Hans Christian Andersen is known for his accomplishment in literature, particularly fairytales. His global success made him an iconic figure in history, yet the tales of his love life all ended in tragedy. How did a person with fame and wealth fail to find romantic love? His first love was Riborg Voigt who he met in 1830, one of Andersen’s old school friend’s sister. Unfortunately, she was already engaged which destroyed Andersen’s heart as he said in his diary “Oh, God has tried me harshly, almost too harshly. She is the most innocent, delightful creature I know, but engaged, the bride of another!”. His next heartache was Jenny Lind, a Swedish soprano with whom Andersen became infatuated with in 1843. Andersen had trouble proposing to Jenny …show more content…
She becomes unhappy because she wants immortality. She would not be able to “hear the music of the waves or see the flowers and the burning red sun” (Andersen 66). The little mermaid never mentions anything about the prince upon learning that humans have immortal souls. It was not until the grandmother offer the little mermaid an impossible solution. The grandmother said “Only if a man should fall so much in love with you that you were dearer to him than his mother and father; and he care so much for you that all his thoughts were of his love for you; and he let a priest take his right hand and put it in yours, while he promised to be eternally true to you, then his soul would flow into your body” (Andersen 66). Although the little mermaid is in distress, she could not bear living without the prince and an immortal soul. Her newfound determination found the courage to visit the sea witch to help her become human. She traded her tongue for the witch’s potion which transform her fishtail into human legs, but not without pain for every time she walks, “it will feel as though you were walking on knives so sharp that your blood must flow” (Andersen 68). The little mermaid sacrifice her voice, her family, and her home base on her yearning for an eternal soul that she may or may not obtain depending on the prince. She put her hopes and dreams on the prince despite the fact that the prince does not know that she
The original tale is written by Hans Christian Anderson. Disney’s version could be called a complete 180 from the original. There are some small parts that align, like her saving the prince and falling for him and visiting the sea witch who takes her tongue (voice) for her legs. The deal remains the same: the mermaid can only stay human if the prince falls in love with her and marries her. However, the penalty is far more severe, she will die if she fails. There is also an unfortunate penalty to have legs: every single step she takes on land will feel like she is walking on sharp glass. On the other hand in the Disney movie the prince ends up with another girl (in the story, they do get married and it’s not the sea witch). She is given one option left to return to the sea. If she kills the prince, she can keep her life and gets to be a mermaid again. I’d say that’s a win-win. Of course, it isn’t for her, she loves the prince so much that she can’t go through with it. The mermaid throws herself in the sea and turns into sea foam. At least she was faithful till the
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.
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
When the little mermaid went to the sea witch to be changed into a human, she told her, “How stupid of you! Still, you shall have your way, and it’ll bring you into misfortune, my lovely Princess” (Anderson 226). The sea witch had already warned the little mermaid even before she made the potion that it would not go as she planned. The little mermaid, being young and foolish about love, did what she believed was right. The tone here spoken by the sea witch gives caution towards the mermaid. Anderson uses the witch as a way to portray to the reader how it is easy to make mistakes in the matter of love. This example is given when the witch informs her that, “… and if you don’t win the Prince’s love, so that he forgets father and mother for you and always has you in his thoughts and lets the priest join your hands together to be man and wife, they you won’t get an immortal soul” (Anderson 226). The author uses a reproving tone to demonstrate to the reader how the little mermaid is foolish, carried away in her childish dreams. Anderson characterizes the sea witch in such a way that her dialogues warn women to be careful when it comes to sacrificing themselves for anyone.
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.
The transition from a girl to a woman is created by the socially implemented ideals of femininity depicted in commercials, books, and mainly films. One of the famous animated princess Disney films, The Little Mermaid can be easily added to yet another Disney film portraying hegemonic femininity. In the 1989 film The Little Mermaid (Ron Clements, John Musker), a beautiful, young mermaid is willing to make a risky deal with an evil sea-witch because she yearns to walk on land and fall in love with a prince, while secretly the sea-witch wishes for the mermaid to lose the deal. Ultimately, mermaid ends up achieving her dream of marrying the prince although the evil sea-witch tries to destroy the plan. Throughout the fantasy/ melodrama film, the main protagonist Ariel reinscribes the hegemonic
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
Later, the little mermaid learns from her grandmother, the only way to gain a soul is to find a man and have him fall in love with her, so much that he would choose her over his parents, and marry him which would allow her to gain a soul. But this was impossible considering she has a tail and a man would not understand and would not find attractive (“The Little Mermaid”). The little mermaid was saddened by this and had wished she could be human, so she could be with the prince. Later, the little mermaid went to the sea witch, and was told she can get legs, but there were consequences. The sea witch warned the little mermaid that this was a foolish idea, but it was possible. She told the little mermaid that she would make a drought for her and when she goes above water, she must sit on a rock and drink the drought, thus eventually shrink her tail and give her legs. The sea witch told the little mermaid that when she gets her legs, it will feel like as if she were treading on sharp knives every step she took. The other consequence was the little mermaid had to give up her voice, which was done by having the witch cut her tongue off. The witch also warned the little mermaid that if the prince marries another woman, her heart will break, and she will die and turn into the foam that floats on the surface of the water (“The Little Mermaid”). The little mermaid agreed to all of this and allowed her tongue to be cut off and
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.
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
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