Ariel From The Little Mermaid Essay

So I’m a King, with a Queen, who is no mute at all. She speaks. Also, she’s a mermaid. Confused? So was I. However, after a long conversation with my newly wedded wife, everything is still perfect. It was destiny. We had to be together.

In the 1989 classic Disney film, The Little Mermaid, Ariel’s story can be easily misconstrued that it is okay to abandon your family, drastically change your body, and give up your strongest talent all to get your man. Once he sees your pretty face only a witches spell could draw his eyes away from you. These” teachings” may not be intended but are definitely present and although this movie is a favorite amongst many, it can send a bad

The secondary tritagonist and Ariel’s best friend in the animated film, “The Little Mermaid”, is a high-strung and timid 18-year old tropical fish named Flounder. Flounder has made numerous visits to his family doctor concerning excessive worrying about his best friend Ariel. Flounder describes himself as someone who has been easily stressed for most of his life. Flounder’s mother previously suffered from chronic anxiety, however, his mother and father died when he was very young. He is a single parent to 5 children (guppies) and his only living relative is his sister Sandy. In high school, his academic skills were normal but he suffered from behavioral, physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms of anxiety. He reported previously seeing a

After seeing the prince once and saving his life, the little mermaid developed an obsession with the prince. She would go up to sea level everyday to see if the prince was there and once she figured out he was not there, she would be sorrowful and distraught. The little mermaid’s happiness depended on the prince which is very degrading. This is teaching girls that they can only be happy if they have a man. When the little mermaid asks if she could live on land, the old woman responds with "unless a man should love you so much that you were

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

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 first Disney animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, many of the same stereotypes that are presented in the film Cinderella where first presented in this film as well. In the film, Snow White is taking refuge in the forest where she lives with seven dwarfs to hide from her stepmother who also happens to be the evil Queen. The queen is jealous of Snow White because Snow Whites fairness surpasses the Queens. Snow White ended up eating a poisoned apple which makes her fall in a curse and is later on saved by a

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 Walt Disney’s movie The Little Mermaid Ariel is constantly under power of a man. Her dad, King Triton is the number one man who has power over her. When she gets married to Prince Eric he then also has power over her and always will. He is a Prince and she is just a woman who happens to be his wife with very little power. Throughout the movie Ariel is not allowed to make her own decisions. Her dad is always telling her not to do this and not to do that. Also her two male friends Flounder, a fish and Sebastian, a crab also tell her not to do things and always follow her around so she is never alone under her father's orders. When she finally gets to make her own decision to give Ursula her voice to be a human they try and portray it as she made the wrong decision because she did it by herself and a man did not choose it for her.

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.

I admit that in the past, I've been a nasty. They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch, but I promise all I wanted to do was help Ariel when she came to me. Her story begins when she discovers a cavern filled with trinkets from the human world. Over time, Ariel becomes fascinated with life on earth. She eventually starts disobeying her father by visiting the surface to watch the humans go about their days. One day, on one of her visits to the surface, a Prince celebrating his birthday on his vessel caught Ariel’s attention. He was breathtaking; the little mermaid couldn't keep her eyes off him. She knew they were destined to be together.

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.

Clarification of her beauty is there to aid the reader in understanding that she is good and valuable. Furthermore, her hair not only symbolizes beauty but fertility and sexuality; proving that she is an object. Once she loses her hair, it is evident that she also loses what makes her of value to men, which in this case is the innocence of her untouched beauty or her virginity (pg. 35). In addition, the story “Little Snow-White,” presents an initial description about Snow-white centered around her beauty: “as white as snow, and as red as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony” (pg. 124). Because of this description, the reader defines Snow-white’s importance with the base of her pure white skin, passionate red lips, and seductive black hair. These three characteristics show the value of Snow-White to the prince, who begs the dwarfs for her coffin. While persuading the dwarfs to give over Snow-white, he attempts to trade objects to compensate the dwarfs (pg. 130). To young women, values defined in fairy tales depict a horrid, demeaning view of

influences around them. The role models would impart on the young girls the necessary standards to compare themselves to learn their intrinsic worth and fight the opinion that women are inferior to men. Many times they look to the media for such influences. Disney princesses have for decades been the representation little girls see; however, not all of them are positive. The Disney Princess brand is broken down into three generations, or waves. The first generation, including Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora, perpetuate sexism because they teach young girls that their value lies in their beauty and their relationship with a man. The second wave