The first thing to stand out to me regarding our reading of the Little Mermaid is that the ocean/the realm below is well defined and beautiful. Compared to Melusine, the natural world is beautiful, rather than neutral or worse. The comparative opaqueness—unfamiliarity—is toned down, the world underwater reflects/emulates the surface world through its architecture and flora. The Little Mermaid’s grandmother answers her curiosities about the surface world, and the denizens of the deep have relationships that exist outside of conflict or servicing surface dwellers. Some commonalities with some earlier works include a focus on royalty/people of elevated social status through the Little Mermaid’s royal lineage as well as the prince.

The Little Mermaid’s eldest sister’s recount of her observation of the surface world is an inverse of human’s admiration for the natural world, as she “gaze[d] upon the large city near the coast, where lights were shining like hundreds of stars”, finding beauty in the music, technology, and decorations of humans. 

There’s a portion lifted directly from Undine regarding the mermaid’s lack of souls and the finality of their deaths, which is a driving force behind the Little Mermaid’s desire to deal with the sea witch. It was interesting to also see non-mermaid hybrids within the story. The end of the story is noteworthy due to the presence of an alternative path to heaven, the existence of slavery in the surface world, and the option to kill the prince for what can be perceived as a slight. I feel as though this story intends to act as a mirror for which to appreciate the time in which the story occurs, reconsider the theological and philosophical approaches to dealing with the natural world as well as the non-Christian peoples under control of European and euro-descended empires and colonial systems. This may even be a story with a Unitarian world view for dealing with these new social and environmental situations.