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The protagonist of the story, the titular Fisherman accidentally catches the Mermaid in his net while fishing one evening. He is reluctant to let her go, only doing so on the condition that she return every day to sing for him in order to help him catch fish. Following this arrangement, it doesn’t take long for the Fisherman to fall in love with the Mermaid. Indeed, his love for her is so strong he is willing to give up his Soul in order to be with her, and he goes to great lengths to make this sacrifice. After he has managed to send away his Soul so that he can live with the Sea-folk, his Soul returns once a year and tries to tempt him with wisdom and riches, both of which the Fisherman resists. Ultimately, however, when the Soul describes a veiled girl dancing in bare feet in a nearby town, the Fisherman falls prey to carnal temptation. Having left the Mermaid to travel to see the dancing girl, he performs evil and cruel acts under instruction from his Soul. Unable to detach from his Soul a second time, he cannot return to the Mermaid. Though Wilde doesn’t state the Fisherman’s age, he is described as young and often behaves in an innocent or naïve way, as when he readily accepts that he must give up his soul, when he is tricked by the Witch into taking part in a Satanic ritual, and when commits the evil acts the Soul tells him to, only questioning them afterwards. However, he seems to finally realize the repercussions of his actions when the Sea-folk bring him the dead body of the Mermaid. The Fisherman drowns while clutching her corpse in despair. The end of the story suggests he has been forgiven and has been reunited with his love in death, as strange and beautiful flowers grow out of their unmarked grave.
The Fisherman Quotes in The Fisherman and His Soul
The The Fisherman and His Soul quotes below are all either spoken by The Fisherman or refer to The Fisherman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Fisherman and His Soul
Quotes
"Of what use is my soul to me? I cannot see lt. I may not touch it. I do not know it. Surely I will send it away from me, and much gladness shall be mine."
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“The love of the body is vile,” cried the Priest […] “and vile and evil are the pagan things God suffers to wander through His world. Accursed be the Fauns of the woodland, and accursed by the singers of the sea! They are lost […] For them there is no heaven or nor hell, and in neither shall they praise God’s name.”
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Now when the young Fisherman heard the words of his Soul, he remembered that the little Mermaid had no feet and could not dance. And a great desire came over him, and he said to himself, "It is but a day's journey, and I can return to my love," and he laughed, and stood up in the shallow water, and strode towards the shore.
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“When thou didst send me forth into the world thou gavest me no heart, so I learned to do all these things and love them.”
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And when he had robed himself with his robes, and entered in and bowed himself before the altar, he saw that the altar was covered with strange flowers that never had been seen before […] But the beauty of the white flowers troubled him, and their odour was sweet in his nostrils, and there came another word into his lips, and he spake not of the wrath of God, but of the God whose name is Love. And why he so spake, he knew not […] And in the morning […] he went forth […] and blessed the sea, and all the wild things that are in it […] All the things in God's world he blessed, and the people were filled with joy and wonder.
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The Fisherman Quotes in The Fisherman and His Soul
The The Fisherman and His Soul quotes below are all either spoken by The Fisherman or refer to The Fisherman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Fisherman and His Soul
Quotes
"Of what use is my soul to me? I cannot see lt. I may not touch it. I do not know it. Surely I will send it away from me, and much gladness shall be mine."
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Explanation and Analysis:
“The love of the body is vile,” cried the Priest […] “and vile and evil are the pagan things God suffers to wander through His world. Accursed be the Fauns of the woodland, and accursed by the singers of the sea! They are lost […] For them there is no heaven or nor hell, and in neither shall they praise God’s name.”
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Now when the young Fisherman heard the words of his Soul, he remembered that the little Mermaid had no feet and could not dance. And a great desire came over him, and he said to himself, "It is but a day's journey, and I can return to my love," and he laughed, and stood up in the shallow water, and strode towards the shore.
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“When thou didst send me forth into the world thou gavest me no heart, so I learned to do all these things and love them.”
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And when he had robed himself with his robes, and entered in and bowed himself before the altar, he saw that the altar was covered with strange flowers that never had been seen before […] But the beauty of the white flowers troubled him, and their odour was sweet in his nostrils, and there came another word into his lips, and he spake not of the wrath of God, but of the God whose name is Love. And why he so spake, he knew not […] And in the morning […] he went forth […] and blessed the sea, and all the wild things that are in it […] All the things in God's world he blessed, and the people were filled with joy and wonder.
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