The Little Mermaid: The Impacts Of Social Psychology

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

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

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

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

Disney directly exposes the idea that young girls should make their main goal in life to find their prince charming, fall madly in love, and live happily ever after. Making young girls’ aspiration in life revolve around finding a man of their dreams “transfix[es the] audience and divert[s] their potential utopian dreams and hopes through the false promises of the images [Disney] cast[s] upon the screen” (22). Disney tells the audience that women need a man to be happy. Disney presents the idea that women are dependent on me. Just like in The Little Mermaid, Ariel goes as far as surrendering her voice, to a witch named Ursula, and abandoning her family in order to be with her prince. Ariel also trades in her life as a mermaid, drastically changes her body, and sacrifices her greatest talent all in order to win her prince. Disney sends the message that girls need to give up their talents and lives in order to be with a man. Disney suggests that a woman’s main priority is her lover, no one or nothing else. Disney effectively portrays women in a negative way, depicting them as weak and needy. No attempt to break the stereotypical gender roles of women are evident however, these stereotypes are growing as Disney instills this image of women in the minds of viewers.

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

Ariel is showing girls of all ages that you “win” guys over with your looks and not your voice or intelligence. Ariel was willing to do anything for Prince Eric and she went so far as to give her voice up

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.

Hans Christian Andersen’s story, “The Little Mermaid” talks about a girl who saves a young man from drowning and falls in love with him, and she later learns that the young man she saved was a prince. In this world women believe that they are not capable of doing nothing or being nothing without a man in their lives. Disney’s film, “The Little Mermaid”, by Ron Clements and John Musker, present a version that makes an appearance for children, so it is harder to catch on where a woman needs a man in her life whether it is her father or a husband. In the Disney film the director makes the mermaid (Ariel) look so vulnerable and weak for a young woman. Women now these days say that they were made to believe that they have to depend on a man because they will not make it without them. In the story the author made it seem like all women cannot do want they want or that they are limited to do and say certain things because they are women. Women grow up to believe and to think that they need a man because that is how many men and society made women and young girls look like. So, part of this faulting it the men because they beliefs are that women cannot do what they do or that women and young girls belong at home to behave right and look pretty for the men. Andersen is a good example of Feminist and Gender criticism because women should believe that they can make it without having to rely on a man. Women should start believing that they are as equal as a man whether it’s at a job, relationship, at home, and in society because we are not meant to be looked at as a fragile and weak woman, we are supposed to show everyone that women should be equal to men on all types of levels. Andersen examines representation of gender, dependence, and cultural stability to explore notions of equality in gender.

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

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

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.

The original mermaid came out of ancient Assyria in 1000 B.C. According to legend, Atargatis, or Derecto, as some scholars refer to her, was a goddess of fertility who fell in love with a young shepherd. While some sources say the young man impregnated her, others say she accidentally killed him. Maybe both happened, but either way, she ended up throwing herself in a lake out of shame and transformed into a human with a long fish tail as a result. She is also said to have inspired the worshipping of Venus and Aphrodite, the Roman and Greek goddesses of love, beauty, and fertility.

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