"The Emperor's New Clothes" (Danish: Kejserens nye Klæder) is a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes that is invisible to those unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, "But he isn't wearing anything at all!" The tale has been translated into over a hundred languages.[1]
"The Emperor’s New Clothes" was first published with "The Little Mermaid" in Copenhagen by C. A. Reitzel on 7 April 1837 as the third and final installment of Andersen's Fairy Tales Told for Children. The tale has been adapted to various media, including the musical stage and animated film.
A vain Emperor who cares for nothing except wearing and displaying clothes hires two swindlers who promise him the finest, best suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or "hopelessly stupid". The Emperor's ministers cannot see the clothing themselves, but pretend that they can for fear of appearing unfit for their positions and the Emperor does the same. Finally the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they mime dressing him and the Emperor marches in procession before his subjects. The townsfolk play along with the pretense not wanting to appear unfit for their positions or stupid. Then a child in the crowd, too young to understand the desirability of keeping up the pretense, blurts out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is taken up by others. The Emperor cringes, suspecting the assertion is true, but continues the procession.
Andersen's tale is based on a story from the Libro de los ejemplos (or El Conde Lucanor, 1335),[2] a medieval Spanish collection of fifty-one cautionary tales with various sources such as Aesop and other classical writers and Persian folktales, by Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena (1282–1348). Andersen did not know the Spanish original but read the tale in a German translation titled "So ist der Lauf der Welt".[3] 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.[4]
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.[5] There are many 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 naively precocious child not usually admitted to the adult salon. "The Emperor’s New Clothes" became his expose of the hypocrisy and snobbery he found there when he finally gained admission.[6]
Andersen’s decision to change the ending may have occurred after he read the manuscript tale to a child,[7] or had its source in a childhood incident similar to that in the tale. In 1872, he recalled standing in a crowd with his mother waiting to see King Frederick VI. When the king made his appearance, Andersen cried out, "Oh, he’s nothing more than a human being!" His mother tried to silence him by crying, "Have you gone mad, child?". Whatever the reason, Andersen thought the change would prove more satirical.[8]
"The Emperor’s New Clothes" was first published with "The Little Mermaid" on 7 April 1837 by C.A. Reitzel in Copenhagen as the third and final installment of the first collection of Andersen's Fairy Tales Told for Children. The first two booklets of the collection were published in May and December 1835 and met with little critical enthusiasm.[9] Andersen waited a year before publishing the third installment of the collection.[10]
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.[11]
On 1 July 1844, the Hereditary Grand Duke Carl Alexander held a literary soiree at Ettersburg in honor of Andersen. The author was on the verge of vomiting after days of feasting and speaking various foreign languages but managed to control his body and read aloud “The Princess and the Pea”, "Little Ida's Flowers", and "The Emperor’s New Clothes".[12]
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 believe this is the reason the story is popular with children. Sight becomes insight, which, in turn, prompts action.[13]
Alison Prince, 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"—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 by bringing him into the royal fold. She points out that after The Swineherd, he never again wrote a tale colored with political satire, but, within months of the gift, began composing "The Ugly Duckling", a tale about a bird born in a henyard who, after a lifetime of misery, matures into a swan, "one of those royal birds".[14] 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 also equally competent at creating new material that entered the human collective consciousness with the same mythic power as ancient, anonymous lore.[15]
Hollis Robbins, in "The Emperor's New Critique" (2003),[16] argues that the tale is itself so transparent "that there has been little need for critical scrutiny."[17] 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".[18] 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 offers a scholarly investigation and analysis of the story, drawing on Robbins's 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".[19]
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.[20] 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."[21] 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 challenges Robbins's reading, arguing that before the World Trade Center attacks of 2001, "Robbins's argument might seem merely playful, anti-intuitive, and provocative."[22] 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."[23]
Various adaptations of the tale have appeared since its first publication including a 1919 Russian film directed by Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky, a 1987 musical starring Sid Caesar, and numerous short stories, plays, spoofs, and animated films.[1]
The story has been parodied numerous times, including one story in the animated television seriesALF: The Animated Series where Alf plays a frustrated tailor of comfortable casual clothes who pulls the trick on the uninterested emperor who refused his usual goods. At the end, when the emperor's pretension is exposed by a girl who makes some sarcastic comments about his state of undress, Alf's character supplies the ruler some of his usual wares which the emperor finds agreeable and so forgives the tailor for the humiliation. Furthermore, the story ends happier still with the emperor realizing that he has his one opportunity to go streaking and invites Alf and Rhonda to join him.
The Emperor's New Clothes is the title of a fanciful 2001 film starring Ian Holm as Napoleon.
The 1990 song "The Emperor's New Clothes" by recording artist Sinéad O'Connor has the same general message as the original fairytale. The song ends with the lines, "through their own words / they will be exposed / they've got a severe case of / the emperor's new clothes."
Le Roi nu (The Naked King) is a 1935 ballet with music by Jean Françaix, libretto and choreography by Serge Lifar.
In the 1952 film musicalHans Christian Andersen based on the life of the Danishpoet and story-teller Hans Christian Andersen, starring Danny Kaye, the story of The Emperor's New Clothes is told in The King's New Clothes as one of the film's eight songs.
The tale was made into a stop-motion animated TV special from Rankin-Bass, again with Danny Kaye's involvement and narration, entitled: The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes.
The tale itself was adapted as an episode of the 2008 series Fairy Tales.
The Chinese novelist Ye Sheng Tao continued the story which Andersen had left off; it is also titled, The Emperor's New Clothes.
The song "Ready to Start" by Arcade Fire contains the lyric "All the kids have always known that the Emperor wears no clothes / but they bow down to him anyway, 'cause it's better than being alone".
A modern animated film that revolves around an arrogant emperor is The Emperor's New Groove.
In the Doctor Who story "The Romans", the Doctor is mistaken for a musician and gets roped into playing the lyre, which he cannot play. He manages to convince everyone present that the music he plays is so subtle that only the truly gifted can hear it. He then silently waves his hands over the instrument. Everyone present, not willing to admit they were too dull-witted to hear it, applauds his performance. Also, in the episode "Night Terrors" the Doctor jokingly mentions that one of the stories he enjoyed as a child was "The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes".
The sculpture group "The Emperor's New Clothes" by Keld Moseholm is placed in Odense, the native town of Andersen.
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 sorting algorithms.[24]
The Emperor's New Clothes was parodied in Muppet Classic Theater. In this story, the Emperor of Fozzalia (played by Fozzie Bear) is fooled into believing that his vestments are made of an invisible cloth made by some tricksters (played by Rizzo the Rat, Yolanda the Rat, and Montague the Rat). When Fozzie goes out to show his new clothes, a young boy (played by Robin the Frog) notices that the Emperor is wearing nothing but his boxers. The citizenry think that since the Emperor isn't wearing clothing and that public nudity must be the latest fad. The Emperor tells his people that they should stop doing things just because he does them, and that they should start thinking for themselves.
In the "Heather Locklear" episode of Muppets Tonight, a "Fairyland PD" segment had Clifford and Bobo the Bear busting the Emperor for supposedly streaking even though he claims that he is wearing his new outfit. When the Chief of Police arrives, he ends up complimenting the Emperor's "new outfit" as the Emperor leaves to get his tutu out of the dryer. When Clifford and Bobo start to say something to the Chief about this, the Chief quotes "Yeah, I know. He's naked as a jay bird. But hey, he's the Emperor and he signs the checks."
In 2010, Alan Schmuckler and David Holstein adapted the well known story into a modern, family musical which underwent critical appraise during its run at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. An extended version of the musical is now being performed in Sydney, Australia by the Stage Artz Theatre Company.
The story is often sited by the non-religious community in forms such as "The Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome". This comparison drawn by considering the feeling of some non-believers among a presumably believing population where until one publicly voices the opinion of the minority, people's true opinions will not be known.[25]
In 2013, Jonathan Liu created a boardgame called "The Emperor's New Clothes" and put it on Kickstarter. It was a game that came with a blank box, a blank board, blank cards, and some other blank tokens. In an instant of life imitating art, some people backed it thinking there was something more and the reveal was that there was actually nothing other than that.[26][27]
The phrase "emperor's new clothes" has become an idiom about logical fallacies.[28] The story is an example of what happens because of pluralistic ignorance.[29] The story is about a situation where "no one believes, but everyone believes that everyone else believes."[30]