"The Emperor's New Clothes" ( ) is a literary

folktale Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used va ...

written by the Danish author

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

, about a vain

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

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" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...

" in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Denmark, 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 called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

''. 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

idioms An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a figurative or non-literal meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiomatic expression's meaning is different from the lit ...

Plot

The tale concerns an emperor who has an obsession with fancy new clothes, and spends lavishly on them, at the expense of state matters. One day, two con-men visit the emperor's capital. Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are either incompetent or stupid. The gullible emperor hires them, and they set up looms and pretend to go to work. A succession of officials, starting with the emperor's wise and competent minister, and then ending with 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 they have all been fooled. The emperor is startled, but opts to continue the procession.

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 ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

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 ("That's the way of the world"). 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 Jinaratnasuri. Jinaratnasuri belonged to Kharatara Gaccha of the Śvetāmbara sect of Jainism. It tells the stories of the lives of a group of souls as they pass through a series o ...

'' 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 Shravasti, Śrāvastī 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 Digambara, naked ascetic, he realizes the deception, but the swindler has already fled.

Commentaries

Hollis Robbins, 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. Naomi Wood of Kansas State University challenges Robbins' reading, arguing that before the September 11 attacks, 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

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

Film and television

In the 1965 Doctor Who serial ''The Romans (Doctor Who), 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 1966, Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, Videocraft International released ''The Daydreamer (film), The Daydreamer'', written by Arthur Rankin Jr. and directed by Jules Bass. An anthology film, ''The Daydreamer'' features several segments inspired by Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales, animated in Rankin-Bass' signature "Animagic" style, as well as a live-action wraparound story. One of these segments is "The Emperor's New Clothes," featuring the voice of Ed Wynn as the emperor, as well as Terry-Thomas, Victor Borge, and Paul O'Keefe, Paul O’Keefe. In 1970, Patrick Wymark appeared as the Emperor in ''Hans Christian Andersen'', an Australian musical and 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 American Broadcasting Company, ABC series ''The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye'', featuring Danny Kaye (who, 20 years earlier, had portrayed Hans Christian Andersen in Hans Christian Andersen (film), the musical of the same name), Cyril Ritchard, Imogene Coca, Allen Swift, and Bob McFadden. The television special features eight songs with music by Maury Laws and lyrics by Jules Bass, and combines live action filmed in Aarhus, Denmark, animation, special effects, and the stop motion animation process "Animagic" made in Japan. In 1978, this story was used to create a four-episode special of El Chapulín Colorado, a Mexican TV show created by Roberto Gomez Bolaños. In the special, Bolaños is the helper of an arts and crafts worker who pretends to have a fantastic fabric that only smart people can see, using it to trick the king. The special compiled several children stories, from Andersen to Brothers Grimm. The episode is known as "The Valiant Little Tailor", inspired from the Grimm's tale. In 1985, ''Faerie Tale Theatre, 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 film, war documentary film ''The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On'', by director Kazuo Hara, centers on 62-year-old Kenzō Okuzaki, veteran of Japan's Second World War New Guinea campaign, 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, part of the Cannon Movie Tales. series ''The Emperor's New Clothes'' (1991) animated film, by Burbank Animation Studios. ''Muppet Classic Theater'' has an adaptation of the story with Fozzie Bear as the emperor, and with Rizzo the Rat and two of his fellow rats as the swindlers. Despite the phrasing of the title, the 2000 film ''The Emperor's New Groove'' by Walt Disney Animation Studios is not related to Andersen's classic tale, although both stories involve a vain emperor being tricked. An original video animation (OVA) episode of the anime franchise ''Bikini Warriors'' 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 that only "idiots" are unable to see. HBO Family aired an animated adaptation called ''The Emperor’s Newest Clothes'' in 2018. Alan Alda narrated the tale and Jeff Daniels was the voice of the Emperor.

Music

On 1 March 1957, Bing Crosby recorded a musical adaptation of the story for children which was issued as an album ''Never Be Afraid'' 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 (film), Hans Christian Anderson''. 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!" The song "The Emperor's New Clothes (song), The Emperor's New Clothes" was written and released by Sinead O'Connor in 1990 on her sophomore album ''I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.'' She speaks of a system that will be exposed in time "through their own words," most likely referencing the Catholic Church. In 2001, Elton John wrote a song titled "The Emperor's New Clothes" for his 26th album ''Songs from the West Coast,'' telling the tale of a young couple who 'cheat the system, living a lie wearing a disguise'.

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 about logical fallacies. The story may be explained by pluralistic ignorance or collective illusions. In the story, townspeople pretend to see the emperor's non-existent outfit to fit in. Everyone is ignorant to whether the emperor has clothes on or not, but believes that everyone else is not ignorant. This is an example of a situation where "no one believes, but everyone believes that everyone else believes." Simply put, collective illusions arise when individuals conform to a group's false beliefs, often out of social pressure.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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

English translation by Jean Hersholt
"The Emperor's New Clothes"
Audio rendition by Sir Michael Redgrave * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emperors New Clothes, The 1837 short stories Danish fairy tales Fictional emperors and empresses Fictional tailors Idioms Literary characters introduced in 1837 Male characters in fairy tales Male characters in literature Short stories by Hans Christian Andersen Folklore featuring nakedness