"The Emperor's New Clothes" ( da, Kejserens nye klæder ) is a literary

folktale A folktale or folk tale is a folklore genre that typically consists of a story passed down from generation to generation orally. Folktale may also refer to: Categories of stories * Folkloric tale from oral tradition * Fable (written form of the a ...

written by Danish author

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

, about a vain

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

who gets exposed before his subjects. The tale has been translated into over 100 languages.Andersen 2005a 4 "The Emperor's New Clothes" was first published with "

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...

" in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, by C. A. Reitzel, on 7 April 1837, as the third and final installment of Andersen's ''

Fairy Tales Told for Children A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

''. The tale has been adapted to various media, and the story's title, the phrase "the Emperor has no clothes", and variations thereof have been adopted for use in numerous other works and as an idiom. Page 475 of Fairy tales and stories (Andersen, Tegner)

Page 475 of Fairy tales and stories (Andersen, Tegner)

Plot

Two swindlers arrive at the capital city of an emperor who spends lavishly on clothing at the expense of state matters. Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are stupid or incompetent. The emperor hires them, and they set up looms and go to work. A succession of officials, and then the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but pretends otherwise to avoid being thought a fool. Finally, the weavers report that the emperor's suit is finished. They mime dressing him and he sets off in a procession before the whole city. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear inept or stupid, until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all. The people then realize that everyone has been fooled. Although startled, the emperor continues the procession, walking more proudly than ever.

Sources

Andersen's tale is based on a 1335 story from the (or ), a medieval Spanish collection of fifty-one cautionary tales with various sources such as

Aesop Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales cre ...

and other classical writers and Persian folktales, by

Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena Don Juan Manuel (5 May 128213 June 1348) was a Spanish medieval writer, nephew of Alfonso X of Castile, son of Manuel of Castile and Beatrice of Savoy. He inherited from his father the great Lordship of Villena, receiving the titles of Lord, D ...

(1282–1348). Andersen did not know the Spanish original but read the tale in a German translation titled . In the source tale, a king is hoodwinked by weavers who claim to make a suit of clothes invisible to any man not the son of his presumed father; whereas Andersen altered the source tale to direct the focus on courtly pride and intellectual vanity rather than adulterous paternity. There is also an Indian version of the story, which appears in the ''

Līlāvatīsāra Līlāvatīsāra (epitome of Līlāvatī) is a poem composed by Jinaratna. Jina Ratna belonged to Khartara Gachchha of the Svetambara sect of Jainism. It tells the stories of the lives of a group of souls as they pass through a series of embo ...

'' by Jinaratna (1283), a summary of a now-lost anthology of fables, the ''Nirvāṇalīlāvatī'' by Jineśvara (1052). The dishonest merchant Dhana from Hastināpura swindles the King of

Śrāvastī Shravasti ( sa, श्रावस्ती, translit=Śrāvastī; pi, 𑀲𑀸𑀯𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀻, translit=Sāvatthī) is a city and district headquarter of Shravasti district in Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. It was the capital of the anc ...

by offering to weave a supernatural garment that cannot be seen or touched by any person of illegitimate birth. When the king is supposedly wearing the garment, his whole court pretends to admire it. The king is then paraded about his city to show off the garment; when the common folk ask him if he has become a naked ascetic, he realizes the deception, but the swindler has already fled.

Composition

Andersen's manuscript was at the printer's when he was suddenly inspired to change the original climax of the tale from the emperor's subjects admiring his invisible clothes to that of the child's cry. There are many unconfirmed theories about why he made this change. Most scholars agree that from his earliest years in Copenhagen, Andersen presented himself to the Danish bourgeoisie as the naïvely precocious child not usually admitted to the adult

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

. "The Emperor's New Clothes" became his

exposé Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website Film and TV Film * ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film * ''Exposed'' (1932 ...

of the hypocrisy and snobbery he found there when he finally gained admission. Andersen's decision to change the ending may have occurred after he read the manuscript tale to a child, or its inspiration may have been one of Andersen's own childhood incidents which was similar to that in the tale: he once recalled standing in a crowd with his mother, waiting to see King Frederick VI, and when the king made his appearance, Andersen cried out, "Oh, he's nothing more than a human being!" His mother then tried to silence him saying, "Have you gone mad, child?" Whatever the reason, Andersen thought the change would prove more satirical.

Publication

"The Emperor's New Clothes" was first published with "

" on 7 April 1837, by C.A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, as the third and final installment of the first collection of Andersen's ''

''. The first two booklets of the collection were published in May and December 1835, and met with little critical enthusiasm. Andersen waited a year before publishing the third installment of the collection. Traditional Danish tales, as well as German and French folktales, were regarded as a form of exotica in nineteenth century Denmark and were read aloud to select gatherings by celebrated actors of the day. Andersen's tales eventually became a part of the repertoire, and readings of "The Emperor's New Clothes" became a specialty of and a big hit for the popular Danish actor Ludvig Phister. On 1 July 1844, the Hereditary Grand Duke

Carl Alexander , image = Held Carl Alexander Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach@Weimar Schlossmuseum.jpg , image_size = , caption = , succession = Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach , reign = 8 July 1853 – 5 January 1901 , predecessor = ...

held a literary soiree at

Ettersburg Ettersburg is a municipality in the Weimarer Land district of Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German state ...

in honor of Andersen. Tired by speaking various foreign languages and on the verge of vomiting after days of feasting, the author managed to control his body and read aloud "

The Princess and the Pea "The Princess and the Pea" ( da, "Prinsessen paa Ærten"; direct translation: "The Princess on the Pea") is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a young woman whose royal ancestry is established by a test of her sensitivity. ...

", "Little Ida's Flowers", and "The Emperor's New Clothes".

Commentaries

Jack Zipes, in ''Hans Christian Andersen: The Misunderstood Storyteller'', suggests that seeing is presented in the tale as the courage of one's convictions; Zipes believes this is the reason the story is popular with children. Sight becomes insight, which, in turn, prompts action.

Alison Prince Alison Prince (26 March 1931 – 12 October 2019) was a British children's writer, screenwriter and biographer, who settled on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Her novels for young people won several awards. She was the scriptwriter of the much re ...

, author of ''Hans Christian Andersen: The Fan Dancer'', claims that Andersen received a gift of a ruby and diamond ring from the king after publications of "The Emperor's New Clothes" and "

The Swineherd "The Swineherd" ( da, Svinedrengen) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a prince who disguises himself as a swineherd to win an arrogant princess. The tale was first published December 20, 1841 by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen ...

"—tales in which Andersen voices a satirical disrespect for the court. Prince suggests the ring was an attempt to curb Andersen's sudden bent for

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...

by bringing him into the royal fold. She points out that after "

", he never again wrote a tale colored with political satire, but, within months of the gift, began composing "

The Ugly Duckling "The Ugly Duckling" ( da, Den grimme ælling) is a Danish literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published on 11 November 1843 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. Fir ...

", a tale about a bird born in a henyard who, after a lifetime of misery, matures into a swan, "one of those royal birds". In ''Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller'', biographer Jackie Wullschlager points out that Andersen was not only a successful adapter of existing lore and literary material, such as the Spanish source tale for "The Emperor's New Clothes", but was equally competent at creating new material that entered the human

collective consciousness Collective consciousness, collective conscience, or collective conscious (french: conscience collective) is the set of shared beliefs, ideas, and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society.''Collins Dictionary of Sociolog ...

with the same mythic power as ancient, anonymous lore.

Hollis Robbins Hollis Robbins (born 1963) is an American academic and essayist; Robbins currently serves as Dean of Humanities at University of Utah. Her scholarship focuses on African-American literature. Education and early career Robbins was born and raised ...

, in "The Emperor's New Critique" (2003), argues that the tale is itself so transparent "that there has been little need for critical scrutiny. Robbins argues that Andersen's tale "quite clearly rehearses four contemporary controversies: the institution of a meritocratic civil service, the valuation of labor, the expansion of democratic power, and the appraisal of art". Robbins concludes that the story's appeal lies in its "seductive resolution" of the conflict by the truth-telling boy. In ''The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen'' (2008), folk and fairy tale researcher

Maria Tatar Maria Magdalene Tatar (born May 13, 1945) is an American academic whose expertise lies in children's literature, German literature, and folklore. She is the John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures, and Chair of the Committee o ...

offers a scholarly investigation and analysis of the story, drawing on Robbins' political and sociological analysis of the tale. Tatar points out that Robbins indicates the swindling weavers are simply insisting that "the value of their labor be recognized apart from its material embodiment" and notes that Robbins considers the ability of some in the tale to see the invisible cloth as "a successful enchantment". Tatar observes that "The Emperor's New Clothes" is one of Andersen's best-known tales and one that has acquired an iconic status globally as it migrates across various cultures reshaping itself with each retelling in the manner of oral folktales. Scholars have noted that the phrase "Emperor's new clothes" has become a standard metaphor for anything that smacks of pretentiousness, pomposity, social hypocrisy, collective denial, or hollow ostentatiousness. Historically, the tale established Andersen's reputation as a children's author whose stories actually imparted lessons of value for his juvenile audience, and "romanticized" children by "investing them with the courage to challenge authority and to speak truth to power." With each successive description of the swindlers' wonderful cloth, it becomes more substantial, more palpable, and a thing of imaginative beauty for the reader even though it has no material existence. Its beauty, however, is obscured at the end of the tale with the obligatory moral message for children. Tatar is left wondering if the real value of the tale is the creation of the wonderful fabric in the reader's imagination or the tale's closing message of speaking truth no matter how humiliating to the recipient. Naomi Wood of

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

challenges Robbins' reading, arguing that before the World Trade Center attacks of 2001, "Robbins's argument might seem merely playful, anti-intuitive, and provocative." Wood concludes: "Perhaps the truth of 'The Emperor's New Clothes' is not that the child's truth is mercifully free of adult corruption, but that it recognizes the terrifying possibility that whatever words we may use to clothe our fears, the fabric cannot protect us from them." In 2017, Robbins returned to the tale to suggest that the courtiers who pretend not to see what they see are models of men in a workplace who claim not to see harassment.

Adaptations and cultural references

Vilhelm Pedersen, Kejserens nye klæder, ubt

Alasti keiser, Edward von Lõnguse töö Tartus

Various adaptations of the tale have appeared since its first publication.

Film and television

1919 Russian short film directed by

Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky Yuri Andreyevich Zhelyabuzhsky ( rus, Юрий Андреевич Желябужский; – 24 October 1955) was a Russian and Soviet cinematographer, film director, screenwriter and animator, film theorist and professor at VGIK.Cinema: Encycl ...

In 1953, theatrical short titled ''

The Emperor's New Clothes "The Emperor's New Clothes" ( da, Kejserens nye klæder ) is a literary Folklore, folktale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, about a vain emperor who gets exposed before his subjects. The tale has been translated into over 100 l ...

'', produced by UPA In 1961, Croatian film (80') directed by Ante Babaja, writer Božidar Violić (see IMDB). In the 1965

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

serial '' The Romans'', the Doctor uses the story as inspiration to avoid his disguise as a lyre player being discovered. He later claims to have given Andersen the original idea for the story in the first place. In 1970,

Patrick Wymark Patrick Wymark (11 July 192620 October 1970) was an English stage, film and television actor. Early life Wymark was born Patrick Carl Cheeseman in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. He was brought up in neighbouring Grimsby and frequently revisited th ...

appeared as the Emperor in ''Hans Christian Andersen'', an Australian musical/comedy television special highlighting three of Andersen's most famous stories. It was broadcast five weeks after Wymark's untimely death in Melbourne. In 1972, Rankin/Bass Productions adapted the tale as the first and only musical episode of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

series '' The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye'', featuring

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and ...

Cyril Ritchard Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard (1 December 1898 – 18 December 1977), known professionally as Cyril Ritchard, was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in ...

Imogene Coca Imogene Coca (born Emogeane Coca; November 18, 1908 – June 2, 2001) was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on ''Your Show of Shows''. Starting out in vaudeville as a child acrobat, she studied ballet and wishe ...

Allen Swift Ira Stadlen (January 16, 1924 – April 18, 2010), known professionally as Allen Swift, was an American voice actor, best known for voicing cartoon characters Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff on the ''Underdog'' cartoon show. He took his pro ...

, and

Bob McFadden Robert McFadden (January 19, 1923 – January 7, 2000) was an American singer, impressionist, and voice-over actor perhaps best known for his many contributions to animated cartoons. His most popular television cartoon characters included M ...

. The television special features eight songs with music by

Maury Laws Maury Laws (December 6, 1923 – March 28, 2019) was an American television and film composer from Burlington, North Carolina. Biography In his teens, Laws performed in local country, jazz and dance bands as a singer and guitarist in his home st ...

and lyrics by

Jules Bass Julius Bass (September 16, 1935 – October 25, 2022) was an American director, producer, lyricist, composer, and author. Until 1960, he worked at a New York advertising agency, and then co-founded the film production company Videocraft Interna ...

, and combines live action filmed in

Aarhus, Denmark Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

, animation, special effects, and the stop motion animation process "Animagic" made in Japan. In 1985, '' Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre'' adapted the fairy tale starring Dick Shawn as the Emperor while Alan Arkin and Art Carney starred as the con artists. The 1987, Japanese

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On is a 1987 Japanese documentary film by director Kazuo Hara. The documentary centers on Kenzō Okuzaki, a 62-year-old veteran of Japan's campaign in New Guinea in the Second World War, and follows him around as he searches out those responsible ...

'', by director

Kazuo Hara is a Japanese documentary film director. After dropping out of university to work at a special education school, he made his 1972 debut work ''Goodbye CP'' about a group of individuals with cerebral palsy. He won the award for Best Director a ...

, centers on 62-year-old Kenzō Okuzaki, veteran of Japan's

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

campaign in New Guinea, and follows him around as he searches out those responsible for the unexplained deaths of two soldiers in his old unit. The Emperor's New Clothes, a 1987 musical comedy adaptation of the fairy tale starring

Sid Caesar Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950� ...

, part of the

Cannon Movie Tales ''Cannon Movie Tales'' is the collective name for a series of live-action films created in the late 1980s by Cannon Group producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, associate producer Patricia Ruben, and executive producer Itzik Kol. Filmed princi ...

series The Emperor's New Clothes (1991) animated film, by

Burbank Animation Studios Burbank Animation Studios was an Australian film animation production company, formerly named Burbank Films Australia. History The company's first animated productions in 1982 were a series of adaptations of books from Charles Dickens; these f ...

. ''

Muppet Classic Theater ''Muppet Classic Theater'' (also known as ''Muppet Family Theater'' in the Republic of Ireland and ''Muppet Fairy Tales'' in the United Kingdom) is a direct-to-video musical comedy film featuring The Muppets. It is the first direct-to-video featur ...

'' has an adaptation of the story with Fozzie as the emperor, and with Rizzo and two of his fellow rats as the swindlers. In the 1997 television drama '' ...First Do No Harm'', Lori (played by

Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...

) is shown reading this story to her young son Robbie (played by

Seth Adkins Seth Elijah Adkins (born October 30, 1989) is an American actor. He made his debut as a child actor in the TV shows ''Small Talk'' and ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'' in 1996 and the films '' ...First Do No Harm'' and ''Titanic'' in 1997. He late ...

). An original video animation (OVA) episode of the anime franchise ''

Bikini Warriors is a Japanese media franchise. It primarily consists of a series of fantasy figures created by Hobby Japan and Megahouse, featuring character designs from multiple artists including Rei Hiroe, Hisasi, Saitom and Tony. A 12-episode anime telev ...

'' humorously adapts the tale, wherein the main characters are stripped nude by an unseen deity under the pretense that it has actually gifted them with a new, legendary bikini armor which only "idiots" are unable to see.

HBO Family Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

aired an animated adaptation called ''The Emperor’s Newest Clothes'' in 2018.

Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the war co ...

narrated the tale and Jeff Daniels was the voice of the Emperor.

Other media

On 1 March 1957,

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

recorded a musical adaptation of the story for children which was issued as an album ''

Never Be Afraid ''Never Be Afraid'' is an LP album by Bing Crosby made for children by Golden Records in 1957. It is a musical adaptation of ''The Emperor's New Clothes'', the fairy story with a moral by Hans Christian Andersen. The music was by Lew Spence and ...

'' by Golden Records in 1957. In 1968, on their Four Fairy Tales and Other Children's Stories" album, the Pickwick Players performed a version of this story that is actually a version of The King's New Clothes" from the film Hans Christian Andersen. In this version, two swindlers trick the Emperor into buying a nonexistent suit, only for a boy to reveal the truth in the end. There are several differences from the original Danny Kaye version, most importantly a new verse ("This suit of clothes put all together is altogether / The most remarkable suit of clothes, that you've already said. The shirt is white, the cape is ermine, the hose are blue,/ And the doublet is a lovely shade of red!" To which the emperor replies "Green! Glorious Green!" and the Court asks "How could we think it was red!" In 1980, computer scientist C.A.R. Hoare used a parody tale, ''The Emperor's Old Clothes'', to advocate simplification over embellishment, for clothing or computer programming languages. In 1985,

Jack Herer Jack Herer (; June 18, 1939 – April 15, 2010), sometimes called the "Emperor of Hemp", was an American cannabis rights activist and the author of ''The Emperor Wears No Clothes''. Herer founded and served as the director of the organization H ...

published the first edition of ''

The Emperor Wears No Clothes ''The Emperor Wears No Clothes'' is a non-fiction book written by Jack Herer. Starting in 1973, the story begins when Herer takes the advice of his friend, "Captain" Ed Adair, and begins compiling tidbits of information about the ''Cannabis'' pl ...

'', which uncovers the history of

industrial hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

through civilization, culminating in a propaganda campaign in the U.S. in the early 20th century. The book is now in its 11th edition. In 1989,

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus fello ...

parodied

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

as having no substance in his book ''

The Emperor's New Mind ''The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and The Laws of Physics'' is a 1989 book by the mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose. Penrose argues that human consciousness is non-algorithmic, and thus is not capable of being modeled ...

''.

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

uses the title of the story in the opening track of his 2001 album

Songs from the West Coast ''Songs from the West Coast'' is the twenty-sixth studio album by English musician Elton John, released worldwide on 1 October 2001. Background For this album, John once again collaborated with long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin, marking the fir ...

. Irish singer Sinead O'Connor included a song called "The Emperor's New Clothes" on her 1990 album

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got ''I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got'' is the second album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, released in March 1990 on Ensign/Chrysalis Records. It contains O'Connor's version of the Prince song "Nothing Compares 2 U", which was released as a sin ...

, which references failed relationships. In 2011,

Tony Namate Tony Namate is a Zimbabwean cartoonist who has gained international recognition for his scathing cartoon commentary on socio-political issues in Zimbabwe and beyond. His 2011 collection of political cartoons, whose title -- "The Emperor's New Clo ...

, an award-winning

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

, published a collection of

political cartoon A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine ...

s entitled ''

The Emperor's New Clods ''The Emperor's New Clods: Political Cartoons from Zimbabwe'' is a collection of political cartoons by Tony Namate. The collection features cartoons published by the cartoonist in Zimbabwean newspapers between 1998 and 2005, highlighting some lan ...

''. This collection features cartoons published in Zimbabwean newspapers between 1998 and 2005, highlighting some landmark moments in a troubled period of the country's history. In 2014, the

online game An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PC game, PCs, Console game, consoles and ...

Final Fantasy XIV ''Final Fantasy XIV'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square Enix. Directed and produced by Naoki Yoshida, it was released worldwide for Windows and PlayStation 3 in August 2013, as a rep ...

'' introduced a gear set prefixed ''The Emperor's New'', which is composed of gear pieces (e.g. ''The Emperor's New Gloves'') that do not have an in-game model, effectively displaying a character in underwear when the whole set is equipped. This followed requests from the player base to be able to hide a piece of equipment they do not want displayed, using the in-game glamour system that allows gear appearance alteration. The flavour text of the gear pieces is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the tale: ''"The most beautiful handwear you never have seen".'' In 2016,

Panic! At the Disco Panic! at the Disco is the solo project of American musician Brendon Urie. It was originally a pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2004 by childhood friends Urie, Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, and Brent Wilson. They recorded their firs ...

released a song titled "

Emperor's New Clothes "The Emperor's New Clothes" ( da, Kejserens nye klæder ) is a literary folktale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, about a vain emperor who gets exposed before his subjects. The tale has been translated into over 100 languages. ...

," which includes the lyrics "I'm taking back the crown. I'm all dressed up and naked." In 2016, heavy metal act

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

released "The Emperor" on their 15th studio album, ''

Dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

'', which won a Grammy. In 2019,

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

´s leaked and then self-released

MiniDiscs (Hacked) ''MiniDiscs acked' is a compilation of recordings by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, made while they were working on their 1997 album ''OK Computer''. It comprises more than 16 hours of demos, rehearsals, live performances and oth ...

featured an incomplete song by the name "My New Clothes", in which the lyrics "The people stop and stare at the emperor" and "And even if it hurts to walk, and people laugh, I know who I am" were included. In 2020,

FINNEAS Finneas Baird O'Connell (born July 30, 1997), known mononymously as Finneas ( stylized in all caps), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has written and produced music for various artists, most notably his sister, ...

released a song titled "Where the Poison is", featuring the lyrics "I guess not everybody knows the emperor was never wearin' any clothes". The song is presented as a criticism of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

and his administration's handling of the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...

. Also in 2020, the expansion '' Greymoor'' for the MMORPG ''

The Elder Scrolls Online ''The Elder Scrolls Online'', abbreviated ''ESO'', is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by ZeniMax Online Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Windows and OS X in Ap ...

'' included an altered version of the tale titled as "The Jarl's New Robes" in one of the books the player can read.

Use as an idiom

As an idiom, use of the story's title refers to something widely accepted as true or professed as being praiseworthy, due to an unwillingness of the general population to criticize it or be seen as going against popular opinion. The phrase "emperor's new clothes" has become an

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, ...

about

logical fallacies In philosophy, a formal fallacy, deductive fallacy, logical fallacy or non sequitur (; Latin for " tdoes not follow") is a pattern of reasoning rendered invalid by a flaw in its logical structure that can neatly be expressed in a standard logic syst ...

. The story may be explained by

pluralistic ignorance In social psychology, pluralistic ignorance refers to a situation in which the minority position on a given topic is wrongly perceived to be the majority position or where the majority position is wrongly perceived to be the minority position. Thi ...

. The story is about a situation where "no one believes, but everyone believes that everyone else believes. Or alternatively, everyone is ignorant to whether the emperor has clothes on or not, but believes that everyone else is not ignorant."

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

"Keiserens nye Klæder"
Original Danish text
"Keiserens nye Klæder"
Manuscript from the Odense City Museum

English translation by

Jean Hersholt Jean Pierre Carl Buron (12 July 1886 – 2 June 1956), known professionally as Jean Hersholt, was a Danish-American actor. He is best known for starring on the radio series '' Dr. Christian'' (1937–1954) and in the film '' Heidi'' (1937).Obitu ...

"The Emperor's New Clothes"
Audio rendition by Sir

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Elec ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emperors New Clothes, The Danish fairy tales 1837 short stories Short stories by Hans Christian Andersen Idioms Fictional emperors and empresses Fictional tailors Literary characters introduced in 1837 Male characters in literature Male characters in fairy tales