Tag Archives: Week 7

Week 7: The Little Mermaid

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Reading The Little Mermaid this week for the very first time was a real jaw dropper. Growing up this was one of if not the only Disney movie that I would constantly watch on replay and eventually became my favorite movie ever, so to wrap my head around this story for the first time is difficult. Noticing how the story I read and what I know of the movie stayed consistent for the most part, there was a dramatic change in the endings to both story and movie. There was no happily ever after in the original story, but instead there was an ultimatum for the little mermaid to either prioritize and pick herself or to continue to prioritize a man whom she did not know.

There was a point in the story in which really resonated with me as it reflects the idea of today’s society. The moment in which the grandmother had told her that “Our souls are not immortal.” (page 117) and then proceeds to describe the only way in which to obtain a soul is by making sure a man was fully committed to you but also only deeply in love with you is very hard to believe. This section to me made me truly realize that even in stories involving mermaids and the sea, men still found a way to have some sort of control over females and mermaids. The little mermaid went to an extreme extent to be with a man who did not know her but also that she was not certain that would love her, just to ultimately take that risk for him. At the end of the story in which she is given a final chance to pick herself over the prince, she still does not do so as she still puts him over herself even though he was already married to someone else at this point. This idea goes back to last week’s discussion as how it is perceived that women cannot be complete without a man. There is a saying that goes around and is frequently said which is “my life never started until I met you” which I believe applies to the story of The Little Mermaid as she had made it known that she preferred living on land with the prince since it did not compare to living down in the ocean with her family. I believe it also shows in a way how women in toxic relationships can be easily influenced to leave behind what they know, their background, family, and entire lives all for a single man who they have known for not so long. Reflecting on this story and comparing it to the world we live in today, truly puts into perspective that as time goes on, men will still be perceived as having more power and control over women.

Week 7: The Little Mermaid and Christianity

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The Little Mermaid contained a lot of Christian imagery and ideology, but I found the contrast between air spirits and mermaids really fascinating. The two different creatures were representations of heaven and hell where souls were either present or not. Mermaids are described many times as not having an immortal soul which signifies that they cannot live in an afterlife. For instance, the grandma of the little mermaid explicitly tells the little mermaid that their “souls are not immortal. [They] shall never enter upon a new life” (Andersen, p. 116). This means that a mermaid’s soul is returned to the earth and is not meant for anything further than that. In Christianity, a person who has been “saved” by Christ is seen as having an eternal soul that will continue to exist in another plane after death. However, people who are not saved by Christ are not allowed to experience eternal life. In this way, mermaids represent those who were considered unholy and destined for hell at the time. Their souls will never be able to experience the “greatness” of the “unknown and favoured regions” (Andersen,p. 116) humans enter after death. 

Comparatively, the air spirits are a clear representation of heaven and godliness. The imagery of the air spirits resembles angels who are messengers of God in Christianity. The aerial spirits exist to do good deeds for humans and are given the chance to live in the human afterlife. It is explained to the little mermaid that “the daughters of the air, although not possessing an immortal soul by nature, can obtain one by their good deeds” (Andersen, p. 128). This opportunity to get an immortal soul is the closest that un-human entities can get to being human. From my understanding, this is a representation of becoming “saved” in Christianity. In the religion, a person must follow God and do good deeds, which is what the aerial spirits are doing. They depict the people who at the time were considered to be righteous and who would do God’s work. 

This dichotomy also made me think of the discussion in class we had about verticality. The mermaids are underwater which hints at hell because it’s below and the only way to get an immortal soul would be through duplicity. The air spirits are in the air which hints at heaven because it’s above everything and the only way to get an immortal soul would be from doing good in the world.  

Week 7: The Little Mermaid and Her Grandmother

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This week I found the Little Mermaid story to be intriguing and brought back a handful of childhood memories. The main portion I want to dive into is when the grandmother is explaining the difference between humans and merpeople and their souls. She says, “unless a human being loved you so dearly that you were more to him than either father or mother; if all his thoughts and his love were centered in you, and he allowed the priest to lay his right hand in yours, promising to be faithful to you here and hereafter: then would his soul glide into your body, and you would obtain a share in the happiness awaiting human beings” (Bacchilega, Brown, Page 119). I had a few thoughts about what this excerpt could mean with the first being that I believe the author is suggesting that mermaids (or more specifically women) cannot be whole/complete unless they have their male counterpart to provide and care for them. This has been a recurring theme across the mermaid stories we have read so far, especially when considering Melusine. However at the same time I find this ironic because merpeople seem to have other-worldly powers, wouldn’t the man become complete with marrying into power versus the other way around? My second thought–especially after the introduction stating that after a mermaid loses her tail and gains feet that it is a symbol of sexual maturity–is that maybe she will gain a soul after making herself sexually available for a human (or more specifically the prince). My third attraction to this quote is the importance of comparing romantic love versus familial love. I personally have never considered or seen those to be in the same boat, but rather as two separate concepts. I think it would be weird to love your significant other the same way you love your parents, but I guess it’s more so the concept of holding the other in your thoughts and heart at all points of the day. I am interested as to if this was published before or after the romantic era to have a better understanding on views of love at the time.

Week 7: Little Mermaid

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So I read “The Little Mermaid” for the first time, and I was blown away from all of the imagery, to be honest. The way that things get described, like the ocean kingdom, it was very breathtaking. “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. Fishes, great and small, glide through the branches as birds fly through the trees here upon earth.”(page one hundred and eight)*

This was what intrigued me, as well, because here we see the connection between human and nature. We can establish here that, at this point, we would imagine merpeople to have a similar sort of world as our own, given how the merpeople have things such as trees and flowers. We see the comparison between them and us, drawing similarities and parallels. Some things are done differently, of course, but when we imagined the merpeople, we imagined them similar to us. Granted, you can say that maybe the trees are different, but we don’t GET any of that. What this is giving is that its giving “they’re more like us”.

Ok then I want to talk about the last bit, where the little mermaid goes to Heaven(?)/ascends after her death. First of all, she’s way better than me. Second of all, the ending felt really weird to me. So she’s told, “You have suffered and endured, and have raised yourself into an aerial spirit, and now your own good works may obtain you an immortal soul after the lapse of three hundred years.” (page one hundred thirty). and THEN she’s also told that her 300 years is contingent on children???? Is this supposed to be like religious propaganda or something? Does this mean that nothing matters???

*my number one key on my laptop is sticky so I had to use the actual word for the numbers.

Coming of Age-The Little Mermaid

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The main thing that I wanted to focus on for this week’s post is the concept of, “Coming of Age” and what that means for a woman. The story follows that all of the sisters can visit the seashore at the age of 15. Fifteen is a transformational age, especially for young girls who experience personal events that expose them to becoming a “woman.”

In this blog post I wanted to explore the ways in which cultures honor the age of fifteen, what fifteen means, and how that aligns with the little mermaids, coming of age story.

I first started with angel number, because I think it is important to understand the philosophical side before diving into the concrete representations. The number 15 is said to represent positive change, which is either already in progress or soon to be in progress. As a spiritual number, 15 means that we possess the wisdom and skills to pursue or life missions, reminds us to make positive choices, and most importantly to manifest our personal desires through action. This is extremely important for the Little Mermaid as she is a 15 year old who is going through a transformational period and leads herself through through her personal desires.

In hispanic culture, the Quinceanera, is a traditional coming-of-age celebration on a young woman’s 15 birthday. The purpose of the Quinceanera is to put an emphasis on religion, family, friendships, music, culture, etc. As a prequel to this instance, Aztecs would be considered for marriage when they turned 15 years old. This celebration of “coming of age” began to become a celebratory event for young girls developing into woman. This tradition later developed into the Quinceanera that is practiced all over the world, and developed fully in Mexico.

In general coming of age and puberty is celebrated/ honored in many cultures. I found the selected age important in this story and believe that it is an intentional piece to the story itself.