is what you take away from it that really makes a difference in anything.

Week 5 – The Faery at the Fountain

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Chapter 3 of The Romance of the Faery Melusine (Gareth Knight, translated by Andre Lebey, 19th C) I thought was interesting to read about since in the back of my head all I was thinking about was that they were hinting about mermaids or sirens the entire time. Reading the Legend of Melusina (The Penguin Book of Mermaids, 85-87) and it stating that her mother “condemned Melusina to become every Saturday a serpent, from the waist downwards” (page 86), which stuck with me because as I read Chapter 3 of The Romance of the Faery Melusine I unnoticed how stories were worded differently. In summary on page 25 it was almost as if Melusina was mind reading Raymondin which to me gives the idea off that she might be a siren, since in last weeks class one of the main discussions of a siren was that they have been somewhat presented as mystical beings that hold all the knowledge in the world which can include the thoughts of others. It was interesting that no where in this chapter it was clearly stated what mythical being Melusina could’ve been, but they made it a point to mention the beauty and knowledge she held that left Raymondin wondering “if he were still alive” (24). 

One of the biggest points I found interesting that was made within chapter 3 is the idea of blinded trust due to feminine beauty. Before even knowing Melusina’s name, Raymondin was able to fully confide in Melusina and the contract of marriage she has set up for the both of them which made me wonder how beautiful Melusina could have been that it left Raymondin unable to comprehend what is being said and the contract he is signing himself up for. It isn’t such a surprise that he was able to trust Melusina because of how differently things were done and said in the past, but it’s strange that Raymondin himself didn’t stop to question if she was even a mythical being since sirens were existent in that period of time. The idea of feminine beauty through this story has had an emphasis on me in that now I can only imagine the power that mermaids, sirens and so many other feminine mythical beings would have over the male population.

Week 5: Legend of Melusina

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“The Legend of Melusina” seems to be the first tale we have studied this far where a hybrid only takes its shape one a week, in this case on Saturday’s. Not only did that surprise me, but so did Raymond’s reaction when uncovered Melusina’s secret. I honestly expected a more negative reaction because of her ability to shape shift into various forms. It is said that “It was not horror that seized him at the sight, it as infinite anguish at the reflection that through his breach of faith he might lose his lovely wife forever”(p. 88). This story is the first time a mermaid has been seen for her true self by a man, and it seems as if the relationship between them is more genuine than in what we have studied in the past. I bring this up based on my original curiosity surrounding the idea of gender roles and femininity. I am interested to see how dynamics change through different works of literature and what this has to do with the type of hybrid creature, or the fact that she is mostly human? By that I mean if it was more than just Saturday that she became hybrid, would that change the way the story goes?

Week 5: Melusin(e/a)

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What I found most interesting this week was the difference between the Melusine origin story in the Penguin book versus the story told in the Romance of the Faery Melusine. In the Penguin Book of Mermaids, it states that Melusine (called Melusina in this book), has a serpent tale and does not appear as a mermaid. However, as we see in the Romance of the Faery Melusine, she is represented as a mermaid. In fact, the entire room that she hides in on Saturdays is made up for a mermaid–containing sand, water, shells, and coral. I think that this is because of the Christian Church. As we learned in the first chapter of the Merpeople book, the Christian Church chose the image of the mermaid for their own deviant needs (to belittle women and bring more followers to the church). This book, at least from the chapters we read, seems to have big Christian themes and God/Jesus is constantly mentioned. For instance, on page 12: “In those days men identified with things that could lead them further into the unknown; they sought in all directions the extension of their physical and spiritual power. So they believed and so they lived, sure of themselves and strong at one moment, at the next deflated and weak, falling to their knees for restoration from another source, the Lord Jesus Christ. And things, animals or people, trees or weapons, were more themselves… And the law of God prevailed over all.” These not so subtle mentions of Christian ideology are important because they give us context to who may have written this text, and where this text may have originated from. Clearly, it was written during a time where many were religious and believed in God. These men mentioned in this quote rely on Jesus Christ, and believe God is almighty. There are many mentions of God in this text–I will not list them all as it would be boring and extended–-but some important ones are “I am as faithful a Christian as you are” (p. 25), “before God and in the face of ourselves, and will marry you as soon as you wish in a church” (p. 26), “Could it be the Devil?” (p. 121), and “Pray devotedly to Our Lord to relieve my sufferings and shorten the time of my ordeal” (p. 144). These quotes further reveal the Christian beliefs of the time. In addition, Melusine is depicted combing her hair and using a mirror–which are associated with vanity (which I believe came from the Christian Church). She is also sexualized, as the Christian Church did with their mermaids: “flawless figure of a woman, forever young… her bent back magnificent in profile, her breasts raised… the exquisite flesh” (p.125). While the Penguin Book says that Christian framework makes her a more positive character aligned with water, I am not sure this is so true. I feel like this story was adopted to further demonize women, as liars and deceivers (as she was not truthful about what happened on Saturdays). Not only this, but Raymondin accuses Melusine of having damned children, and that she is a phantom and her children are as well, which could maybe imply that women can bear devilish fruit (but it could not be the man’s fault).

Melsuina and Shrek Crossover?

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When reading this story I saw different themes tied to the environment, religion, power, and women as demonic and as beautiful. I may be wrong or childish to interpret such a deep story with such deep meaning in an immature way but I see correlations to Dreamworks Shrek and “The Legend of Melusina” story.

To summarize, Shrek is a story of an ogre who rescues a supposed damsel in distress due to the command of a wretched king who desires the prince. However, the most beautiful princess Fiona, possessed a secret that no one knew and no one could figure out, for the sake of her safety. The story goes on and it is revealed that when the sun sets, the beautiful princess turns into an ogre from dusk to dawn. The curse followed that once Fiona found true love and received a true love’s kiss she would be able to take the form of her true love. The story goes on but those details are not as relevant as the ones I have previously discussed.

When reading this summary I hope that you also make the connections that I made to the Melusina story. After researching I was not able to find a definite explanation for these connections but I believe it is important to understand, that there is a possibility for adaptations and interpretations. Here are the connections I found:

  1. Like Fiona, Melusina was cursed to possess “monster-like” qualities. These qualities earn them titles of fearful, horrific, etc.
  2. Melusina is cursed to reveal a half-snake and half-human body every Saturday and Fiona is cursed to transform into an ogre after every sundown.
  3. Both females struggle with their curses and fail to conceal them from their lovers.
  4. The revelation of their bodies of duality stunts the relationship between Melusina and her love as well as Fiona and her lover. This is due to both of the woman’s concealment of their curse.
  5. Both females derive from places of power, as Fiona is a princess and Melusina derives her power from her faery ties.
  6. The story of Melusina can go two ways, with her husband being sad by her appearance or being disgusted by it. In the Shrek story, Shrek accepts Fiona for her appearance yet is saddened that she concealed the truth, and Lord Farquad ( her other possible husband) is disgusted by her and her appearance.

This may seem like a far reach but I found it interesting to investigate both of these stories and attempt to find their connections to one another.

Week 5: Legend of Melusina

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The reading this week of “Legend of Melusina” from The Penguin Book of Mermaids was most intriguing to me because it required me to focus on close reading. After reading the story for the first time, I was slightly confused. After reading the story again and taking a closer look, I was able to understand it more.

Melusina is half snake and half woman and is still depicted as beautiful and powerful, similar to mermaids and sirens. I was able to relate Melusina’s story to those that we have covered previously in class, specifically the stories of the sirens. Where Melusina’s story differs is how Raymondin did not flee immediately when he found out about Melusina’s second form. The story of the sirens tells us how men did not want to hear their song out of fear that it would kill them. Raymondin sees Melusina in her second form and only fears that he will be losing his wife. “But it was not a horror that seized him at the sight, it was infinite anguish at the reflection that through his breach of faith he might lose his lovely wife forever” (88). This quote explains how Raymondin was feeling and further allows me to compare and contrast this story to the story of the sirens. The sirens would make men flee from them if said men were aware of the power of their song and did not want to face a possible death. In this story, Melusina is the one who is fleeing from her husband. Melusina’s fear of her husband finding out about this second form had come true, forcing her to depart from her life. I believe that Melusina faced the most fear in this story. This is a very interesting point to me because typically these half-beings are the ones inflicting more fear onto others.