Essay Analytic Response the Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid is an example of how woman were seen in society. In the fairy tale, women are characterized by appearance rather than personality by both men and women. The little mermaid mentions “But if you take my voice, what shall I have left?” (Anderson 226). In this quote, the little mermaid believes that she cannot just be herself to win the prince’s heart. The prince also looks at women the same way because of how he talks to the little mermaid. He asks her, “You’ve no fear of the sea, have you, my dumb child?” (Anderson 229). He treats her as if she is still a small child just because she cannot speak. The tone helps shape the whole story into a feminist piece. Anderson relays the moral of

In the story, “The Little Mermaid” there are demonstrations that describe what a heroine is. A female character that is noted for special achievements represents the heroine in a story. Therefore, the youngest mermaid “Little Mermaid” represents the heroine throughout the story. The Little Mermaid is a mystical creature that longs only to seek the handsome prince she laid eyes on. “Once she became human, the witch said she could never become a mermaid again” (Anderesens 185). This is an example of how the Little Mermaid chose to do something incredible and dangerous just to accomplish something she only dreamt of. Not only is the Little Mermaid the heroine of the story, but she also exemplifies other archetypal characteristics. An

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.

After the climax, when the deal has been made with Ursula, Ariel finds herself in a difficult situation. With only having three days to get a kiss of true love from prince Eric, she undoubtedly needs Eric’s kiss to save her. Getting close to the end of the film, there is a scene where Ariel and Eric are taking a boat ride. All the sea creatures try to set the mood so Eric can kiss Ariel. Without that kiss Ariel will lose her voice forever and her “true love.” This scene proves once again how women are incomplete without men, that they need a hero and prince charming to save

Ursula bribes Ariel that she will grant her wishes if she let her have her voice. She will let her be human for three days and able to see the Prince. But she must give him the kiss of true love or she belongs to Ursula. She won’t be able to see her father and sisters. Ariel agrees to these terms and signs the contract

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 song “Poor Unfortunate Souls” that Ursula sings it is telling girls to be quite for men and do what they need, basically telling girls that they are objects. Girls are always shown in movies as someone with no power. They are either cleaning or cooking in the house or they are a damsel in distress needing to be saved by a man. Girls are displayed as objects and there is a certain way they are supposed to look so that they appeal to society’s needs. Ariel fits that description. She is very small and thin, she is pretty, she has nice eyes, and she has very vibrant colors on her. She has red hair, blueish brown eyes a purple top and a green tail. Ariel acts as though she “needs” a man to save her or “needs” a man to be happy.

As a payment for Ursula’s magic potion, Ariel must sacrifice her beautiful voice (Disney). Ariel’s desire for life “where they walk, where they run, where they stay all day in the sun,” is more priceless than her family’s honor, her mermaid fins, and her voice (Disney). In order to keep her land legs, Ariel must win the prince’s love before sunset on the third day (Disney). After many events concerning Ursula’s evil intercessions, Ariel’s dreams become a reality when Eric defeats the sea witch, wins back Ariel’s voice, and marries her (Disney).

“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.

But to gain legs, she must give up her most precious asset, her beautiful voice. There are some standard elements of teenage life here, including young love, and some degree of rebellion from ones parents, in this case King Triton, Ariel’s father. It was not Ariel's physical beauty that the Prince loved, but her voice. He is enraptured by the voice even in the presence of Ariel's physical beauty and great legs. The metaphor here should be obvious. What does a woman lose when she becomes subservient to a man, or male-dominated culture in general? She loses her voice. The point of the movie is that a young woman's beauty should come not from her physical attributes, but from her voice, her personality, her self. Metaphorically, without her voice in society, she is pretty helpless and powerless to change what's going on around her, explain herself, etc. As for the prince he isn't interested in Ariel just for her looks. It is also important to note that she gets her reward only after working together with her father, King Triton.

In the movie The Little Mermaid, Ariel represents the id. She had no rational decision-making process. She was driven by her desire to satisfy her wish of living in the human world. Therefore, she acted on impulses, such as how after King Triton destroyed her cave of human artifacts, she impulsively went to Ursula for help to become human. Ariel’s super ego is subdued throughout most

A little girl sits on the floor with her gaze fixed on the television screen in front of her, watching magical images dance before her eyes and catchy songs flow through her ears. Even though she had seen it at least twenty times before, she still loved The Little Mermaid just as much as she did the first time she watched it. As she watched it, she longed to be a beautiful mermaid with a curvy body and wonderful singing voice like Ariel. She longed to be saved by the handsome Prince Eric, and fall in love and live happily ever-after like Ariel did. In today’s society, women strive to achieve equality between the sexes. Despite the tremendous steps that have been taken towards reaching gender equality, mainstream media contradicts these

The story started in King Triton’s palace were there was a huge party and Ariel was the main singer! Unfortunately Ariel don’t show up. King Triton soon found out that she went to the surface and he banned her from going up there, afraid that the humans would kill Ariel like her mother. Angry, she went to her grotto with Flounder (and Sebastian, who was sneaking behind them) to show the items she collected. King Triton finds out about the Grotto and destroys it. Heartbroken, Ariel swims away and saves Prince Eric’s life. On her way back home she meets Ursula and trades her voice so that she could

Many believe that Ariel is a bad role model for children, especially young girls who look up to Disney Princesses. Many of these people believe that she changed her body for a man, and that no young girl should be taught to do the same. Many people think that the little mermaid is one of the least feminist princesses created by the Disney company, but unfortunately, these views are incorrect, and have weak supporting evidence. Ariel was anything but an anti-feminist, and actually was an advocate for women’s and mer-people’s rights. The little mermaid is the youngest (only sixteen at the time) in her family. While she may be little, but she made a big impact in her world, and is still making an impact on the world around us today.

The Little Mermaid is a story about a young girl who is not afraid of trying new things because she is willing to get out of her comfort zone to try new things. There is this specific quote that say the following; “Children have got to be free to lead their own lives.” (Korman, Cuddy 1994) The life lesson here is that we must not be afraid to try new things so that good things can happen in our life’s. One must not be afraid of new changes and must be willing to adapt to new and unknown situations. The Little Mermaid was not afraid however there was the situation that her father would now allow her to leave the sea which was there home and were he would be able to keep her safe. That would not stop her from going out of her comfort zone and wanting to try new things. Many of us especially adults will give in to being comfortable with what we have and will not want to go out and try new things. Life is full of adventures and I believe that we have to be more like the younger children and be willing to try new things because if we don’t then we will never leave that comfort zone to be able to move on with our lives. I will finish with this quote which