In this paper, we analyze the Grimms' fairy tale The Fisherman and his Wife from a feminist-psychoanalytic perspective. Grimms' tales have had a profound influence in European and North American cultures. Given that marriage is so often the happily-ever-after denouement of traditional fairy tales, The Fisherman and his Wife provides one of few enduring portrayals of the married couple in the Grimms' collection. Through the lens of Jessica Benjamin's theory of mutual recognition, we analyse the original tale and more current illustrated retellings and speculate on the intrapsychical and intersubjective struggles involved in the characters' depicted relationship. Our analysis suggests that the relationship between the fisherman and his wife provides an opportunity to reflect on each partner's drive toward complementarity and the false mindset by vividly, even absurdly, showing the reader what happens when intersubjectivity is absent.