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The Little Mermaid Research Paper

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The little mermaid, born into royalty as a princess, not only as the most beautiful voice on land and in the water, but posses a strong curiosity about life on land. Her infatuation with life on land is characterized by the rose garden she grew around a statue of a prince. Her “desire to leave the female dominated mer-world is already anticipated in her garden, which has as its center a male statue resembling the prince. The desire of the little mermaid to leave the mer-world, the work of the pre-Oepida mother, dominates the initial part of the story.” Despite the innocent and privileged life she lived as a mermaid in a matriarchal world, she longed to grow into adulthood, get married, and experience sexuality on land, where patriarchy was …show more content…

The sea witch is portrayed as a dark, evil, and conniving character that lives in a pile of bones collected from shipwrecks in the sea. She is detested as much because she rebellious in her acceptance of evil, and most importantly – sexuality. The sea witch is a foil to the young and pristine little mermaid. When the little mermaid asks if the witch could give her legs to reach the land so she can marry the prince and achieve immorality, the sea witch agrees. Jack Zipes, author of Hans Christian Anderson: The Misunderstood Storyteller, suggests that, “Anderson is severe and punitive when children pursue their dreams that involve sensual and sexual exploration” (Zipes, 85). Andersen shows the fatality of embracing sexuality through marriage and adulthood through the lens of the sea witch. The sea witch is also conniving in that she makes the mermaid pay a high and unreasonable price, her voice, for human legs – she takes advantage of others for her own benefit. With the sea witch, Andersen foreshadows that detriment that the little mermaid will face if she decides to continue to follow her plan to marry the prince and gain a soul through marrying a prince. Again, Andersen recommends that the little mermaid suppress her sexual awakening and enjoy the life she had as an innocent mermaid instead of becoming evil and tainted like the sea

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