Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

“The Emperor's New Clothes”

 
Mythology Dictionary: “The Emperor's New Clothes”
Home > Library > Religion & Spirituality > Mythology Dictionary
The Emperor's New Clothes

Click here for more free books!

A story by Hans Christian Andersen. An emperor hires two tailors who promise to make him a set of remarkable new clothes that will be invisible to anyone who is either incompetent or stupid. When the emperor goes to see his new clothes, he sees nothing at all — for the tailors are swindlers and there aren't any clothes. Afraid of being judged incompetent or stupid, the emperor pretends to be delighted with the new clothes and “wears” them in a grand parade through the town. Everyone else also pretends to see them, until a child yells out, “He hasn't got any clothes on!”

  • People who point out the emptiness of the pretensions of powerful people and institutions are often compared to the child who says that the emperor has no clothes.

    Search unanswered questions...

    Enter a question here...
    Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

     
     

     

    Copyrights:

    Mythology Dictionary. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.  Read more