Tag Archives: The Little Mermaid

Gossip– Mutual Aid Among Women

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The 1989 Little Mermaid exhibits a trait shared by many of the classic Disney Princess movies. Ariel must be exceptional to be the main character; she must outshine the other female characters– her sisters, and certainly the female villain. Belle must be contrasted against Gaston’s three admirers. Cinderella must be contrasted against her stepsisters and stepmother, even Tiana, in 2009 The Princess and the Frog must stand out against her silly blond best friend.
I’m not sure what this trope means– the systematic elimination of competition from stories centering on young women– and Hans Christen Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, though removed by time and genre, is no exception. His little mermaid is “the prettiest of them all” (108) and separated by her quiet and thoughtful nature, and her disinterest in collecting shipwreck treasures.
However, I was struck by a key role given to her sisters, and associated young women.
When the little mermaid loses track of her prince after rescuing him from the shipwreck, her sisters come to her aid;

“At length she could resist no longer, and opened her heart to one of her sisters, from whom all the others immediately learned her secret, though they told it to no one else, except to a couple of other mermaids, who divulged it to nobody, except to their most intimate friends. One of these happened to know who the prince was.” (116)

Besides being comedy gold, complete with subversions of expectations, tone shifts, and a rule of three– this passage struck me as surprisingly respectful to the institution of gossip as a critical information network among women. Although it could have been treated as inconsequential, or used as a parable warning against the dangers of secrets or gossip– it is a key vector in the plot, connecting the little mermaid to her lost love.

The Little Mermaid: Full Commitment. No Payoff.

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At first glance, it would be a lie to claim that one began read the story without thinking (at least subconsciously) about the Disney iteration. However what is truly surreal is the fact that the Hans Christian Anderson story of “The Little Mermaid” was truly nothing as expected in terms of tone and over all motives displayed throughout the tale. Apart from the huge disparities between the film adaptation and the tale by Anderson, there seems to be a reoccurring sense of longing for something that we as the readers, already know that it is only highlighting the positive aspects of being human without truly understanding the hardships and flaws humanity has to offer.

The claim that Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid” is a cautionary tale that showcases the attractive qualities of being a human is not only supported by moments where the characters glorify certain superficial and materialistic things, “The little mermaid swam close to the cabin window, and as often as the water lifted up, she peeped in through the transparent panes, and saw a number of well-dressed persons” (Penguins, 113). Now this is just an observation on the mermaids part and can entirely be done just out of sheer admiration for the clean and presentable appearance of the gentlemen, but it is also a telling piece of information which implies that this sort of fondness towards all things “classy” and “fancy” is natural and tailored only to humans (which is why the mermaid is so intrigued by the prince). Not only does this correlate with humans as a whole, but it also demonstrates the sacrifices women make in society as a result of marriage and motherhood which can be interpreted from the witch’s warnings, “if once you obtain a human form, you can never be a mermaid again!” (Penguins, 120). While not blatantly stated, this may very well be an allegory for dedicating ones entire life and leaving everything behind in order to seek for marriage and a relationship that is built on materialism and physical qualities. The ending (which is quite depressing) serves as an example of said sacred bonds that do not have a legitimate foundation comprised of love and understanding, rather one that is constructed by unrealistic expectations and hope which in the very end, leads the little mermaid to end up risking everything for someone that did not share the same passion.

Week 8: To make of the world below

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While reading Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, what stood out to me in this tale is just how different the underwater world is compared to the terrestrial world. Since the underwater world remains largely unexplored, we can only make of its supposed beauty through what we think lies below. That the depths of the ocean hides a world that is completely alien to the land above.

In the beginning, the narrator reminds us that the ocean is “so deep … that no rope can fathom it; and many church steeples need be piled upon the other to reach from the bottom to the surface.” (108) Just how deep is the ocean, and how much of it have we not explored? Humans are not capable of breathing underwater, so we have to rely on submarines and scuba tanks to explore only a part of it. Even then, the crushing depths make exploring the bottom of the ocean almost impossible. Even in reality, there are thresholds set in place by Nature that we literally cannot cross, even if we wanted to.

In the next paragraph, the narrator tells us that the ocean must not “be imagined that there is nothing but a bare, white, sandy ground below,” and proceeds to describe its environment: “The soil produces the most curious trees and flowers, whose leaves and stems are so flexible that the slightest motion of the water seems to fluster them as if they were living creatures.” (108) This exemplifies the alien nature of the ocean, and it also implies that even the depths are connected to terrestrial life. The “trees and flowers” can be made out as coral, but it is described in a way that makes them seem as though they are a part of a forest. The fish are likened to birds, further demonstrating the parallel between sea and land.

However, both of these worlds are separated by water as stated before; humans and aquatic beings are incompatible with water and land respectively. There are things in their world that we desire but cannot have due to the nature of their world, and vice versa. Alas, we can only describe what lies at the bottom of the ocean, and we have yet to see the beauty of it in the distant future.

Exposure

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In the eyes of the little mermaid we are amazing species that can “…fly across the sea upon ships, and scale mountains that towered above the clouds; and the lands they possessed— their fields and their forests— stream held away far beyond the reach of her sight.”(118) hold a much higher value in comparison to her own life. As she is saying this while herself being apart of a specie that can live up to 300 years underwater and become one with the sea. Anderson uses this part of the story to reflect on moments where one might show appreciation for the capabilities of different creatures(or people) while simultaneously downplaying our own. What we feel we are lacking in can turn into an obsessive desire that we must obtain, for only then will we be content with who we are.

The little mermaid continues this idea when discussing with her grandmother the afterlife for humans sorrowfully comparing her end of life “I would willingly give all the hundreds of years I may have to live, to be a human being but for one say, and to have the hope of sharing int he joys of the heavenly world.”(118) The yearn to have a soul—to live beyond the enclosure of the water, is strong enough to direct the little mermaid into wanting to give up the life she would have.

Comparing this to the human relationship to other creatures on the planet who live in the air, live in the water, etc., I think Anderson in this part of they story at least— shows gratitude and appreciation towards other creatures. Showing sensibility to the others that we share the land with, even if we might wish we could fly or live in the water, helps with our understanding of the environment.

The Boundary Between Sea and Land in ‘The Little Mermaid’

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In Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid is built in a world full of boundaries–between sea and land, voice and vision, loss and desire– is built. The story of the mermaid carries emotional power that lies not only in its romance but in its fixation on its land crossings. From the opening description of the ocean floor being “as clear as the purest crystal. But it is very deep–so deep…no rope could fathom it” (108), Andersen establishes a paradox that moves the story; transparency does not mean it’s accessible. If a boundary is visible, it doesn’t always need to be crossed. The mermaid’s world glitters with boundaries, thresholds that she can see but cannot touch, like amber windows, marble steps, and water so clear it hides nothing yet conceals everything.

Every transition in the tale costs something. The mermaid’s ascent from sea to surface allows her to see the human world, but she remains unseen, able to save the prince only by disappearing before he wakes. Her second crossing–from sea to land–turns her body into a painful border. The sea witch’s warning that every step will feel “like treading upon such sharp knives” (121) transforms any bodily movement itself into a form of self-sacrifice. Losing her voice is another boundary breached; in losing her voice, she gains access to the human world. The prince reads her “speaking eyes” (122), but his interpretation fails, and she’s now seen as a human but fundamentally misrecognized.

Andersen repeatedly shows that language falters at the surface. The mermaid’s sisters sing above the waves, but sailors hear only noise from the storm–sound that is distorted by the border she tries to cross (112). The story’s build reinforces this pattern through a concept of half-space, like balconies over canals, and staircases leading into water, but they never merge. Even the prince’s ship becomes a literal threshold between belonging and exile.

In the end, the mermaid’s transformation and joining with “the other children of the air” (130) traces back to the mermaid’s longing for desire, which always comes with sacrifice. Each ascent–from sea to land to air–brings both a vision and loss. Andersen’s lasting sadness comes from this paradox that his heroine lives always at the glass between worlds, where beauty and pain both coexist. Fulfillment comes not through breaking boundaries, but through the long, slow softening of them.

Christianity: An Apparent Constant for all Earthly Creators

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Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid depicts the lives, but more importantly, the inner thoughts and perspectives of Merpeople. Andersen wrote about what he can only imagine it would be like to look into our world from such an unimaginable viewpoint. Somehow, he still managed to integrate Western Christianity into a fairy tale about a young woman who lived separate from all things “worldly”. This proves that, as much as we try to understand the incomprehensible, and walk in the shoes of or (swim in the tails) of others, our own learned perspectives will often prevail.

On page 108, he writes, “It was the little birds that her grandmother called fishes, or else her young listeners would not have understood her, for they had never seen birds”. According to this logic, the young mermaids had no concept of the world on land whatsoever, yet in basically the same breath, he mentions how enticing the church bells are to the girls. On page 109, he mentioned the church three times, and yes, mostly intended as an example of the sounds of humans, heard from afar, but nonetheless, it was mentioned. Andersen takes the time to point out that they don’t know what dogs are, yet skims past the fact that they’d never been inside a church and still had a full understanding of what they were. If these young girls could understand the reason for church bells, and not birds singing, then well, they were clearly written to be religious mermaids.

This may seem to be very insignificant, but I felt I needed to point out such a minute detail because it really does play a larger role in this story. If this young mermaid knew the significance of the church or religion, or in some ways, morality, then she would, in turn, also know shame. Organized religion has been a tool in inducing shame for centuries, and it was especially potent at the time of this telling. Although shame is a less intense theme in this story than it is in other merpeople tales, its presence is more interesting when it relates to a LITTLE mermaid. A 15-year-old child feels shame for wanting love, for wanting beauty, and for wanting human connection.

I do not think this distinction was necessarily purposeful or intended to be significant, but I do think it points to writing about unknown beings in general. That is my point, I suppose. Andersen was submerging himself in this perspective, over-explaining the way things look to someone who had no concept of them, down to little details. Yet he subconsciously or consciously decided that, of course, mermaids would inherently have a concept of religion, the church, or God.

The Paradoxical Mermaid

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In the tale of The Little Mermaid found in The Penguin Book of Mermaids, Hans Christian Andersen uses both sexual and religious imagery to highlight the sexual nature of mermaids and the possible redemption they can achieve through piety. The little mermaid is presented as a sexual being since she “was the prettiest [mermaid] of them all” (Penguin 108) and also has a “lovely form” (Penguin 122). Her body and beauty become the traits she is ultimately known for, painting her into a being that is meant to stimulate attraction in those who see her. The little mermaid is put into a position to be wanted and desired because of her beauty. It is not a choice made by the mermaid but is one that she is born with. Andersen also notes that as a young mermaid, she contains sexual impulses that are featured when she treasures a “pretty statue, representing a handsome youth” (Penguin 109) and “[plants] a bright red weeping-willow beside the statue” (Penguin 109) so that when the leaves grow, “it seemed as if the top of the tree were at play with its roots, and each trying to snatch a kiss” (Penguin 109). The little mermaid sees the statue in more of a sexual way through the imagery of “[snatching] a kiss” and the “red weeping-willow,” evoking a sense of sensuality as red is often a symbol for sexuality and love. Andersen indicates that not only does she serve as a sexual icon, but also a being that harbors sexual feelings. The mermaid becomes a dangerous/sinful being since she represents the sin of lust because of her desire for men and her ability to “befool a man’s heart” (Penguin 122) with her beautiful body and face.

Despite the little mermaid being a sexual creature, Andersen notes that she can still be considered a “moral” being because of her good deeds towards the prince. Not only did she “bore him across the sea to the wood where stands the holy temple” (Penguin 125) when his ship began to sink, she also refused to kill the prince and “hurled the blade far away into the waves” (Penguin 129). By highlighting these good deeds, Andersen formulates the idea that even people who are considered “sinners” can still have a chance at a divine afterlife and redeem themselves. Though the mermaid is an embodiment of lust, the daughters of the air tell the little mermaid that mermaids “can obtain [souls] by their good deeds” (Penguin 129). Despite being painted as a sexual being, Andersen flips the narrative by illuminating the duality within the mermaid. She is both a being that is sexual by nature, while still containing Christian qualities like selflessness, since she saved the prince twice. This redemption forces people to change the way they look at people who are deemed sinners through the paradoxical characterization of the little mermaid. The qualifications to enter the “Kingdom of Heaven” (Penguin 130) are not solely based on who you are, but the actions you commit on Earth.

On The Topic of Pain

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In Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale The Little Mermaid there are multiple references of pain below and above the water. This story is clearly meant to be shared with children and like most fairy tales there is a concurrent of morality and coming of age allegory, in when and how pain is felt for this young mermaid.

When it is time for the the Little Mermaid to visit the surface, to break through the barrier of her world to enter into a broader and more complicated world, adornments of oyster shells are fastened to her tail by her grandmother. These shells symbolize her rank are so painful that the Little Mermaid voices this discomfort. Her grandmother’s response is “pride must suffer pain” (Penguin, 113). This statement has endless connotations such as religious implications, monarcharical responsibility, the mermaid symbolism of pride, or the mermaid’s ascension into womanhood. The story tells us early on that the Grandmother wears a dozen oyster shells in reverence to her noble birth, but not until the Little Mermaid is gifted the symbol do we know how painful they are. This means that the Grandmother has endured this pain as matriarch for a significant part of her life, without complaint because the Little Mermaid did not know it would be painful.

This has been a common denial in history, this discomfort of body in those who menstruate and birth, many times being categorized as a natural occurrence one must just endure. That there is goodness and purity in this endurance. The Little Mermaid is in some ways a 1800s child-appropriate way to explain to those who menstruate what their experience will be in their adult body. What pain is natural and unnatural in these bodies and how one of the most unnatural things to do is to disobey a parents’ wishes.

The pain of the shells is not mentioned again, it is a brief discomfort that the Little Mermaid adjusts to, a pain of the responsibility and pride she has being part of her family. But when she is in an unnatural state the pain is constant. When the Little Mermaid receives her legs, in rebellion of her family and position every step is painful. She experiences this pain all to be near someone who will never rebel against his title or family and who treats her (in my opinion) like a pet. A condition of the Little Mermaid’s task is convincing the Prince to forget about his parents, putting the Little Mermaid first. With the pair both having royal obligations, not listening to their the parent/family is more than a private rebellion it is a political rebellion with larger implications for their court and country. One must be obedient to the greater good. Making the lesson of the tale about how one will only experience pain when betraying your familial obligation, is not only a way to prove parents know best but to covertly imply it is against nature to do so.

Humanity comes with a cost

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The scene that stood out to me the most in Hans Christan Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” was when the mermaid drinks the potion given to her by the Sea Witch that will transform her and give her human legs. This moment isn’t described as a magical transformation but as an act of suffering. The text says “The little mermaid drank the sharp and burning potion, and it seemed as if a two edged sword was run though her delicate frame. She fainted away, and remained apparently lifeless”. This description makes it clear that becoming human isn’t a beautiful or effortless process. Andersen turns what could have been a peaceful fairy tale moment into a scary and painful experience. 

The language in this scene connects physical pain with spiritual transformation. The mermaid doesn’t just change from, she sacrifices a part of her identity. Her tail symbolizes freedom and her connection to nature but by replacing her tail with human legs she now feels intense pain with each step she takes. This suggests that by gaining humanity whether physically, emotionally or spiritually it will come with a cost. The mermaid’s suffering becomes sort of an initiation into the human world where love and pain are inseparable.   

I also think it’s significant that the mermaid’s pain is something she goes through in silence. She has already given up her voice to the Sea Witch so her suffering goes unspoken. Anderson uses this silence to show the importance of her commitment and how much she is willing to endure for love. It also makes me wonder if the silence reflects certain expectations that are placed on women to bear pain gracefully and quietly. The mermaid’s transformation is both a personal act of courage as well as a reflection on our world that sometimes values beauty and obedience over self expression. 

Throughout the entire passage, Andersen turns a fantasy story into something that is human like. The mermaid’s suffering isn’t meaningless, it’s what makes her a creature of the sea. Her pain is the price of consciousness, desire and soil. By making this transformation hurt it suggests that in order to grow or transcend into a new world, something must be lost. In the mermaid’s case, she loses her identity and her suffering becomes a bridge between two worlds. The natural and the spiritual worlds and through it she becomes something entirely new. 

The Warning of the Sea Witch in The Little Mermaid

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In the Little Mermaid, the sea witch’s caution to the little mermaid- “If you obtain a human form, you can never be a mermaid again! Your heart will break, and you will dissolve into the foam of the waves”- is one of the most important parts of Andersen’s story (Andersen 121). This quote is not just some magical deal: it showcases how difficult it genuinely is for the mermaid to alter her life. The witch says so the mermaid that desiring a human soul requires her to make a large sacrifice. Even though she desires to be happy, there is still a possibility she could lose everything she has. In Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, the sea witch’s caution shows how the journey of the mermaid is all about sacrifice and the price that comes with longing to be part of another world. This adjusts the idea of happy endings that most fiction tales promise and makes readers think about how difficult it can sometimes be to chase our dreams.

The witch’s statements are very straightforward and direct. They show exactly what the little mermaid would give up if she were to take the witch’s offer. As a result of this, the story starts to become much deeper than the typical loving and happy fairy tale we are used to seeing. The witch uses strong words such as “never,” ‘cannot”, and “break” to explain how if the mermaid accepts the deal it is final and cannot be changed.

This part of the story puts several ideas together, such as leaving home behind, suffering, and not knowing if eternal happiness will ever be possible. When the witch tells the mermaid that she will be unable to return to her family and her home, the sea. This truly shows how much the little mermaid is giving up. In the human sense, this would be like leaving home and never seeing the people you grew up with again. Also, when the witch says that the mermaid will “turn into foam”, this means she will vanish forever if she fails to win the prince’s love and marry him.

This shows the uncertainty involved that comes with having to depend on another person for personal happiness. If the mermaid gives up everything, despite this, the prince could still not feel the same way. This shows how that love does not always promise a happy ending, which makes this story more lifelike and also sad.

Overall, this warning is a crucial part of the story because it shows how altering one’s life and chasing dreams is often very hard to consistently deal with. The mermaid is risking all she has, such as her family, voice, future, and body. Andersen’s tale is truly wonderful, but also sorrowful because life requires sacrifices of our past and present to inherent what we desire most for our future. This story teaches how love and change is a very difficult process that requires bravery even when we may not know what the end product will be. Last, this story is not just about receiving what we want most, but it is about learning how to deal with the decisions we make.