‘But he doesn’t have anything on,’ said a little child. The monarch had been beguiled by two charlatans into thinking that they offered magical clothing that not only looked imperial but detected stupidity and unfitness for purpose in courtiers. Courtiers and others had not liked to offend the monarch by disagreeing with him. The story is about the gullibility of a whole populace rather than one little child.
This comes from Hans Andersen’s book of fairy stories. It is about that moment when the penny drops, when people realise they have been barking up the wrong tree. Ideology has become detached from daily life. Things are suddenly seen for what they are.
We don’t have to go to Scandinavia to discover this. We can find similar instances in Grimms’ fairy tales and nearer home we can read Alexander Pope. His poem ‘The Rape of the Lock’ concerns a big event in the life of Arabella Fermor. Big event? She had a ringlet cut from her hair Pope was making mountains (beautiful ones) out of mole-hills to delight a reader.
There comes a point when the penny drops. We realise that we have been misguided in taking seriously what should be rejected out of hand. It happens in the trivial concerns; it happens in great institutions. Glitter outruns reality. Offices and procedures no longer match the declaratory words in which they are coined. We have to turn elsewhere. And humour in the form of satire is the alternative.
Hans Andersen and the Grimm brothers are always waiting in the wings. The Grimm brothers in particular have serious intent. They advanced the study of philology in their homeland. Andersen, like them, has a soaring imagination. It is a mistake to ignore them when we are in danger of failing to see the wood for the trees.
ABOUT ATHELSTAN
All Saints’ parish church, Kingston-upon-Thames can claim to have been in the public eye at the start of England. In 925 CE Athelstan was crowned king, the first monarch of a united England. A coronation stone a few yards away from the church is said to have been the monarch’s throne at the ceremony. The church has a strong musical tradition and is at present looking for a new Team Rector.
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