Words: 1918
The Little Mermaid : Old vs.. New Story The Little Mermaid is a well known story about the mermaid who was yearning for the life out of the sea. She wanted to be part of the human world and explore all of the wonderful things of living below the stars. The original Little Mermaid story was written in 1836 by a man named Hans Christian Andersen. The Little Mermaid was created into a Disney movie in 1989, many of the aspects of the stories followed the path of one of Vladimir Prop’s spheres he created for folktales. He came from Russia and studied many, many folk tales.
Vladimir was able to write a book called ‘Morphology of the Folk Tale’, and is was about the 31 plot elements seen in many tales. These elements could easily be combined and created into the spheres of actions, which are the general outline present in the tale. The main one that consists with the storyline of The Little Mermaid is the sphere of action of a princess (a sought-for person) and her father. In this sphere the tale normally goes through the following actions; The assignment of difficult tasks(M) Branding) Exposure(EX) Recognition (Q) Punishment of a second villain(U) Marriage(W)
When the story was first written in 1836 the times were a lot different then they were in 1989 when the Disney movie was first released. The relationships between the fathers and the daughters were seen a lot differently. In the sass’s this was during the time when people were still working on farms and horses were being used for transportation. In this era the men worked on the farm and the ladies did the housework. The fathers mostly interacted with the sons since they were working in the fields together, and the mothers were interacting with their daughters by teaching them to do laundry and cook.
In the original The Little Mermaid the main authority figure in the little mermaid’s life was her father, but the person she spoke to most was her grandmother. She went to her grandmother about most of her problems and concerns and asked for her advice. Daughter’s were also a lot easier to handle in this day and age, since they had low education and women were seen more like objects than actually people. Even in the story the prince calls the little mermaid names such as “my dumb foundling”, and “my dumb child”.
When Disney released their version of the story in 1989, there is a 153 year difference teen the two. Since the sass’s women have now gained their right to be seen as educated. In the Disney version Ariel (the little mermaid’s name) has no women figure since her mother passed away years ago. She has since been raised by her father King Trident. Ariel is a rebellious teenager and wants to do what she wants since she is not a child anymore. Ariel is 16 years old, and is a teenager going through that awkward teenager phase of life.
Keep in mind that when a girl turns 16 in this era it is seen as a huge thing in many cultures and even throw a big party locoing the child to womanhood. She wants to go to the world above to kill her curiosity of why her father is not allowing her to go up there. This version of the story more reflects as to what a teenager would be going through when having complications with the relationship with the father. Ariel, again knowing what’s best, does not seek council from her father and goes and disobey him. Even though out of the six sisters she has she is her father’s favorite and is known as daddy’s little girl.
Teenagers in this day and age are a lot harder to handle, especially female teenagers tit daddy issues. Referring back to Vladimir sphere of the princess the second element of branding is quite interesting in this story. In both the original and the new version the little mermaid obtains a pair of legs from the local sea witch. In both stories the payment for her legs is her voice, and now has to get the prince to love her with her other gifts. What is very interesting are the contract terms that the witch makes with the little mermaid.
In the original story the terms are as follows; -every step taken will feel as though sharp knives are stabbing your feet -can never e a mermaid again -if the price and her do not wed she will never obtain an immortal soul -the first morning after the prince marries another her heart will break, and she will become foam on the crest of the waves In the Disney version they are as follows ; -the potion turns her human for 3 days -before the sun sets on the 3rd day the prince must be in love with her -he has to kiss her, the kiss of true love -if so she will remain human permanently -if not she turns back into a mermaid, and she belongs to Ursula This Just comes to show the difference in the times that 153 year gap had between he two versions. The original version had the aspect of pain incorporated with the deal. This is tied with the concept that nothing comes for free. If your going to obtain something that is going to better you, your going to have a negative effect as well. During the sass’s this was not much of a time when people dated, women often married men their fathers had chosen for them. Hence why the older version would say that the little mermaid has to marry the prince in order to obtain her immortal soul.
If she fails she is doomed to a life simply nothing, floating lifelessly on the crest The Disney version of the promise is much different. For starters Ariel is given a time frame of 3 days. This is defiantly from this era’s culture, the three day line has been in many, many, many stories and movies. It must have came from the story of Christ saying that he will rise again in three days. In this version the prince simply has to kiss Ariel with true love’s first kiss Just like the other princess stories. To a teenage girl having that first kiss is like running to first base, it takes time and effort and so much goes into this first magical kiss of true love. The main other difference is that if
Ariel does not get the prince to kiss her she will return to the sea as a mermaid, but belong to Ursula. This is the concept that the one that can make everything happen for you can Just as easily take it away. The ending of this story in both versions has the biggest connection with the culture connections of the time. The Disney version goes through the four last steps of the sphere by Vladimir theory. The prince falls in love with another women who happens to be the sea witch in disguise. Then Ursula identity is exposed right when she is about to marry prince Eric. Ariel makes it on time to stop the wedding but is to ate to get a kiss from Eric.
The recognition element is then in place when Ariel reveals her true identity and turns back into a a mermaid. By the end of the story Eric and Ariel defeat Ursula and then they execute the final element from a princess story the wedding of course, and they get married with King Trident’s Blessing. The ending of the Disney’s version of The Little Mermaid gives off a this fictional message to the audience. It gives a false sense that as long as you follow your heart then everything is going to be fine. That the natural forces in the world will make ere that everything works out for you in the end. The ending of this story follows all the other princess stories that there is a happy ending.
Prince Eric and Ariel finally get to be together forever with their true love with King Trident’s respects. The end message is that good always triumphs over evil so make sure your on the good side. This is influenced by the sass’s culture in the fact that women were now looking for their prince charming to come and swoop them off their feet. Women in this culture are individuals and can think for themselves and do not have to take whatever they an get. Their princess stories give women an understanding at a young age that true love does exists and you Just have to wait for it to come. The original story of The Little Mermaid does not go through this ‘typical’ outline of ending for a story.
The prince is to go and visit a beautiful princess by his parents wishes. The prince told the little mermaid that if he is forced to pick someone other than the women who saved him he would have chosen her. When the prince returns from the visit and decides he is going to marry this women as soon as possible. The title mermaid’s sisters hear of the news and got her a sword form the sea witch that if the little mermaid strikes the prince’s heart with it she will turn back to the sea. The little mermaid made it into the prince’s chambers and saw how happy he was with his soon to be bride. She could not kill him and she threw the knife back into the Or did she?
She ended up being part of the daughters of the air, who would do three hundred years of good service who then would obtain an immortal soul so they could live among the happiness of mankind. This ending of the story is a a lot more harsh on the little mermaid than the Disney erosion. She tried so hard to get this prince to marry her and her efforts were worthless. This is a clear indication that girls should follow their authority fugues. Her grandmother told her not to go up there, she told the little mermaid to forget about it, and be happy with what she had. The little mermaid didn’t listen and now she is paying the consequences. This story is more like a story you tell your daughter when she is starting to get out of line.
This was written in the 1800 so therefore girls were seen as objects and were taught only to obey. The second interesting aspect bout the ending of this story was the importance of obtaining this immortal soul that humans have. According to the story mermaids were able to live for 300 years but once they died, they died, they never lived again. Not like humans who have this immortal soul that lives on forever. Taking into account the amount of influence that religion had on the times of the sass’s this would only seem fit. That every creature would be Jealous and want what humans have in order to live beyond this simple life that we live now, but into the next life of when we get to meet Jesus in the heavens.