The Little Mermaid Play Analysis

Disney films over their course of existence have hidden double meanings in many of the films they produce. Rather if you are a child or a full pledged adult, people from all different ages can receive a bit of advice when it comes to what Disney films try to convey in their motion pictures. Disney is also to be known for some of their unforgettable whimsical characters and memorable songs in every film. The film released in 2009 “The Princess and The Frog” is no different. Especially when it comes to Mama’s Odie’s musical number half way through the film. Mama’s Odie’s song, “Dig a Little Deeper” is full of metaphors, themes and imagery one can deeply analyze.

When examining The Little Mermaid from a feminist perspective, it becomes clear that the little mermaid is a misogynistic tale that glorifies a woman’s dependence on men and the objectification of women.

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

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."

Written in the early 1800s in Denmark, “The Little Mermaid” is an excellent display of a mix of Danish mythology, beliefs, and society. Denmark is a country that has always been heavily reliant on water, as it and its surrounding lands are surrounded by it. Thus, a large portion of their mythology revolves around the ocean and its creatures, such as mermaids. In the beginning of the 19th century, a public education system was set up in Denmark, which prompted an enormous influx of literature and philosophy. Among such literary works came “The Little Mermaid”, written by Hans Christian Andersen. Andersen is known for his writing style and the way characters act and respond. “His very first tale, ‘The Tinder Box’, opens in a

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

The cast included Fort Lewis College students Holden Grace, Johanna Laverty, Jonathan Patton, and Austin Minard in the lead roles with two special guest actors from the Durango, CO community, Hattie Miller and Gordon Thomas. The Director, Dennis Elkins of Pirates of Penzance took the classic 1879 play and brought his observation of craft and technique to express his creativity and amuse an audience of all ages. Pirates of Penzance,an elegant comedy was full of laughter and amuse full songs. The play told a story of one of the main actors, Frederic, an orphan boy who was mistakenly trainen to a group of pirates. As soon as Fredric began his unaccompanied expedition, he meets the beautiful melodious Mabel, and they immediately fall deep in love. But, trouble soon follows. The genre of Pirates of

I could feel myself being happy and laughing. The time was running but I was too focused to care about it. The stage was full because it had a variety of characters. There was minimal use of props. The big circular shaped giant seemed real which was beautifully designed. The catchy thing about the show was a girl saying Chicken licken many times which was noticeable and I think it caught the audience attention. The costumes were also beautifully chosen. As I'm a girl, I liked the dresses that were used by the princess. There was also a sound of the sky falling and there was a bright lighting of the stage. The play was beautifully played. I was not distracted by the show even though it had many characters and ideas going on. The favorite casting of the play was Robert Willian as he was full of life and I could feel his love and dedication towards the show. He was funny and good at it. The play had a lot of stories going on which had suspense as well. This might have created kid hard to

It can be said that the movie of The Little Mermaid has the fundamental elements of the literary piece as it follows the story of a young mermaid princess, coming of age and falling for a human prince. Some challenges that are presented through both the film and the literary piece are very similar. For example, Ariel which is the name of the mermaid princess throughout the film grows up without a mom as does the character from the story by Anderson. In both plots the mermaid's father is the king of the sea making her one of the princesses as they both have multiple sisters. However, there is a distinctive similarity between the original mermaid story and the most recent story setting connecting them thoroughly. The key element of both stories is demonstrated through the introduction of the human prince that became the main reason for the mermaid searching for a way to become human. Connecting straight from this point comes the next similarity that ties in the conflict for both scenarios. During the two stories the same quest

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

When first reading “The Little Mermaid”, the reader is sure to notice the imagery painted by Anderson. He finds a way to make a place we see as dark and abysmal, the sea floor, seem bright, vibrant, and full of joy. One sentence Hans Christian Andersen writes, “The most wonderful trees and plants are growing down there, with stalks and leaves that bend so easily that they stir at the very slightest movement of the water, just as though they were alive” (216), perfectly exemplifies this imagery. It is also important to take note of how the imagery changes by location. In the part of the sea where the witch lives, the imagery evokes the feeling of gloom and loneliness that one would naturally expect from the sea floor. Above the surface of the ocean, in the human world, the author uses imagery that quite frankly blows the beauty of our world out of proportion. Andersen writes, “The whole sky had looked like gold, she said, and the clouds—well, she just couldn’t describe how beautiful they were as they sailed, all crimson and violet, over her head.” (218) This makes something we find trivial seem like something everyone must see before they die. While some may view this as odd, it is important to consider that the story centers around a mermaid who has never seen these things before.

The acting; which we know is subservient to the music was great. Caroline Meisner who play Mary was spectacular. She was very much so Mary Poppins. She wasn’t acting when she played the part. She embodied the spirit of Mary Poppins and allowed it to shine through. Bert was played by Bredley McBride and the same goes for him. His performance was so memorable he is now nicknamed Bert. The other two performances that stood out to me was Jane and Michael. It’s always difficult to cast children actors and actress because of their attention span and they are easily distracted. But McLaurin Hull and Christian Harmston were excellent. They performed like any other actor and actress that’s serious about their work. I was impressed. Even though Mary

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.

The Doctor in Spite of Himself is a play that I had previously studied in France like many of Molière’s plays. I thought that it was ironic for me to go see the play for the first time in theatre in the United States. I was really looking forward to hear how the actors would pronounce the characters’ French names, which are rather exotic even for me. I think that because I had previously studied Molière’s work in class, I was expecting this play to be performed in a much more traditional style. I was a little disconcerted at first when seeing the actors performing a more modern version than what I had in mind. I ended up liking what Arne Zaslove has done with the play. In my opinion, modernizing it a

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.