The Emperor's New Clothes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids "The Emperor's New Clothes" |
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Illustration by Vilhelm Pedersen
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| Author | Hans Christian Andersen |
| Original title | Kejserens nye Klæder |
| Country | Denmark |
| Language | Danish |
| Characters | The Emperor Two Swindlers |
| Genre(s) | Literary fairy tale |
| Published in | Fairy Tales Told for Children (third booklet) |
| Publication type | Fairy tale collection |
| Publisher | C. A. Reitzel |
| Media type | |
| Publication date | April 1837 |
| Preceded by | The Little Mermaid |
The Emperor's New Clothes is a well-known story written by Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published on April 7, 1837. This tale appeared in the third and final part of Andersen's book, Fairy Tales Told for Children. It was released in Copenhagen, Denmark, by C. A. Reitzel.
Contents
About the Story's Origins
The idea for this story came from an older tale. It was found in a Spanish book called Libro de los ejemplos (also known as El Conde Lucanor). This book was written in 1335 by Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena. The Spanish book was a collection of 51 warning tales. These tales came from different sources, including Aesop and old Persian folktales.
Andersen did not read the original Spanish version. Instead, he read the story in a German translation. The German title was "So ist der Lauf der Welt." In the original tale, weavers tricked a king. They claimed to make clothes that only a true son of his father could see. Andersen changed this idea. He wanted his story to focus on how proud people in a royal court could be. He also wanted to show how people can pretend to be smart when they are not.
How the Story Changed
Andersen made an important change to the story's ending. His first version had the emperor's people admiring his invisible clothes. But he changed it so a child would cry out the truth. This change happened while his story was already being printed.
Andersen might have changed the ending after reading it to a child. Or, it could have come from something that happened when he was a child. In 1872, he remembered standing in a crowd with his mother. They were waiting to see King Frederick VI. When the king appeared, Andersen shouted, "Oh, he’s nothing but a human being!" His mother tried to quiet him, saying, "Have you gone mad, child?" Whatever the reason, Andersen believed the new ending would be funnier and more critical of society.
What the Story is About
The story is about an Emperor who loves new clothes more than anything. He hires two tricksters who say they can make the most amazing suit of clothes. This special fabric would be invisible to anyone who was not good enough for their job or was "hopelessly stupid."
The Emperor's helpers, his ministers, cannot see the clothes. But they pretend they can. They are afraid of looking unfit for their positions. The Emperor does the same thing. He also pretends to see the clothes.
Finally, the tricksters say the suit is ready. They act like they are dressing the Emperor. He then walks in a parade in front of his people. The people in the town also pretend to see the clothes. They don't want to seem stupid or unfit.
Then, a child in the crowd shouts that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all! Other people start to repeat the child's words. The Emperor feels embarrassed. But he holds his head high and keeps walking in the parade.
The Story as an Idiom
The title "The Emperor's New Clothes" has become an idiom. An idiom is a phrase where the words together mean something different from their usual meaning. When people use this idiom, it means something is widely accepted as true or good. But it's only accepted because people are afraid to criticize it. They don't want to go against what everyone else seems to believe.
The phrase is often used to talk about logical fallacies. A logical fallacy is a mistake in reasoning. The story can also explain something called pluralistic ignorance. This happens when "no one believes something, but everyone believes that everyone else believes it." Or, it means everyone is unsure if the emperor has clothes on. But they think everyone else knows for sure.
See also
In Spanish: El traje nuevo del emperador para niños
- Abilene paradox
- Asch conformity experiments
- The Courtier's Reply
- Elephant in the room
- The Emperor's New Groove
- Groupthink
- Mutual knowledge (logic)
- Polite fiction
- Pluralistic ignorance
- Spiral of silence
- Three men make a tiger
- Wishful thinking
Images for kids
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Illustration by Hans Tegner
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Andersen in 1836
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Vilhelm Pedersen illustration
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Graffiti in Tartu
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