Analysis of the Little Mermaid Essay

As McGovern explains in her synopsis of The Little Mermaid, a mermaid falls in love with a prince and makes a deal with a witch: She will trade her speech for legs, and if the prince marries her, she will get a soul. If he marries someone else, “she will turn to foam on the sea.” The prince does marry someone else, but the mermaid’s sisters save her by giving their hair to the witch.

There also is another form of symbolism in this essay and that is Cinderella’s dress. This too provides magical powers so that the prince notices the immaculate beauty that Cinderella possesses. It is believed that the prince or Cinderella never actually confessed any love, but in the magical powers that the dress endows has the prince so enchanted that marrying Cinderella could only be the right choice. The author just simply wants the reader to grasp the fact that there really

There are many other short stories that show this, like “Cinderella”. The male figure in “The Little Mermaid” gets to be the handsome prince that the little mermaid is so in love with. The little mermaid sees him from the ocean when he is attending his own birthday party at a ship. Later on, a storm destroys the ship completely, which leads the prince seeking for help, and the little mermaid gladly saves him. As we all know, the little mermaid is in love with the prince and she also wants to become a human for that immortal soul she desires so deeply. The sea-witch gives her the poison, and tells her that she can only acquire this immortal soul only if she gets the prince to fall in love with her. Likewise, she must make the prince marry her. Even with all the side effects the poison gives her, like the feeling of walking on knives she will get when she steps, she puts them aside just to be with the prince and get what she wants: the prince himself and immortal soul. We can infer that here the prince (being a male) has become the sole dominant figure of the story, and that the little mermaid has become the sole victim, with everything against her. The little mermaid absolutely depends on the prince to get what she wants, and that represents that the prince is her only salvation. Her only hope to become what she really wants has become the prince himself. If analyzed this part of the short story shows that women depend on men to get what they want. In addition, Hans Christian Anderson makes the prince all rich, powerful, and handsome just to make him look like a dominant man. Hidden messages like these blind little girl’s view of the correct society that we should have, making them think that the man is always the most powerful, the most independent, and the most important compared to

She would only be granted a human soul if a human loved her with all his heart and married her. “The Prince married someone else, the Little Mermaid would not get a human soul, and she would turn to foam of the sea”(Anderesens 185). Everything the Little Mermaid had could be lost in a blink of an eye, but she did not think about the consequences. She thought only of what could possibly come out of this journey she has embarked on. The Prince married who he thought saved him, which was not the Little Mermaid. The only option she had left was to kill the Prince. Being too in love with the Prince, she could not do such a thing. “They told her that she loved the Prince so deeply that she gave her life to save his, and her soul would live forever” (Anderesend 185). Instead of turning into sea foam, the Little Mermaid rose up in the air and her soul lived forever. The Little Mermaid’s desire for knowledge and exploration made her a perfect heroine for this story. It takes courage to do what the Little Mermaid has done. Even though she was timid, she achieved more than expected.

Disney directly exposes the idea that young girls should make their main goal in life to find their prince charming, fall madly in love, and live happily ever after. Making young girls’ aspiration in life revolve around finding a man of their dreams “transfix[es the] audience and divert[s] their potential utopian dreams and hopes through the false promises of the images [Disney] cast[s] upon the screen” (22). Disney tells the audience that women need a man to be happy. Disney presents the idea that women are dependent on me. Just like in The Little Mermaid, Ariel goes as far as surrendering her voice, to a witch named Ursula, and abandoning her family in order to be with her prince. Ariel also trades in her life as a mermaid, drastically changes her body, and sacrifices her greatest talent all in order to win her prince. Disney sends the message that girls need to give up their talents and lives in order to be with a man. Disney suggests that a woman’s main priority is her lover, no one or nothing else. Disney effectively portrays women in a negative way, depicting them as weak and needy. No attempt to break the stereotypical gender roles of women are evident however, these stereotypes are growing as Disney instills this image of women in the minds of viewers.

In the film The Little Mermaid by John Musker and Ron Clements, a theme that continually portrays itself is how woman are seen in society. In this film, women are defined by their appearance instead of their inner-self or personality by men and women. It also displays that woman are not treated fair. This is expressed in the film through multiple song lyrics and scenes. Ariel, the little mermaid, experiences many occasions where woman in a society are seen differently than men. In the film, Ariel was given an option to live under the sea and live life under the rule of her father, or be on land with her Prince Eric. Although this is clearly not laid out, a man figure is always above Ariel and could convey an idea that

In the play, The Little Mermaid a 16 year old girl named Ariel is fascinated with life on land. On one of her visits to the surface, which are forbidden by her controlling father, King Triton, she falls for a human prince. With her best fish friend Flounder, Ariel collects human artifacts and goes to the surface of the ocean to visit scuttle the seagull, who offers very inaccurate and comical knowledge of human culture. Determined to be with her new love, Ariel makes a dangerous deal with the sea witch Ursula to become human for three days. But when plans get twisted for the lovers, the king must

Growing up watching Disney movies you never notice how sexist they really are. I always watched The Little Mermaid, but watching it now is very different. When you are younger you just watch things because you like them, you do not necessarily understand them. As you get older you realize what you were really being taught. Walt Disney’s movie The Little Mermaid displays a lot of sexism and displays how society should see women and how women should act.

From the moment the world introduced us to television, we have been bombarded with images of fantasy and “happily ever after’s.” Perhaps the most well known corrupter of reality lies within the Disney franchise. Disney’s, The Little Mermaid, follows a typical fairy tale format in which all goals and dreams are achieved. Its counterpart, however, moves to the beat of a different drum. Hans Christian Andersen’s, The Little Mermaid, portrays a more serious plot much different from Disney’s loveable adaptation. One may conclude that the most these two stories have in common is their titles, but a deeper theme runs throughout both of these fictional plots. Despite these two stories’ conflicting agendas and the

“The Little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Andersen is one of the worlds most cherished fairy tales. Through the years, this story has inspired its fair share of different adaptations and spinoffs, as well as intertwined itself in popular culture. Although it is widely considered a children’s story today, upon close examination, we can find various elements of literary devices and themes, all of which provide the seasoned reader with a deep connection to the story. To honor the tradition of story-telling, it is essential that a short summary of the story be given.

Hans Christian Andersen’s story, “The Little Mermaid” talks about a girl who saves a young man from drowning and falls in love with him, and she later learns that the young man she saved was a prince. In this world women believe that they are not capable of doing nothing or being nothing without a man in their lives. Disney’s film, “The Little Mermaid”, by Ron Clements and John Musker, present a version that makes an appearance for children, so it is harder to catch on where a woman needs a man in her life whether it is her father or a husband. In the Disney film the director makes the mermaid (Ariel) look so vulnerable and weak for a young woman. Women now these days say that they were made to believe that they have to depend on a man because they will not make it without them. In the story the author made it seem like all women cannot do want they want or that they are limited to do and say certain things because they are women. Women grow up to believe and to think that they need a man because that is how many men and society made women and young girls look like. So, part of this faulting it the men because they beliefs are that women cannot do what they do or that women and young girls belong at home to behave right and look pretty for the men. Andersen is a good example of Feminist and Gender criticism because women should believe that they can make it without having to rely on a man. Women should start believing that they are as equal as a man whether it’s at a job, relationship, at home, and in society because we are not meant to be looked at as a fragile and weak woman, we are supposed to show everyone that women should be equal to men on all types of levels. Andersen examines representation of gender, dependence, and cultural stability to explore notions of equality in gender.

In the original version The Little Mermaid, longing for the prince and an eternal soul, eventually visits the Sea Witch, who sells her a potion that gives her legs, in exchange for her tongue. The Sea Witch cuts her tongue and warns her that once she becomes a human, she will never be able to return to the sea. Drinking the potion made out of snakes and

It’s about a mermaid, Ariel, who longs to live on land as a human, even though her father, King Triton, strongly dislikes humans. Ariel falls in love with a human prince, Eric, and looks to the evil sea-monster, Ursula, to turn her into a human. Ursula makes Ariel a human in exchange for her beautiful singing voice. In the end, Eric kills Ursula and Ariel and Eric get married. When Ariel gives her voice up to become human, she becomes concerned with how she will communicate with Eric. Ursula tells her, “You’ll have your looks, your pretty face, and don’t underestimate the importance of body language” and “The men up there don’t like a lot of blabber, they think a girl who gossips is a bore. Yes, on land it’s much preferred for ladies not to say a word.” This suggests that all women need to do is maintain their looks and use their body seductively to get a man.

To begin with, when the little mermaid entered my house and I knew what she wanted. In other words, I have a crystal ball which shows me the past, present and future. She asked me to turn her into a human, the ugly things. When someone asks me for a favor, especially for a spell you can’t refuse or someone will get in trouble, me. I warned her, more than once, of one consequence, two the pain and three what will

In a wide range of fairy tales around the world, there had been stereotyped representations of both the male and female characters in the stories. The different archetypes can be identified in all the traditional fairy tales, as the elements involved inside are very similar towards each other. An identification of a stereotype representation across the fairy-tales include a Prince saving the day, which is a stereotype of a male where they bring joy to the Princess and have a happy ever after with them. For example, the fairy-tale known as The Little Mermaid, had a Prince that lived on land who was saved by Ariel at first. But later, as the story unfolds, the Prince provided Ariel with a shelter and a future life of luxury, creating a sense