Review
published in Anthrozoös,
vol. 12, #2 (1999), p. 124-126.
The
Serpent and the Swan: The Animal Bride in Folklore and Literature.
Boria
Sax. Blacksburg, VA: McDonald and Woodward. 1998. 276 pages.
A
key factor in determining relationships between people and animals is the
perception of differences that exist, or are alleged to exist, between
humankind and nonhuman creatures. In general, people who believe that animals
and human beings are similar and that differences in various traits are
quantitative rather than qualitative are more apt to favor humane treatment of
animals. Those who posit a great chasm between humans and animals are more
prone to endorse exploitation of animals to suit human purposes. Thus in
current controversies involving animal rights and animal welfare, as well as
preservation of wild species, the perceived boundary between humankind and
animals is a crucial issue.
Boria
Sax’s book The Serpent and the Swan: The Amimal Bride in Folklore and
Literature, explores the topic of human-animal barriers as it is exemplified
in the many widespread popular tales of marriages between people and animals. Although
there are variations in animal bride stories, there is a basic plot. Generally
an animal takes on the form of a woman and marries her. The couple lives together
for a while and children are born. But eventually the husband commits an error or
violates some prohibition, causing the wife to revert to her animal form and
leave him, taking the children with her. In many versions, the animal first
becomes a woman by casting off her pelt and she must regain that pelt in order
to turn into an animal again. In some of the tales of human-animal marriage, the
roles are reversed: the animal is the groom and the woman is the bride. That is
the case, for example, in the well-known stories of “The Frog King” (or “The
Frog Prince") and “Beauty and the Beast.”
Sax
points out that although tales of human-animal marriage “have been recorded on
every continent (p.5), he concentrates on Eurasian versions. The animal bride
cycle, he explains, “begins with the serpent cults of
southeastern
In
discussing human-animal differences as they relate to the history of animal
bride tales, Sax raises the issue of the “unique human vulnerability to
suffering that pervades most of Western thought" (p. 17) — the notion that
human beings ‘are superior to animals “precisely because we are extremely prone
to sorrow” (p. 18). This, of course, is an aspect of the familiar argument used
in the animal rights debate by those who feel that humans can rightfully
exploit animals for their own advantage, even when it is detrimental to the
animals. Opponents of animal rights often support their position by reference
to humans’ greater vulnerability to suffering and the "deeper “interests”
people consequently have in their own lives as compared to animals,
Animal
bride tales are not only concerned with differences between species but also
serve as vehicles to explore differences between women and men. Disparities
between marriage partners in the tales are symbolic of differences between
genders and represent barriers between females and males. Thus, the tales
involve the commonly held, unresolved and persistent notion of women being
perceived as closer to nature than men — that is, of women standing in relation
to nature as men stand in relation to culture. Historically, this idea has been
found in many diverse societies. Yet, although women are typically associated
with nature, frequently there has been the contrasting societal image of women
as guardians of civilization who overcome and subdue the wildness of men.
Marriages between men and female animals also represent the parallels that have
often been drawn between wives and pets. Sax points out the striking
“similarity between romantic love and marriage on the one hand and pet-keeping
on the other” (p 25). Both involve intense emotional bonds. Lovers use
“pet-names,” and both wives and pets can be regarded by men as symbols of
wealth and status. In contexts such as Playboy magazine women are given names
like “pets” and “bunnies” that degrade and dehumanize them.
Interestingly,
animal groom stories such as "Beauty and the Beast” generally feature a male
animal that is permanently transformed into human form, whereas animal bride
tales usual end with the human female being irrevocably changed beck into an
animal and parted forever from her human spouse. Animal groom tales have happy
endings and reveal greater “faith in the superiority of the human realm” (p.
TB). Most animal grooms are princes who, although once enchanted and turned
into beasts, belong in human realm. Animal grooms are often fierce species such
as bears and lions, while animal brides are typically serpents and birds. But,
as Sax points out, “…animal grooms may roar more loudly, yet it is animal
brides. doser to their
primeval origin, that truly inspire fear” (p. 79). These recurring themes in
animal marriages speak volumes about the status of the female gender and its
alleged intimacy with animal nature.
Not
only animal spouses, but also creatures like centaurs and mermaids whose bodies
join the human with the animal, take on the role of mediators between humans
and animals, bridging the gap between the two realms. The quintessential message
that is inherent in animal bride and groom phenomena is that since animals and
humans can many, there must be only a relatively small differentiation between
them. In his insightful discussions, Sax asserts that "the animal bride tale is
an ongoing process, repeated and continued over millennia" (p. 29). He relates
contemporary efforts to integrate humanity into the context of nature to the
current ecology movement that emphasizes the relatedness of all forms of life.
Through Darwinian evolution modern-day people trace human descent from animals, in much the same way as totemic tribes once recognized
“kinship by blood” with animal ancestors. For Sax, marriage with an animal as
it occurs in fairy tales "is a totemic bond linking humanity with the rest of
creation” (p. 127).
Sax
also raises issues concerning the Freudian idea that “petting and fondling of
animals express sublimated sexuality” and that all attitudes toward animals
‘result from displacement of feelings toward other human beings” (p. 110). In
that regard Sax refers to the notion that if all people are “port of a single
family.” then any sexual relationship among human beings is accompanied by “a
suspicion of incest. Thus “only animal grooms and brides seem innocent of the
taint’ (p.110). Sax comments that a view of erotic passion as confined only to
a human male and a human female is ”narrow arid
profoundly anthropocentric. If we understand sexuality in a
broader way, eros can include relations with animals
and even plants or objects without any suggestion of displacement or
perversion” (p. 110).
A
recurring theme in Native American human—animal marriage tales is the idea that
people acquired knowledge about the behavior and needs of animals from their
non-human spouses. Human survival skills, especially hunting techniques, may
have been learned from observation of animals. Before gods became anthropomorphic
in form they may have represented animal deities. The rise of Christianity, of
course, dictated a sharp differentiation between people and animals and brought
to an end their ability to converse with each other. However, in his discussion
of the Old Testament story of the Garden of Eden. Sax relates the animal bride
theme to Adam and Eve and the serpent and explores the cult of the serpent and
its influence upon human—snake interactions. There is also an interesting allusion
to the story of the virgin Mary as an animal groom
tale because the “conceiving agent is sometimes represented as a dove” (p. 45).
Sax suggests that such tales exemplify a blending of paganism and Christianity,
demonstrating the remarkable ability of Christianity to absorb paganism (p.
123).
Sax
notes that “modern culture is based on sharp divisions between the realms of
people, animals, plants. and objects.
While people recognize these distinctions intellectually, the distinctions have
never really been internalized. They do not describe our perceptions and
responses. We can manipulate people as objects. We talk to plants. The proliferation of sentimental entertainments in modem times is
partly due to the tension between humanistic philosophies and our animistic
perception of the world” (p. 152). Currently, Western culture still includes
the fear of latent zoolatry,” necessitating many ritual affirmations of human
dominance. But, Sax warns, “when our hierarchies place man unequivocally among
terrestrial creaturesthey leave humanity nowhere to
search for companionship except among the stars” (p 55) “our greatest debt to
animals,” he asserts, “lies in the fact that “the basic emotions and concepts
with which we realte to one another have, for
millennia, been expressed and formed by imagery” drawn from them. He asks “how
long can the emotions and concepts persevere when the creatures that inspired
them vanish from our lives? Without animals, could we still be human?” (pp.
217-218).
The
author has compiled many intriguing examples of animal bride and groom tales
from both written and oral sources, which differ in species and characters
represented but have many elements in common. Readers of The Serpent and the Swan will encounter both familiar and unfamiliar
examples of the animal bride story which serve to explore human—animal
relationships. Familiar stories include Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,” de Beaumont’s
“Beauty and the Beast,” Wilde’s “The Fisherman and His Soul,” and Andersen’s
classic “The Little Mermaid,” recently popularized by Disnev,
Contemporary writers such as Elizabeth Marshall Thomas’s Animal Wife, Louise Erdrich’s Antelope Wife, and Gary Snyder’s The Woman Who Married a Bear also shed
light on the continuing significance of the idea of human-animal marriage.
Sax
believes that ‘‘narratives develop around figures like the animal bride” in ‘an
organic way” and he compares the process to “the evolution of new forms of
life” as “organic matter is endlessly recombined and recycled” (p. 200), This
idea relates to his view that “myth is far less a conscious creation than a product
of evolution, reflecting the intricate ways in which people have come to terms
with a changing environment over hundreds of millennia” (p 201). The
extraordinary significance and relevance of the animal bride and groom is
emphasized in Sax’s statement that the tale “records—and, to an extent
protests—the drawing of a sharp division between the realm of people and that
of animals. For this reason, it marks the start of the process we know as
“civilization,” characterized by increasing urbanization, technological
complexity, and rapid geographic expansion of human settlement Today, “animal bride tales continue to provide a record of
the changes in our troubled relations with the natural world” (pp 201 -2O2).
Ultimately, Sax asserts, it is our longing for a community that includes unity
with nature that “draws us to fairy tales and myths, including that of the
animal bride" (p 214).
The Serpent and the Swan is highly recommended to all who wish to probe
human—animal relationships at their deep symbolic levels. Readers concerned
with gender studies will also find the book provocative. Some of the ideas
expressed will no doubt evoke controversy. Certainly there will be disagreement
with Sax’s arguments in favor of meat-eating, as those arguments must be
evaluated within the context of present-day factory farming practices. The text
sometimes strays from the main subject, but the diversions are often
fascinating and relevant for the general field of human—animal interactions,
Above all, in this era of environmental crisis, Sax’s book is valuable for its
role in stimulating thought about the vital topic of human relation ships with
nature and for its unusually rich insights that contribute much to our
ever-increasing understanding of people’s complicated and often contradictory
relationships with animals.
Elizabeth
Atwood Lawrence