Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid” covers a lot of what he have learned about different mermaid myths so far. The first thing I have noticed is how a connection between mermaids and sirens were made in the text, “Like her story ancestors, the Sirens, this little mermaid has the most beautiful singing voice, but she trades it for legs so she can be with the prince in the human world, and entertains him by dancing” (p. 107). Giving up something which is quite literally defining herself shows us a lot about what it means to be a mermaid and what it could mean to become human like, which is why I think that this part is definitely one of the strongest metaphors in this tale I want to elaborate more on.
The Little Mermaid wants to transform herself to find a sense of belonging in a human like environment. She is willing to give up her whole identity to find love and affection of the Prince and believes that she could not assimilate into human society without doing that. The question now is, whether that now has to be seen as a sacrifice for what we now understand of romantic love or whether it rather is a sacrifice. More possibly the metaphor shows us a hierarchical structure of natural beings on our earth showing that humans are believed to most powerful with everything else being inferior. But is it really worth to give up everything and not find happiness in what you are? I felt like this part of the story has definitely have to be read as some part of cautionary tale.
Hi Lina, I also saw a connection between Sirens and this week’s reading, but it was when it talked about the sisters going to the surface and singing to the sailors. “It frequently happened in the evening that the five sisters would entwine their arms, and rise to the surface of the water all in a row. They had beautiful voices, far finer than any human being’s, and when a storm was coming on, and they anticipated that a ship might sink, they swam before the vessel, and sang most sweetly of the delights to be found beneath the water, begging the seafarers not to be afraid of coming down below” (p.112). I found this part interesting because it reminded me of how the Sirens would sing to the sailors and lure them into staying with them. However, the sisters in this story seem to have less deviant intentions as they seem to be trying to ease the horrors of being on the brink of death.
Good points. I’d like to see you ground your interpretation in a specific section of the text. For example, where might you see this and prove this?: “But is it really worth to give up everything and not find happiness in what you are? I felt like this part of the story has definitely have to be read as some part of cautionary tale.”