''The Sea Lady'' is a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

, incorporating elements of a

fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

. It was serialized from July to December 1901 in ''

Pearson's Magazine ''Pearson's Magazine'' was a monthly periodical that first appeared in Britain in 1896. A US version began publication in 1899. It specialised in speculative literature, political discussion, often of a socialist bent, and the arts. Its contribu ...

'' before being published as a volume by Methuen. The inspiration for the novel came when Wells caught a glimpse of May Nisbet, the daughter of ''The Times'' drama critic, in a bathing suit during her visit to Sandgate. Wells had agreed to pay her school fees after her father's death. In presenting a creature of legend interacting with the prosaic contemporary

genteel Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

English society, the book clearly falls under the definition of

contemporary fantasy Contemporary fantasy is a genre, subgenre of fantasy set in the present day. It is perhaps most popular for its subgenres, occult detective fiction, urban fantasy, low fantasy, supernatural fiction and paranormal fiction. Several authors note that ...

, or even

urban fantasy Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy, placing supernatural elements in a contemporary urban area, urban-affected setting. The combination provides the writer with a platform for classic fantasy tropes, quixotic plot-elements, and unusual charac ...

, although these subgenres were not yet recognized as distinct at the time.

Plot

The intricately narrated story involves a

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

who comes ashore on the southern coast of England in 1899. Feigning a desire to become part of genteel society under the alias "Miss Doris Thalassia Waters," the mermaid's true intention is to seduce Harry Chatteris, a man she saw "some years ago" in "the

South Seas Today the term South Seas, or South Sea, most commonly refers to the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of the equator. The term South Sea may also be used synonymously for Oceania, or even more narrowly for Polynesia or the Polynesian Triangle ...

—near

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

" and who has since captivated her. She reveals this plan in a conversation with the narrator's second cousin Melville, a friend of the family who takes in "Miss Waters." As a

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

being, she is indifferent to the fact that Chatteris is engaged to the socially ambitious Miss Adeline Glendower and is attempting to redeem his misspent youth by entering

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

. With mere words, the mermaid shakes both Chatteris and Melville's faith in their society's norms and expectations, enigmatically telling them that "there are better dreams." In the end, Chatteris is unable to resist her alluring charms, even though succumbing to her supposedly means his death.

Themes

Couched in the language of fantasy and romance, blending with light-hearted social satire, ''The Sea Lady'' explores serious themes of

nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

sex Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...

, the

imagination Imagination is the production of sensations, feelings and thoughts informing oneself. These experiences can be re-creations of past experiences, such as vivid memories with imagined changes, or completely invented and possibly fantastic scenes ...

, and the ideal in an Edwardian world where moral restraints are loosening. Wells wrote in '' Experiment in Autobiography'' that ''The Sea Lady'' reflected his "craving for some lovelier experience than life had yet given me." In its narrative structure, ''The Sea Lady'' cleverly plays with conventions of historical and journalistic research and verification. According to

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part ...

, "Structurally it is the most complex thing Wells ever wrote, certainly the only novel Wells ever wrote to directly confirm our understanding that he did, indeed, read

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

." Adam Roberts has argued that ''The Sea Lady'' was written in a kind of dialogue with James's '' The Sacred Fount'' (1901).

Cultural references

Miss Adeline Glendower, the elder of the Glendower half-sisters, is an avid reader of Mary Augusta Ward (Mrs. Humphry Ward). Her seaside reading material includes '' Sir George Tressady'', and she is compared to the eponymous heroine of '' Marcella'', both novels by Mary Augusta Ward. Marcella (Lady Marcella Maxwell, née Boyce) is a leading character in both novels.

Sarah Grand Sarah Grand (10 June 1854 – 12 May 1943) was an Irish-English feminist writer active from 1873 to 1922. Her work revolved around the New Woman ideal. Early life and influences Sarah Grand was born Frances Elizabeth Bellenden Clarke in Ros ...

was a contemporaneous English feminist writer.

References

External links

''The Sea Lady'' at Open Library
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Lady, The 1902 British novels 1902 fantasy novels British fantasy novels British philosophical novels British romance novels British satirical novels Mermaid novels Metaphysical fiction novels Novels by H. G. Wells Novels first published in serial form Urban fantasy novels Works originally published in Pearson's Magazine Fiction about human–mermaid romance

Plot

Themes

Cultural references

See also

References

Further reading

External links