Cinderella And Little Mermaid Analysis

Have you ever wondered if there were other versions of Cinderella? Well there are, there isn’t just one version of Cinderella. Each version is a little bit different from each story because of the culture behind it. For example the “Cinderella” we know and love and the Ireland version the “Cinderlad”.The two cinderella stories, “Cinderlad” the Irish version and “Cinderella” the French version have both differences and similarities. Using the Motif “Damsel in distress” I can show that they are different & similar because of the culture they originated from and their social necessities.

We all know Cinderella, the girl whose step- mother and sisters were horrendous to her. In the end she gets the prince, of course. These tales don’t follow that same story line. Their personalities, royal future, their father figure, and the magic in the stories all differ. These four Cinderella tales are Aschenputtel, The Twelve Months: A Slave Legend, The Algonquin Cinderella, and Tam and Cam. Each has different elements that can be compared, but they also have elements that can be contrasted. Breaking down the comparisons and contrasts, Aschenputtel and The Twelve Months: A Slave Legend will be compared and contrasted, whereas, the Algonquin Cinderella and Tam and Cam will be compared and contrasted.

Throughout the years there have been many versions of the classic tale, “Cinderella.” From European style all the way to Disney. However, they are all based on the same ancient story. Step mother, step sisters, Cinderella marries the love of her life, you get the idea. Yet, each individual story has its own unique touch to make it stand out just a little bit more than the previous story. The two Cinderella stories that I’m going to be comparing are two Disney films. The first one I am going to discuss was released in early spring of 1950, called “Cinderella”. The second story is a remake called, “Another Cinderella Story” released in 2008. Both films based on the same story line, yet completely different.

Have you ever had a dark and gloomy day? Imagine having that feeling every single day. The Grimm’s Cinderella was written in 1812. 1812 was one of the harshest years for America. An event that formed it was the war against Great Britain and the United States. Not only was there a war, but there was also a series of disastrous harvests. Taxes got higher, and more than twenty people who were involved with a Luddite Act were hung. In 1812, there was also the only assassination of a prime minister, who was shot dead in the House of Commons. The Grimm Brothers have put the dark times of 1812 into their stories. Some of their stories contain violence, child abuse, and wicked mothers. They came up with these types of stories after their father died, and when they struggled out of school. That gave them enough time to research and put together a collection of folk tales. Now you can see why the Grimm’s Cinderella was dark and gloomy. Although the plot stayed the same, over the years, the story did get lighter. Disney’s Cinderella came out in 1950. In 1950, learning information was not by fear, but by engaging happiness. Disney’s Cinderella transforms the Grimm’s Cinderella into a happier atmosphere. While some similarities between Disney’s Cinderella and Grimm’s Cinderella are noticeable, the differences are pronounced, especially when referring to the slippers, her father, and the ball.

The central focus of this unit is to identify the elements of stories and how their themes may relate to each other in a variety of ways. Students will be guided in a variety of comparison and contrasting activities in order to gain understanding of main ideas, characters, and cultural themes across similar fairy tales from different cultures. This unit focuses on three different versions of Cinderella from different cultures. I chose to focus on the common elements of the fairy tales and the cultural differences because this was something the students were struggling with previously.

The imagery used to describe how lovely the mermaid is portrays what the prince wanted as a wife. When the prince found her on the shore and took her in as one of his own people, he took care of and adored her, but he would not marry her because she could not

The Grimm Brothers version of Cinderella is a written down oral story that people passed down from generation to generation, meant to teach a lesson about piety and good behavior. Before the Grimm Brothers ever wrote it down, the story had been told several times by memory. It is thus not surprising that the descriptions of certain events in the story, such as the way Cinderella went to the Ball, are lacking in details. It is obvious that these parts of the story are unimportant to the overall message of the story. Instead, it focuses on the piety of Cinderella and the wickedness of the step-sisters. Through the events of the story, it becomes obvious that the goodness of Cinderella is justly rewarded, and that

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.

The characters in the story Cinderella differ greatly depending on what version you are reading. To start with, in the Norway version the main character is not named Cinderella, but Katie Woodencloak. In this version Katie’s father was a king who had to go to war with another kingdom. Also, in the Norway version the stepmother was only harsh and mean to Katie when the king was not around, and when he was not around she would be very brutal to her and even beat Katie. As far as the other sister goes, in this version Katie has one stepsister who is very mean and ugly. The final character comparison in the Norway version is the “fairy godmother”. In this version there is no “fairy godmother” like what is typically thought of with the story Cinderella. Instead this role is played by a bull, that is the source of her beautiful dresses.

The story of Cinderella has become a classic fairy tale, known around the world, and past down from generation to generation. Yet, over the years, the story has been rewritten to better relate to different cultures. While some things never change, authors still manage to convey different messages by making the story their own. This can be clearly seen when the Grimm brothers version of Cinderella is compared to Charles Perrault’s version of Cinderella. While the core of the story does not change, the moral, tone, and “magical” aspects of the two stories are clearly shaped by the different cultures in which they were written in.

Many people can easily recognize the story of The Little Mermaid. After its international success through the Disney movie in 1989 children and adults all over the world were able to fantasize freely about this princess fairytale. However, what many people don’t know is that the debut of the movie The Little Mermaid is not the original plot of the story following Princess Ariel. Born in Denmark, Hans Christian Anderson wrote over 40 stories which have now greatly influences modern day disney films. The original literary piece written about a mermaid princess was written in 1836 which is said to be the inspiration behind the disney movie, The Little Mermaid portraying the character of a young mermaid circling through the challenges of love.

Hans Christian Andersen’s story follows a similar protagonist, but a varied story line. She, too, yearns to visit the surface like her five older sisters (Anderson). However, she must wait for her fifteenth birthday (Anderson). On her visit to the surface, she saves “a young prince, the most beautiful of all, with large black eyes,” from a shipwreck and falls in love with him (Anderson). Repeated visits to the surface cause her to “grow more and more fond of human beings, and wish more and more to be able to wander about with those whose world seemed to be so much larger than her own” (Anderson). The little mermaid discovers that if her young prince were to love her, she could gain an immortal soul (Anderson). Despite her fear, she decides to visit the sea witch who then cures her of her fins…for a price

“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.

The Little Mermaid is a fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The tale is about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a merperson to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince. The tale was first published in 1837 and has been adapted to various media including musical theater and animated film.The standard of this classical story has been set to be the Disney Movie titled the same

The moral in the Disney version is dreams do come true. The little mermaid falls in love with the prince and they live happily ever after. This is the romantic love tale that is portrayed in today’s society. On the other hand, in Hans Christian Andersen’s version we see a big change in what you are supposed to take out of the story. The moral of his story is self-sacrifice can reward you. The little mermaid had a choice to either kill the prince and become a mermaid again or die. She saw how happy the prince was and could not bear the pain of murdering the one she loved. The little mermaid throws the knife and dies. Yet she still has an opportunity to have a better life. The spirits told her, “you have suffered and endured and raised yourself to the spirit-world by your good deeds; and now, by striving for three hundred years, in the same way, you may obtain an immortal soul” (Andersen). The little mermaid sacrificed herself, but in return has an opportunity to get a soul and live a good life. Both have a good moral, but they teach you the same