The Nymph

Alternate Titles: The Star-Crossed Lover

The ruling vice of the Nymph is the desire to be loved in the wrong way, by the wrong men. Her love is of two kinds: first, there is the casually destructive flirtation with which she inadvertently lures men to their doom; second, there is an intense and disordered possessive love that tends to lead her lovers, and herself, into death. The problem with the Nymph's love is essentially that she has very little in herself. She desires to be treated as though she were a priceless treasure, but in fact her lovable qualities -- if they exist at all -- are superficial, overlying a sort of emptiness. Her desire is for her beloved to come and fill this emptiness. If she cannot have him, she has nothing, and so she dies of grief.
That is assuming that the Nymph has fallen in love at all, but she is perfectly capable of being destructive on a whim, triflingly, if she hasn't given her heart to any particular man. This is the woman who casually opens the box in which all the evils of the world are contained. The woman who causes men to march to their destruction with a flicker of her eyelashes (Helen of Troy can be interpreted in several different ways, but there is certainly a poetic tradition of using her as a symbol of the classic obliviously destructive Nymph). Often it is difficult to hold her entirely responsible for the evils that she unleashes, because it is done out of a sort of ignorance, and because she generally gives the impression of being entirely incapable of doing anything other than what she has done. Treated romantically, she is the star-crossed lover, gripped by the wheels of fate, utterly unable to forestall her own doom.

Archetypal Events: Bathe, Tease, Die of Grief, Stare Off to Sea

Common Nymph Plots:

Star-Crossed Lover: The Nymph falls hopelessly in love with a man whom she is forbidden to love (often because she is married or promised to another). She pines for him, will do anything in order to be with him, and ultimately either commits suicide, is murdered for unfaithfulness or dies of grief when the love affair proves impossible.

He Saw her Bathing on the Roof: A male hero, very often a King or Prince, spies the Nymph bathing. Either this immediately sentences him to death, or his reason is overrun and he is possessed of a mad desire to have her. In mythological and fairy-tale sources this descent into lustful madness is often symbolized by the hero turning into some sort of animal. The Nymph is often oblivious to the effect that she is having, but if approached she will give herself to him without considering the consequences.

The Tease: The Nymph has something which a Usurper desires -- it could be a treasure, gold from the bottom of her pond, or her own sexuality. She doesn't care for him, and isn't interested in giving him anything, but she takes delight in flirting and teasing him while laughing behind his back. Eventually he tires of the game and seizes what he wants by force.

Disordered Curiosity: The Nymph has been given a treasure that she may not open, or has fallen in love with a man who she only sees in darkness. She has been promised that doom and destruction will come upon her, and often on the man that she loves as well, if she can't control herself. She cannot control herself. As a result, a spell is broken, a curse descends, her lover dies, or evil is unleashed upon the world.

The Bathing Pool: A mossy grotto deep in the forest where men are forbidden to peer, a sunny resort lagoon, a ritzy swimming pool, a roof-top hot-tub, or a bath surrounded by maids-in-waiting are all appropriate homes for a Nymph. This may be inverted into an island (c.f. Calypso, the Lady of Shallot) if her isolation is going to be emphasized over her idle seductiveness.
The Curse: The Nymph has a supply of fortune -- it may be a strand of hair held by the fates, a life-line on her palm, the duration of a magic portion; or it may simply be that some doom has been foretold against her and one day the stars are going to come up wrong.
The Mask: The Nymph is always fundamentally unknown. She wears whatever will please, and is willing to change her personality, and thus her face, for the sake of her suitors. The mask is often transformed into a veil, or a gossamer scarf, or a billowing cloud of hair that entices by concealing (and thus suggesting) her nudity. If she is seen in her full nakedness -- in the interior truth of herself -- this is death, either to her or to the man who dared to look.
Minor Symbols: Moonlight

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