The drowned woman and her husband
Encyclopedia
The drowned woman and her husband is an anti-feminist story found in Mediaeval jest-books that entered the fable tradition in the 16th century. It was occasionally included in collections of Aesop's Fables
but never became established as such and has no number in the Perry Index
.
, under the title "The man who had a contrary wife" (tale 96). Its most concise telling is in Poggio Bracciolini's Facetiae (1450), where it is titled "The man who searched in the river for his dead wife":
The language that Poggio uses is Latin, but there is an English retelling in The Hundred Merry Tales
(c.1520) and another in Geoffrey Whitney
's Choice of Emblemes (1586). In Italy there had been the elegant Latin verses of Gabriele Faerno
's influential Centum Fabulae (1554) and the Italian rhyming version by Giovanni Maria Verdizotti (1570). But the most influential telling of all was Jean de la Fontaine
's fable of "The drowned wife" (La femme noyée, III.16) included in his Fables Choisies of 1668. In this he deprecates the anti-feminist trend of the story but uses it as an illustration of how a governing nature persists throughout life 'and even beyond, perhaps'.
La Fontaine begins his account by protesting that he is not among those who use the contemporary French idiom, 'it's nothing, just a woman drowning', referring to those who lazily subscribed to such societal attitudes. At the end he echoes Faerno's conclusion that a person's nature does not change. Poggio's jest book and the English 'Merry Tales', on the other hand, avoid drawing a moral and end on the popular idiom of 'swimming against the current', used of just such characters as the contrary wife is said to be. Apparently the influence of the story has been such that the saying 'She’s so contrary that if she drowned they’d have to look upstream for her' is recorded as still current.
, the original illustrator of La Fontaine's Fables. It was only much later that attention switched to a compassionate view of the drowned woman, as in Gustave Doré
's illustration of the fable (above) and Marc Chagall
's 1952 etching. These follow in the wake of sympathetic treatments of the subject like the "Ophelia" (1852) of John Everett Millais
and "A Christian martyr drowned in the Tiber during the reign of Diocletian" (1855) by Eugène Delacroix
.
In the 20th century two composers set La Fontaine's words to music. In 1954 Florent Schmitt
included it in his Fables sans morales for mixed choir or four soloists (Op. 130). It is also among the four pieces in Isabelle Aboulker
's Femmes en fables (1999).
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...
but never became established as such and has no number in the Perry Index
Perry Index
The Perry Index is a widely-used index of "Aesop's Fables" or "Aesopica", the fables credited to Aesop, the story-teller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BC...
.
The story
One of the earliest appearances of the story is in the 12th century, when it was included in Marie de France's rhymed fables, the YsopetYsopet
Ysopet refers to a medieval collection of fables in French literature, specifically to versions of Aesop's Fables. Alternatively the term Isopet-Avionnet indicates that the fables are drawn from both Aesop and Avianus....
, under the title "The man who had a contrary wife" (tale 96). Its most concise telling is in Poggio Bracciolini's Facetiae (1450), where it is titled "The man who searched in the river for his dead wife":
- A man, whose wife had drowned in a stream, went up the river against the current to look for the body. A peasant who saw him marvelled greatly at this, and advised him to follow the flow of the current. "In that case", returned the first, "I should never find her, for when she was alive she was always difficult and contrary and went against the ways of others, so I am sure now that she is dead, she will go against the current of the stream."
The language that Poggio uses is Latin, but there is an English retelling in The Hundred Merry Tales
The Hundred Merry Tales
The Hundred Merry Tales, also Tales and Quick Answers, is the earliest known joke book in the English language. It was published in 1526.- Cultural references :...
(c.1520) and another in Geoffrey Whitney
Geoffrey Whitney
Geoffrey Whitney was an English poet, now best known for the influence on Elizabethan writing of the Choice of Emblemes that he compiled.-Life:...
's Choice of Emblemes (1586). In Italy there had been the elegant Latin verses of Gabriele Faerno
Gabriele Faerno
Gabriele Faerno, also known by his Latin name of Faernus Cremonensis, was born in Cremona about 1510 and died in Rome on November 17, 1561. He was a scrupulous scholar and an elegant Latin poet who is best known now for his collection of Aesop's Fables in Latin verse.-Life:Gabriele Faerno was born...
's influential Centum Fabulae (1554) and the Italian rhyming version by Giovanni Maria Verdizotti (1570). But the most influential telling of all was Jean de la Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
's fable of "The drowned wife" (La femme noyée, III.16) included in his Fables Choisies of 1668. In this he deprecates the anti-feminist trend of the story but uses it as an illustration of how a governing nature persists throughout life 'and even beyond, perhaps'.
La Fontaine begins his account by protesting that he is not among those who use the contemporary French idiom, 'it's nothing, just a woman drowning', referring to those who lazily subscribed to such societal attitudes. At the end he echoes Faerno's conclusion that a person's nature does not change. Poggio's jest book and the English 'Merry Tales', on the other hand, avoid drawing a moral and end on the popular idiom of 'swimming against the current', used of just such characters as the contrary wife is said to be. Apparently the influence of the story has been such that the saying 'She’s so contrary that if she drowned they’d have to look upstream for her' is recorded as still current.
Artistic uses
Pictures of the fable in books for some centuries usually depicted a group of men pointing opposite ways by the stream-side, following the emblematic lead of the German illustrator of Fearno's Centum Fabulae (1590) and of François ChauveauFrançois Chauveau
François Chauveau was a French painter and engraver.-Life:The second son of the impoverished noble Lubin Chauveau and of Marguerite de Fleurs, he studied in the studio of Laurent de La Hyre and specialised in etching...
, the original illustrator of La Fontaine's Fables. It was only much later that attention switched to a compassionate view of the drowned woman, as in Gustave Doré
Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Doré was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving.-Biography:...
's illustration of the fable (above) and Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
's 1952 etching. These follow in the wake of sympathetic treatments of the subject like the "Ophelia" (1852) of John Everett Millais
John Everett Millais
Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, PRA was an English painter and illustrator and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.-Early life:...
and "A Christian martyr drowned in the Tiber during the reign of Diocletian" (1855) by Eugène Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
.
In the 20th century two composers set La Fontaine's words to music. In 1954 Florent Schmitt
Florent Schmitt
Florent Schmitt was a French composer.-Early life:A Lorrainer, born in Meurthe-et-Moselle, Schmitt originally took music lessons in Nancy with the local composer Gustave Sandré. Subsequently he entered the Paris Conservatoire. There he studied with Gabriel Fauré, Jules Massenet, Théodore Dubois,...
included it in his Fables sans morales for mixed choir or four soloists (Op. 130). It is also among the four pieces in Isabelle Aboulker
Isabelle Aboulker
Isabelle Aboulker is a French composer, particularly known for her operas and other vocal works. In 1999 she gained a prize from the Académie des Beaux-Arts and in 2000 the music prize of the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques for her numerous lyric pieces.-Life and work:Isabelle...
's Femmes en fables (1999).