Whether you think of the curious, red-headed mermaid Ariel, or the nameless, innocent mermaid when you hear the story of “The Little Mermaid,” most people think of a weak little girl who only did things in the name of love, never for herself. However, that is not the case for either of their stories. Both mermaids are, despite what the majority think, strong-headed women who desire one thing: to walk on land and experience the world above them. This infatuation with the land above them didn’t start when they met a prince; it started far before that. In the Little Mermaid’s case (from hereon out, references to the “Little Mermaid” will refer to the mermaid in Anderson’s story, not Ariel from Disney), it started when her grandmother told her about how on her fifteenth birthday, she would be allowed to journey up to the surface and experience it for herself. And when every single one of her sisters journeyed to the surface, the Little Mermaid longed deeper and deeper to journey to the surface. Throughout her whole story, I am intrigued by the presence of one specific element described in her longing to go to the surface: the sun. It is described as being the central focus of the garden that she crafts, as each one of the sisters has their own personal garden. Some sisters craft it into the shape of a whale, others into another mermaid. But the Little Mermaid crafts hers to reflect the sun. In “The Little Mermaid,” Andersen uses the mermaid’s fixation on the sun—from her garden’s design to her final gaze as she dissolves into sea foam—as a symbol of her longing for transcendence beyond the physical world. This recurring solar imagery reframes her sacrifice not as a loss for love but as a spiritual awakening, revealing the story’s deeper reflection on identity, immortality, and the soul’s yearning for something greater.

The repeated representation of the sun in “The Little Mermaid” reflects a deeper desire for transcendence and self-actualization. From the start of the story, we are introduced to the Little Mermaid’s infatuation with the land above the sea, specifically the sun. Anderson writes, “[B]ut the youngest planted hers in a circle to imitate the sun, and chose flowers as red as the sun appeared to her” (Anderson, “The Little Mermaid”). Not only does this introduction represent her earlier infatuation with the land before she meets the prince, but it also represents her final gaze towards the sun before she commits the ultimate sacrifice and dissolves into sea foam. The sun itself in this scene also represents a yearning desire for something unreachable, yet radiant—it represents power, freedom, and identity. These are all things that are just barely within the reach of the Little Mermaid, and they are all something she desires deep down, without Anderson having to explicitly state it. In a world that constantly denies female agency, the sun represents it. It is something just barely unattainable, but in certain circumstances, such as when you fight for it, it becomes attainable.

Many believe the Little Mermaid’s sacrifice to be submission to romantic ideals; however, it is completely plausible that her sacrifice was a radical act of self-liberation. In “The Little Mermaid,” we are told that mermaids do not have a soul. Instead, they live for much longer than humans, and when they eventually die, they will become sea foam. However, there is one way to gain a soul—to have a human fall in love with you. This is what sets the Little Mermaid off on her quest to find love. Yet, it is important to note that the primary reason for going above land is not just to attain a soul, it is merely to experience life above the waters. This is represented by her infatuation and obsession with the sun. When the Little Mermaid ventures onto land, she must give up her tongue (and, in turn, her voice) for legs. Still bound by limitation, the Little Mermaid must overcome the burdens placed upon her by the circumstances she was given: first, she must cross the border between sea onto land. Then, she must navigate the trials of making the prince fall in love with her without the use of her voice. Finally, she must decide between sacrificing her prince or sacrificing herself. And in the end, she chooses to sacrifice herself. Her voicelessness and bodily loss in her death deeply contrast with her final spiritual gain when she ascends to the air, joining the daughters of the air. Through her ending, Anderson critiques the cost of conforming to patriarchal ideals, such as giving up voice, autonomy, and identity. In her final gaze towards the sun, the Little Mermaid is a reclamation of agency, as she chooses spiritual immortality with the daughters of the air rather than romantic fulfillment with the prince.

In her final moments alive, the Little Mermaid’s gaze towards the sun marks a shift from romantic longing to spiritual autonomy. Anderson writes, “The sun now rose out of the sea; its beams threw a kindly warmth upon the cold foam, and the little mermaid did not experience the pangs of death. She saw the bright sun, and above were floating hundreds of transparent, beautiful creatures; she could still catch a glimpse of the ship’s white sails, and of the red clouds in the sky, across the swarms of these lovely beings” (Anderson). In her final, dying moments, the one thing that inspired her to venture up onto land, the sun, watches over her as she lies dying in the sea foam. It is beautifully symbolic that the sun watches over her passing into the sea, and soon, into the air, as she then becomes an air spirit—a daughter of the air. Even more, the daughters of the air not only live up to around 300 years, but they also gain an immortal soul after that period of time. It is almost like the Little Mermaid gains the two things she was caught between: living for 300 years and attaining an immortal soul. The way Anderson depicts the death of the Little Mermaid is almost comforting. Particularly, the sun is characterized as warm amongst the cold foam of the sea. The stark contrast represents her relationships with the two different environments at play: the sun and its warmth representing her fondness for land, while the cold waters represent her dissatisfaction with her life in the sea. Additionally, her death is not succumbing to an eternal fate of despair; instead, it is a transformation. The Little Mermaid does not become erased; she is instead reborn, which is much more radical than submitting to the expectations placed upon her.

Works Cited

Andersen, Hans Christian. “The Little Mermaid.” The Penguin Book of Mermaids, edited by Cristina Bacchilega and Marie Alohalani Brown, Penguin Books, 2019. EPUB edition. https://reader.z-lib.fm/read/1a79973ce195b4c2f56cd9e8c208861a317cff610e2868dc8fd38d5107f82fbe/29732523/b88b30/the-penguin-book-of-mermaids.html.