The Sea Lady - H.G. Wells

Prior to the invention of the bathing suit, men and women usually swam in the nude. Although the first Victorian-era bathing suits were extremely chaste by modern standards--covered by full length gowns, caps, shoes, and even pantyhose--it was not considered "respectable" for women to be seen in public wearing them. Swimming was regarded as morally dubious (except on health grounds), so genders were segregated, and women concealed themselves with towels and under cover of "bathing machines" that transported them in and out of the water.

The Sea Lady (1901) by British writer H. G. Wells took inspiration from such an outing. The characters make an excursion to a private beach conscious of all the rules of propriety. Despite their precautions to preserve modesty, however, the family is scandalized by the unexpected intrusion of a mermaid: a lady "of the sea" (and "being seen").

This fantasy novel by England's "father of science fiction" is a light-hearted social satire that nevertheless explores serious themes: nature, sex, the imagination, and the ideal, in an Edwardian world amid loosening moral restraints. At the center of the tale is the choice of life on land vs. the sea--the comfortable vs. the authentic--and the character of a certain "Cousin Melville."

The Sea Lady:

• Kindle
• Gutenberg
• Google books
• Librivox
• YouTube 4h 35m

Supplemental:

• The Sea Lady stage adaptation

Extracts:

• "And what strange shapes were lurking there! Think of those arch creatures, the mermaids, chasing each other in and out of the coral cells, and catching their long hair in the coral twigs!" (Omoo, 17)
• "He was, upon the whole, a good-natured fellow, and a little given to looking at sea-life romantically; singing songs about susceptible mermaids who fell in love with handsome young oyster boys and gallant fishermen." (Redburn, 18)
• "But is the Queen a mermaid, to be presented with a tail? An allegorical meaning may lurk here." (Moby-Dick, 90)

This meetup is part of a series on Fig Leaves and Fancy Pants.