In 'The Fisherman and His Wife', what is the wife's final wish?

In “The Fisherman and His Wife,” the wife’s final wish is to be like God. Her demand comes after she has already asked to live in a palace and become king, emperor, and pope.

Each wish is granted by the magical fish, but the wife is never satisfied. She sends her reluctant husband back to the shore repeatedly, and the sea grows increasingly dark and stormy as her ambitions become more extreme. Her final request is to command the sun, moon, and heavens—to become equal to God himself.

The fish refuses to grant this last wish. Instead, it tells the fisherman to go home because his wife is already sitting in their old hovel again. The couple loses every privilege and returns to the poverty from which they began. The ending turns the story into a cautionary tale about greed, dissatisfaction, and the danger of wanting absolute power.

The Brothers Grimm collected this German tale from a manuscript associated with Philipp Otto Runge. It first appeared in the Grimms’ collection in 1812 as KHM 19 and is classified as ATU 555, a tale type about dissatisfaction and greed.