My parents convinced me to talk to mermaids every time we went to the beach when I was little so they always seem a little magical to me. After finding them again within McClintock’s text I decided to do some research about the images that might have been available to Victorian viewers of mermaids. Some of the images that I found were terrifying, all were lustful. The photographs that I found were the most frightening. I also came across a lot of “mermaid mummies” that were displayed in oddity museums and traveling freak shows. The paintings were fair more romantic, although, all of the ones I found seem to have danger looming.
This last image is my favorite, it is supposedly mermaids hands- very fitting for our reading
All of these images/objects were produced during the Victorian era
Victorian Visual Culture 
Emma, Since you are interested in mermaids (and thank you for your post by the way), perhaps you will be interested in the film She-Creature (2001). I am not a fan of creepy sci-fi movies, but I did watch part of this, and I found it interesting in that it takes place during the Victorian Era and explores the sexual and violent aspects of mermaids.
By: kellyannem on November 10, 2010
at 5:31 am