The Sea Lady / H.G. Wells

The Sea Lady by H.G. Wells
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is Wells' updated version of H.C. Andersen's The Little Mermaid. But it is obvious from the beginning that this Sea Lady has ulterior motives. She has set her hat, as they say, for Mr. Chatteris, despite his engagement to Miss Glendower (who from the very beginning expresses distrust of this sudden rival). But then, the little mermaid hoped to win the prince away from his betrothed too, as I recall.

Wells certainly makes use of the “mermaid searching for a soul" theme from Andersen's tale (and earlier folklore). It makes the perfect cover for her insertion of herself into the Bunting household. As an immortal being and an outsider to human culture, she provides an excellent viewpoint for Wells to use to critique his society. No being struck mute for this interloper, she talks everyone into treating her as a disabled gentlewoman. She has not struck any deals with a witch, just covers her tail with long dresses and blankets and fakes humanity masterfully.

She points out absurdities in polite behaviour to cousin Melville, sometimes revealing her absolute alien status through her ability to mesmerize him. You can also infer that she is a comment on the clandestine nature of women's campaigns to marry men of their choice. She has potentially had hundreds of years to become a master manipulator and Wells also gives her the draw of the siren to help her to bewitch men. And this story, while superficially about the Sea Lady and her rivalry with Adeline Glendower, is about the men. Chatteris is having to choose between duty and freedom. Melville watches this, they confer, but he understands the dilemma. Whether to be a good person and have a boring life of dutiful service, or to throw caution to the wind and have an exciting (if short) existence following one's heart. It's a choice we all have to make—can we support ourselves in a way that doesn't kill our soul?

What I have never understood in the mermaid mythology is the reason that they seek to bewitch and take men away to undersea. What use to them is a drowned man? Maybe its just that old dog in a manger thing—if they can't have him, no one can.

If you like this book, you might also be interested in The Pisces, a novel which uses a merman to examine the exaggerated significance that romantic relationships are given in women's lives.


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