Little Mermaid Research Paper

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

A tragic story in its own right, is a story that deals with tragic events, including an unhappy ending that usually involves the death or demise of the main protagonist. Although “Mermaids” is a truly sad and unforgiving story, it does not classify as a tragedy. Mermaids by Richard Van Camp has close to none of the aspects that make a tragic story, truly tragic. The characters development, ending, and tragic pattern, all support the fact that this story is sad, but not tragic.

Richard Van Camp shares the story of Torchy and his series of events that takes the reader along to see and feel the tragedies of Torchy with his past and current experiences. In the short story “Mermaid” by Richard Van Camp, the author explores the realm of a true tragedy in this story through the use of the Aristotle style of the elements of tragedy displayed by the means of Torchy’s series of unfortunate events through willing blindness, dramatized actions and pity developed for the character throughout the novel. With a closer look one can identify Peripeteia among many elements of tragedy found within this novel.

His word stated in the American Museum of Natural History, said that the creatures are not beautiful at all, despite they look like a man.

Once upon a time, there were these three mermaids. In the deep blue sea there names were Sirene,Nixie,and Lyla they were with their pod. The mermaids went for a swim away from their pod in they went to this island to look around in they found these starfish that they put on their ear. When the three mermaids left when they got where they pod was at they was not there the pod had disappeared ,so they want back to the island in was talking like where did our pod go.The mermaids heard people talking it was this boy name Zac and his family they were out there camping. Zac told his family that he was going for a walk in he saw this cave so he was thinking like should I go in then, so Zac end up going into the cave.When Zac went

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.

Our society, as a whole, has its fair share of strengths and weaknesses, literature tends to reflect these standards. In general, most works of literature almost seemingly emulate the situations and viewpoints of our culture at a particular period. The Little Mermaid, a Danish fairytale written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837, exhibits multiple examples of the general paradigms society was facing at the time. In the early 19th century women were expected to obey their husbands, have children, do household duties like cleaning and cooking, and find work as laundresses, dressmakers or nurses. Although Andersen uses a relatively progressive feminist view in his writing of the Little Mermaid, there are some dominant ideas of typical gender roles ingrained in the text. One quote from the novel reads, "...his old mother kept house for him." This excerpt implies the traditional, passive role of housekeeping for women while men occupy all noteworthy positions in society. Another passage states that Ariel and her sisters would not do anything productive but that "The whole day long they used to play in the palace."

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

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).

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

Mermaids are legends that have been among us for years; moreover, to understand the legends, one must look at their history, their mystical powers and their distinct descriptions. Mermaids, Mermen, and Merbabys are making more of an appearance in our waters than they ever have. These mystical creatures are swimming back into our world.

The purpose of this essay is to watch a movie and try to view the main character from three personality theorists perspectives. In the movie The Little Mermaid, Ariel is a mermaid princess who makes a deal with an evil sea-witch to meet a human prince who lives on land (Clements/Musker, 1989). In this essay, I will analyze the movie The Little Mermaid through Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, Carl Jung’s theory of Archetypes, and Erik Erikson’s Stages of Development. While these theorists have much in common in terms of self-concept, their views on the main issues at hand vary accordingly.

I went to watch The Little Mermaid with my parents. The playwright of this story was Doug Wright. We saw the play at Fossil Ridge High School on Saturday November 18th at 2 o’clock. It was an amazing play that gave a fun twist on the movie you know and love. Act 1 was almost completely under water. It introduced you to the setting, which is King Triton’s palace. You see curiosity and wonder in this part. In Act 2, Ariel spends most of her time in Prince Eric’s palace to win over his heart. You get to feel the love between these two at this point. There are also many characters that I fell in love with on the way. Some mains ones are Ariel, Prince Eric, Ursula, Flounder, Sebastian, and Scuttle. There were also some minor characters like King Triton, Ariel’s sisters, the maids, Chief Louis, and so many more. Each one adds something small, but together they create a great play.