Mermaid : A Short Story : The Little Mermaid

Gender is a sociological idea, in which it is not based on biology. While there is some biological differences between the sexes, the “meaning” of being male or female is based on social norms. Like race, these “biological” differences provided a system of enabling inequality between the sexes. History offers many examples of the gender norms over time. Women, for centuries, are few as the homemakers and often viewed as intelligent. Despite living in the twentieth century with greater equality, one does not need to go far to see how society and media influence our perception of gender. Advertisements in various media persuade its audience to buying their products. However, the means of attracting and persuading the audience can have underlying messages. Even in entertainment for young girls these underlying messages are prevalent. One example is the popular film, The Little Mermaid, in which the main protagonist is a young female. The protagonist gave up her identity to satisfy her lover. Even traditional gender roles are at work; the film showed young girls that to be happy and successful one had to find a husband and must relinquished one’s identity (Wood 1994). The generalized perception of male and female are polar opposites. Males are viewed as masculine, strong, authoritative, powerful, and devoid of emotions. Females are viewed as beauty, fragile, nurturing, emotional and sole purpose is to please men. These ideas can lead to sexism, which can have negative effects on

Ponyo and The Little Mermaid have reflected important societal views on the individuality and standards for women during their time period. Both Ponyo and Ariel display promising female characters within a society where they did not value the individuality of women. The Little Mermaid (by Disney), and Ponyo (by Hayao Miyazaki), share similar storylines. They are both about women trying to become a part of the human world in order to be with the men they love. In order to do so, they make some mischievous and dangerous decisions.

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

There are a number of fairytales, either from Grimm’s Brothers or Hans Christian Anderson, that portray numerous social issues that we still face in modern days. Social issues could include racism, equality between men and women, and ethnocentrism. These are social problems we face daily, and we have yet found solutions to eliminate\ the plentiful social issues. As said, fairy tales and children’s book always show hidden messages on problems that humans face every day. A very famous short story, which is known also by its movie, has an abundance in social issues that people face to this day. This short story is called “The Little Mermaid”, by Hans Christian

The next discussion about “The Little Mermaid” is the other archetypal characteristics present in the story. One of the main archetypal characteristics in the story would be “the lover”. The whole theme of the story is about love and how a person can go on a outrageous adventure to reach the one she adores. “Inside, she

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet ends with painful remorse. Withholding the secret of marriage leads to a tragic hero who tried her best, but did not succeed in the end. This story relates to the Hans Christian Anderson story of the Little Mermaid. Juliet and the Little Mermaid both had been caught up in love.

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).

“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 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.

It’s about a mermaid, Ariel, who longs to live on land as a human, even though her father, King Triton, strongly dislikes humans. Ariel falls in love with a human prince, Eric, and looks to the evil sea-monster, Ursula, to turn her into a human. Ursula makes Ariel a human in exchange for her beautiful singing voice. In the end, Eric kills Ursula and Ariel and Eric get married. When Ariel gives her voice up to become human, she becomes concerned with how she will communicate with Eric. Ursula tells her, “You’ll have your looks, your pretty face, and don’t underestimate the importance of body language” and “The men up there don’t like a lot of blabber, they think a girl who gossips is a bore. Yes, on land it’s much preferred for ladies not to say a word.” This suggests that all women need to do is maintain their looks and use their body seductively to get a man.

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

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