The Little Mermaid Comparison Essay

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

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

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

There is a universal ideology that suggests that each gender plays their specific, individualized roles in society: men acting as independent, powerful alpha males, and women being their dutiful submissives. Contemporary narratives depict women as such whereas mythology is rich with goddesses and other female figures who are brave and powerful warriors equal to men. So if mythology can be overflowed with stories about female leaders, how come contemporary narratives have derived from that viewpoint? Sirens in Greek Mythology are a perfect example of the derivation to the new idea of women in society: weak. By examining the myth of Sirens through a feminist critical lens, the question of whether society is “concerned with the ways in which literature and other cultural productions reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression”(Brizee Web) will be answered. The mythological legend of the Sirens highlights the superiority of these figures who could destroy by temptation through their melodic voices; modern interpretations of sirens- as in Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989)- reduce the feminine power of the siren to a contemporary stereotype of the powerless, dependent, subservient woman.

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.

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 a perfect depiction of the typical teenage heroine who is striving to find happiness in her own life, but is restricted by the wicked femme fatale who attempts to destroy all that is good, and sabotage the heroine’s happy ending. Our teenage heroine in this case would be Ariel, the 16-year-old daughter of Triton, the king of the ocean. While Ariel comes from royalty and is praised for her beauty, youth, and innocence, her bright and independent self undergoes a physical transformation that leads her to become a mute doll who is focused on seizing a kiss from the prince, and winning his heart. On the other hand we have Ursula, who was exiled by Triton to live a lonely and miserable life. Ursula undergoes her own transformation where her evil ways allow her to steal Ariel’s voice for herself, and use it to seduce the prince to marry her in order to demonstrate power and control. Although Ariel and Ursula both desire their own form of happiness and success, Ariel’s desire and the lengths she’ll go to acquire love represents a stereotypical society of powerless women who depend on men for their survival. As opposed to Ursula, who seeks revenge and the crown of Triton but ultimately fails; her failure demonstrates the power of men that will always dominate over women in the end, but her attempt represents the ambitious women out there that want more than just love.

In the movie The Little Mermaid, Ariel represents the id. She had no rational decision-making process. She was driven by her desire to satisfy her wish of living in the human world. Therefore, she acted on impulses, such as how after King Triton destroyed her cave of human artifacts, she impulsively went to Ursula for help to become human. Ariel’s super ego is subdued throughout most

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

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 this tale, the Little Mermaid wants nothing more than to live on land, with feet and legs; with people who dance and run and climb. Against her father’s wishes, she decides to make a deal with an evil sea witch who gives her legs in return for her voice. While Ariel is partying above the ocean, her father is freaking out about where she could have gone. He ends up sacrificing his throne to the sea witch in order to get his daughter back. However, the sea witch lies and holds both of them hostage. This giant mess is resolved in the end, but it doesn’t change the fact that Ariel should have been true to her father and not run off to see what life would be like if she had two legs instead of a green, scale-covered tail. Ariel is a very good and honest person; in fact, she is her father’s favorite child, demonstrating beauty in her physical appearance and her singing voice. She lets him down when she lets her curiosity get the better of

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

Many believe that Ariel is a bad role model for children, especially young girls who look up to Disney Princesses. Many of these people believe that she changed her body for a man, and that no young girl should be taught to do the same. Many people think that the little mermaid is one of the least feminist princesses created by the Disney company, but unfortunately, these views are incorrect, and have weak supporting evidence. Ariel was anything but an anti-feminist, and actually was an advocate for women’s and mer-people’s rights. The little mermaid is the youngest (only sixteen at the time) in her family. While she may be little, but she made a big impact in her world, and is still making an impact on the world around us today.

From the moment the world introduced us to television, we have been bombarded with images of fantasy and “happily ever after’s.” Perhaps the most well known corrupter of reality lies within the Disney franchise. Disney’s, The Little Mermaid, follows a typical fairy tale format in which all goals and dreams are achieved. Its counterpart, however, moves to the beat of a different drum. Hans Christian Andersen’s, The Little Mermaid, portrays a more serious plot much different from Disney’s loveable adaptation. One may conclude that the most these two stories have in common is their titles, but a deeper theme runs throughout both of these fictional plots. Despite these two stories’ conflicting agendas and the

“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.