FROZEN
Generally, people read stories and watch films for several reasons. For instance, it could be to learn about the world that surrounds us, about life itself, or have an idea of how people would react to certain situations and their own experiences. The characters used in these stories enable the readers, and the audiences understand how people might respond to various situations present in the stories they tell. If the viewer or reader can relate to the characters, then the story becomes more realistic and meaningful hence easy to interpret and understand. This character creation is known as character development. It refers to the process of developing a complex, all rounded character that relates to real-life within fictional writing intending to make the readers relate with the journey of their life. A good character is three-dimensional, meaning that the character is well rounded. In the frozen film produced at the studios of Walt Disney, the directors used irony and fear to creatively develop the character of Elsa to enable the audience to understand the struggles she was going through.
Elsa’s story applies irony as one of the dominant themes in her life. Irony refers to an event or a state of affairs whereby the outcomes are contrary to the expectations. Writers frequently use irony for various reasons. It might be to create humor or to make their writing enjoyable by creating a situation that is entirely different from the reader’s expectation. The first type of irony created by Elsa is dramatic irony, where the audience watching can see and understand what is happening.
In contrast, the characters are not aware that something is unfolding. At the beginning of the film, the spectators are aware of the magical powers possessed by Elsa. On the other hand, her sister Anna is not aware that she is capable of making ice and snow appear. She finds out later. This scenario is ironic in that being the only sister; one would expect them to have a close relationship hence not missing such a crucial detail about her sister. This scene suggests that perhaps the two did not have a sisterhood relationship, which is weird because they were only two children.
Another scene that shows dramatic irony is when Elsa sings the “Let it Go” song. She vnot know about the winter in Arendelle that she created while the audience is in a position to see the winter. Ironically, she is living in her castle made of ice, yet back at her kingdom, the snow she created made life difficult in Arendelle. It is not normal for something or someone to produce something, yet they have no clue when the process is taking place.
Dramatic irony shows when Anna goes to look for her sister and leaves the kingdom in the hands of the deceptive prince Hans who pretended to love Anna while in the real sense he intended to kill both sisters and take over the thrown. The audience can tell that there is trouble in the kingdom since there is no one to rule. On the other hand, Anna does not see this problem; in her mind, she thought that Arendelle was in good hands. Elsa, on the other hand, was supposed to inherit the throne, yet she was not thinking about the kingdom’s welfare. She instead concentrated on her sorrows, which is not the typical culture. Heirs to thrones are known to be aggressive and possessive about gaining power.
Another example of irony seen in this film is a situational irony, which occurs when a situation has a different impact from what one expected. There is a particular scene when Olaf, the snowman, and his friends were walking towards the castle of Elsa. Olaf praised Elsa of her innocence, claiming that she was incapable of harming anyone. However, upon seeing the ice castles created by Elsa, he was not so sure about his previous claims. This incident is ironic; it seemed that Olaf had not witnessed Elsa’s dangerous side. She had previously hurt her sister until their parents decided to separate them by isolating them in the castle and failing to open the castle gates for a long time. Also, during her coronation, Elsa released her powers in front of the court. Her sister’s engagement to the prince provoked her to release her powers. This act caused her to flee since nobody wanted her association. The court even referred to her as a monster implying that she was dangerous. Perhaps she did not harm people on purpose, but the fact remains that one was not safe around her.
The other dominant theme the directors of “Frozen” used to develop the character of Elsa is fear, which refers to an undesirable feeling caused by the intimidation of pain, danger, or harm. Fear influences almost all decisions made by Elsa. At the beginning of the film, Elsa hides her magical abilities from her only sister. This act shows that she feared her sister finding out about her powers. Elsa also freed to the mountains after releasing her powers in front of the court on the day of her coronation ceremony. She reacted after her sister requested her to bless her engagement to the prince of southern aisles. She thought that there is freedom in the mountains as she did not have to worry about anyone discovering her powers as she was all alone. However, running away was not the way to counter fear. Elsa would have agreed to unite with her sister and try and convince the people that she was not a bad person and explain to the court how the powers function.
Elsa also seems to fear threats and harm as she was always quick to react when harm came her way. For example, it appears that she felt threatened by her sister when it came to marriage matters. Perhaps this is the reason why she released her powers in the ceremony after Anna and the prince went to ask for her blessing. She was the next queen, and it was only right for her to be the first to get married. Also, when the Weselton duke minions attempt to end her life, she violently uses her magical powers to defend herself. This act is understandable as anyone is likely to respond in a similar manner if faced with life-threatening danger. Elsa stops attacking the minions when prince Hans told her not to react like a monster like they wanted. Despite her wrath for Hans, she reverted and pulled back from the attacks. This act shows that the directors of this film created Elsa as a three-dimensional character with some extent of humanity.
The directors of the frozen film make good use of irony and fear to build on the character of Elisa: a princess who is ready to become a queen, but her magical powers interfere with her coronation ceremony. The reactions of the people at the ceremony, branding her as a monster, and the duke Weselton attempt to kill her creates fear in Elsa, causing her to seek solace in the mountains. This film utilizes different types of irony, such as dramatic irony, which involves enabling an audience to see what is happening, yet the act is invisible to the characters. The film also applies situational irony, which implies an occurrence having a different effect compared to the expectation. The directors also create Elsa as a character full of fear. She fears people finding out about her powers, including her sister Anna. She fears for her life when the Dukes wanted to assassinate her and uses her powers for self-defense. The directors portray this character as a three-dimensional character, one with humanity at the same time, one with the ability to destroy. Running away from the things that create fear inside you is not the solution; you need to unite with your loved ones and find a solution. It is after Anna found Elisa that she felt safe. Love is the answer to fear, not isolation and solitude.