The Theme of Female Subjectivity in Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” and Disney films The Little Mermaid and Frozen
Gender is one of the most controversial topics in society that has earned significant attention over the centuries. The question of gender equality and the position of women in the community has seen the rise of various feminist who advocates for the empowerment of the female gender within the society. Gender issues can get attributed to the societal construction and perception of the female gender through the designation of gender roles that portray women as the weaker and inferior gender. In society, women are usually given lighter roles which are mostly household chores as they are believed to be the caregivers of the homes. The male gender is associated with more demanding tasks that require more physical energy due to their masculine appearance that depicts the belief that they are a stronger species than the women. Various works of literature have been used to advocate for women rights in society and change the perception if the community about women portraying women as being equally capable as men. Women have over the years been able that they are equally capable of handling tasks that were initially believed to be male-oriented which has gone a long way in the promotion of equality among men and women as the society has embraced the need for women empowerment. In this paper, we shall analyze the theme of female subjectivity in Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” and Disney films The Little Mermaid and Frozen to identify how fluidity has been used to construct strong female characters.
Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.”
The fairytale introduces us to a royal family of mermaids comprising of the King, who is a widower, the princesses and their grandmother. Though the young mermaids have never been to the surface of the sea, their grandmother tells them narratives about the fascinating features of the world above and the people within it that picks the interest of the young mermaids who are more than eager to visit the world above. However, the only way they would be allowed to visit the surface is after they turn fifteen years. Since they vary in age, the sisters visit the surface at different times as each is older than the other by a single year. On their return, they both have different tales on what they saw within the surface and among the human world that they found to be fascinating. Though they have beautiful experiences in their adventure, their experiences are quite different.
The fairy tale is however centred on the adventure of the youngest sister also identified as “The Little Mermaid” who in his journey to the surface of the see catches a glimpse of a handsome young prince with whom she immediately falls in love. Her character in the story goes against the societal depiction of the female gender as it is one of heroism, sacrifice and determination. Through the character of the little mermaid, Andersen has been able to use fluidity in the depiction of a strong female character. In the story, the little mermaid, though young, is portrayed as a hero. Her act of heroism is described in her first encounter with the prince during his birthday party on a ship that ends in a shipwreck. When the prince falls into the sea, the little mermaid realizes that he is most likely to die from drowning. She therefore saves the prince by carrying him to the shore for safety. In this way, the little mermaid g portrayed as being the braves of all her siblings as none of the siblings had been able to go so close to the human civilization.
Other than having heroic attributes, the little mermaid is depicted as courageous and determined. After she saves the life pf the prince, she is not able to locate the prince which fill her with much sorrow. However, with help from her sisters, she eventually finds the location of the prince and is determined to meet the prince in person. Her grandmother informs her of their fate as mermaids which is different from that of human beings and the impossible conditions that would enable her have a similar fate as the humans. Knowing what she must do, she is willing to take the risks even though she risks failing in her quest and dying. This depicts the strong affection that the little mermaid has towards the prince.
Another significant theme that is depicted through the choices made by the little mermaid is the theme of sacrifice. Though she is the youngest of the sisters, she makes some of the hardest choices in the story. One of the choices she makes is abandoning her family and living among the humans who may not accept her. This demands a sacrifice as she would not be accepted in the human world with her mermaid tail which in her grandmother’s words was considered “hideous” by the humans. For this reason, she had to fully transform into a human being in order to meet the prince. The witch that helps her in her transformation however, demands that she surrenders her beautiful voice to her. Without hesitation, the little mermaid accepts the witch’s request and surrenders her voice. Though she has other gifts such as her feminine physique and her amazing dancing skills, she is not able to win the affection of the prince and risks to die when the prince confesses his affection to the bride. In her final sacrifice, she is offered a choice to kill the prince and gain back her status as a mermaid and live her three hundred years among her family. She rejects the offer and suffers the consequences of her choices. Andersen uses the character of the little mermaid and the choices she makes in the story to develop female subjectivity and build a strong female character.
Disney film “The Little Mermaid”
The Disney film is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Little Mermaid.” However, in the film, there is a plot twist that gives the movie a different ending to Andersen’s initial story. The twist in the movie presents the witch, Ursula, that the little mermaid, Ariel, turns to help her change into human form as the villain. In the plot twist, Ariel visits the witch to help her turn into a human and have a chance at gaining the affection of the prince. While the witch asks for her voice in return, she also gives her a condition that if in three days she would not have been able to gain the affection of the prince, she would belong to the witch. Ariel agrees to the terms se4t by the witch and embarks on her quest to earn the love of the prince. The witch however decides to sabotage the plan of the mermaid by disguising herself as a young beautiful lady Vanessa and using the mermaids voice to divert the attention of the prince from Ariel. She also casts a spell on the prince that makes him forget about Ariel who discovers the truth about Ursula and with help stops the wedding ceremony. The shell in Ursula’s neck breaks and everything is restored back to order. Ariel gets her voice back and the price breaks free from her enchantment. However, the sun sets and the third day is complete before Ariel gets the kiss of true love from Eric and Ursula holds Ariel captive.
The plot of the of the film is built around the mermaid Ariel and focuses on the theme of desire which portrays female subjectivity. This is portrayed in the risks that Ariel takes to acquire true love from the prince. She is willing to give up her natural form as a mermaid and live among the humans forever. This depicts the theme of sacrifice. Sacrifice is also portrayed in her willingness to give up her voice to the witch in order to attain her human form. Ariel is also portrayed as a risk taker when she agrees to being enslaved to Ursula if she fails in her quest for finding true love with Eric. In the film, the female gender is depicted as group that is governed by their desires. Ariel desires to live a human life with the prince and is willing to throw away everything that she holds dear so as to have a chance at living a human life with the prince. T5hough there are various obstacles that stand between Ariel and her quest, she eventually wins the love of the prince and is permitted by her father to have a normal life among the humans with the prince. Through the character of Ariel, the film is successful in the building of a strong female character as we are able to see the sacrifices made by Ariel in her choices and her determination to win true love.
Disney Film “Frozen”
The Disney movie: Frozen” is about two sisters who are of royal blood and the antagonistic relationship between them that almost cost them their kingdom. The elder sister Elsa has supernatural abilities that enables her to create ice and snow and at some point in their childhood, she accidentally hurts her sibling Anna. For this reason, their parents keep them both locked in the palace denying them contact with the civilization outside the palace. After their parent’s demise, Elsa is crowned queen and they open their gates to the nobles who come to acknowledge and celebrate their new leadership. Among the dignitaries is a prince, Hans, with whom Anna gains interest. However, Elsa does not give her blessing on their relationship and Anna demands to know why she is against the relationship. They end up in a confrontation that leads to Elsa losing control of her power before the official who were present and she is branded a monster. Elsa flees and builds herself an ice palace which accidentally engulfs the palace in an eternal winter. The film unveils the struggle of the two sister to gain back their Kingdom from the wicked prince, Hans, who is after the4ir downfall.
In the film, the strong female character is depicted in Elsa. She is given supernatural powers which makes her the center of the film. However, she is not able to control her power which makes her dangerous. This can be depicted in the scenes where she hurts Anna unintentionally and when she mistakenly unveils her power during the argument they have with Anna after she refuses to give her blessing to Anna and Hans relationship. Her lack of control can be depicted when she builds an ice castle which accidentally engulfs the kingdom in an eternal winter. This events portray that she is overwhelmed by the power w3ithin her. She also decides to isolate herself from the kingdom which is similar to the isolation her parents subject her to by closing the kingdom to the members of the society his portrays the fact that both Elsa and her parents did not have confidence in her control over her powers. Another attribute that can be seen in Elsa that builds a strong female character is sacrifice. When they are locked in the palace by their parents, they are denied the chance of having a normal life. After she flees from the kingdom, she embraces her isolation which is a sacrifice that she takes to keep the people of the kingdom safe from her destructive tendencies.
The character of Anna has also been used to build a Strong female character. Though she is young, she takes control of the kingdom after her sister flees. One of the significant attributes that can be seen in Anna that contributes to a strong character is her courage. This is portrayed in her decision to travel to the ice palace to meet her sister who was considered dangerous due to her inability to control her power. She takes the risk to save her kingdom which has been engulfed in an eternal winter. Though she gets hurt in her encounter with Elsa, she is still determined to ensure that her kingdom is safe from the effects of her sister’s supernatural power. Though Anna is in love with Hans, she places the interest of the kingdom before her emotional desires. When she realizes the plans that Hans had to eliminate the two sisters and take over the kingdom, she takes a stand against Hans and joins her sister. The4y are able to place their differences aside and live together in the kingdom which they open to the members of the society. In the film, female subjectivity is portrayed in the character of Anna who despite not having supernatural powers as Elsa, she confronts Elsa without the fear of being hurt. She also embarks on a journey to find Elsa who is dangerous as she is not able to control her power. In this way, sheer assumes the role of a hero in the film who is able to overcome various obstacle to achieve their goal. Some of the obstacles she overcomes include the injuries she gets during her confrontations with Elsa. However, Elsa depicts a weak female character. Though she is powerful, she is not able to control her power which prevents her from gaining advantage over Han.
In conclusion, the text and the two Disney films have been able to use fluidity to construct female subjectivity through the characters and the plot. In all the three works of literature, the main characters are females who are able to make various tough choices for the benefit of the society. In the text “The Little Mermaid.” The little mermaid realizes that she has failed in her quest for true love. Though she is offered a solution that would work to her advantage, she depicts courage by dealing with the consequences of her failure. Though the film by Disney portrays significant changes from the text, the mermaid, Ariel is also courageous and determined in her quest for love. Unlike in the texts, she achieves her desire by winning the affection of the prince and is able to live a human life. The film “Frozen” also depicts the struggle of two sisters who are different in various ways to protect their kingdom from an evil prince who is out to destroy them and take control of their kingdom. Female subjectivity in the films is depicted in the roles played by the female characters in the text and the films. In the film “Frozen” for example, the women have been given authoritative positions. Both Elsa and Anna have been crown queen which contradicts the societal representation of women as being poor in leadership. In the three works of literature, the women have also been seen to make some of the most difficult decisions which require sacrifices. The plots of the films and the text challenges the perception of the society towards women through the creation of strong female characters.