By: Hans Christian Andersen
Happy Friday!
This is one of my absolute favorite fairy tales. You mention The Emperor’s New Clothes to anyone and they would be able to give you a broad overview of the story.
Synopsis
Long ago there lived an Emperor whose sole concern was the clothing he wore.
The city he ruled was known for being lively and attracting visitors. Tow of these visitors were swindler would wove a tale of their fabric making prowess. But these weren’t ordinary clothes. The cloth they produced had such beautiful patterns and fabrics…
..But they were invisible if you were unfit for your position or just incredibly stupid.
Hearing news of this intuitive fabric, the Emperor gave the men a large payment and set them to make him a suit immediately.
The men set up looms and ask for the finest material in the city. However, they only pretended to weave long hours into the night.
Tempted to see their progress and if the cloth truly had these magical properties, the Emperor sends a trusted member of his court to the work room. Of course, when the advisor meets with the swindlers, he sees nothing.
Not wanting to be seen as someone unfit for his position, the advisor pretends to have seen the most amazing fabrics and brilliant colors.
The swindlers continue to ask for more money and expensive supplies. Amassing a large collection of wealth while still producing nothing.
The time finally came for the Emperor to don his new suit. Because the swindlers had produced nothing, the Emperor feared, like all others that have viewed the non-existent fabric, that he would be found unfit to rule if he admitted that he could not see anything. So, he happily put on the pretend suit and marched through the streets of the city naked for all his subjects to see.
At first, everyone marveled at the new clothes, until a small child exclaimed:
“But he has nothing on at all”
Hans Christian Andersen, Them Emperor’s New Clothes
Everyone else in the crowd began to realize that if an innocent child could not see the magical cloth, then it must not exist at all.
In the end, the Emperor owned up to the mistake he made, held his head up high and his attendants continued to walk with the imaginary fabric train until their procession was over.
My Thoughts
It would be easy to believe that the Emperor was the fool in this story and that the reader should not be as gullible as him. However, I find that it is much more complex of a morale.
The Emperor was a good ruler. He overall seemed fair to his citizens and the city was thriving. Sure, he spent his money on clothes he didn’t need and wanted to be admired, but nobody thought of him as a terrible leader. The fact that he was able to devote his time to frivolous things like outfit changes multiple times a day means that he had the time to do so. No active war, a thriving economy based on tourism, his city was lucky to have him in charge.
At the end of the tale, the Emperor realizes that he has been tricked and instead of getting made or running away in shame, he continues his hot girl walk, owning up to the mistake he made.
And the Villain is…
The swindlers.
In previous readings of this story, I was completely on the side of the traveling swindlers. I genuinely believed that the Emperor deserved to be tricked because of his pride and lack of compassion for his subjects. Now, I’ve flipped my opinion.
The travelers rob the community and make everyone feel inadequate. They tricked not only the Emperor but everyone else in the City. Every citizen was happy until that seed of doubt was planted in their community. Everyone was afraid that they would be found to be unfit or stupid if they couldn’t see the clothes.
Lessons & Takeaways
Don’t seek out ways to humiliate people. Make your way in this world honestly.
Also, be the one to stand up and say that something isn’t right. Don’t be afraid to go against something just because it is a popular opinion.
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