In even the most seemingly innocent tales of love the soul’s entrance to heaven is held above all other conceivable morals in “The Little Mermaid”. The little mermaid wants to enter the human world to be with her prince, but more than that, she would give up everything for one human day “to have the hope of sharing in the joys of the heavenly world.” Andersen escalates the message we learn from Undine by reiterating the ascent to heaven: “a soul… that rises up through the clear pure air to the bright stars above! Like as we rise out of the water to look at the haunts of men, so do they rise to the unknown and favoured regions” (118). Notice the language, the “clear pure air”. Air being clear and pure and, in that sense, better than the ocean where the sea-folk dwell. The deep is also categorized as clear, “clear as the purest crystal” in fact, but it is not pure within itself, it is not untainted by immorality as the air is. Andersen goes on to explain the ascent is into a “favoured region”. No matter how beautifully the ocean is presented, it is not the favored region, not compared to what is above it, and what is above that. Why is upwards always better? Because the higher you go the closer you are to heaven; and the lower, to hell. And who lives in the lowest region of all? It is not unlike the portrayal of maps. Pre-dominantly white nations/continents laid above. The favored regions, the above, have the right to conquer what is below, whether it be land or sea. It is not just the moral of the little mermaid that perpetuates the need for heaven, or the above over below, it is language as well. In fact, I did it in my very first sentence: “heaven is ‘held above’ all other potential morals”. Circling back, Steve Mentz has a compelling point for the need in the shift of language.
Mermaids: Literature & the Environment
ECL 305. Fall 2025. Professor Pressman
Hi Ashley,
I really like how you connected Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” back to Undine and the idea of ascending toward heaven. I also really liked your point about “the favored regions” and how it can become a metaphor for human striving as if being closer to heaven automatically means being better or more moral.
I do think this is a brilliant post purse. In particular, I think you are right to note,” The little mermaid wants to enter the human world to be with her prince, but more than that, she would give up everything for one human day “to have the hope of sharing in the joys of the heavenly world.” Perhaps this is less about love and human desire to have a human than to be something higher in one’s own self. In that case, a lot of the discussion about love, marriage, and self sacrifice for another becomes moot. I am eager to hear more about this in class!
Sometimes I try to escape this language in my own thinking. Or wonder where it came from. Have we always wanted to be higher, even before we invented “the heavens”? Is it because high ground is safe from flooding? Is it because clouds look fluffy and soft? What about mountains? The higher you go, the colder it gets, the less breathable the air.
How did positive associations of Up overcome positive associations of Down– like safety from fall damage, or fertile floodplains/riverbeds. If marine animals developed religion, would they aspire to rise to the surface when they died?
Yes Gale thank you! Maybe it is because the clouds look fluffy and soft! I like that you bring in the mountains, the less breathable the air, the more hostile it is. But this is where people go to have spiritual revelations right? I absolutely love your last line there. “would they aspire to rise to the surface when they died?” That is such an interesting thought. I think on the contrary they would aspire to sink. To be a whale fall. For them maybe the endlessness of what is underneath them could be considered “heavenly”.