Written by Florence Yee

for Prof. Marie-Thérèse Blanc

Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale, “The Little Mermaid”, tells the story of a young mermaid and her attempts to end the segregation between her life and her human love interest, the prince. The protagonist’s character development as she overcomes the challenges of the quest pattern, the narrative structure of a hero’s journey, makes this tale far more complex than Perrault’s or the Grimms’. Her love, agency and afterlife play imperative roles in her growth.

Andersen elaborates on the young maiden’s love in the story’s setting. Even before the separation, the reader is given the context of her prelapsarian fascination for humans. As she awaits her fifteenth year, she bears “no greater joy than to hear about the human world above” (92). Her yearning and curiosity establish believable motivations for her interest in the prince, unlike the love at first sight featured in the Grimms’ “Little Snow White.” Additionally, when her grandmother reveals the concept of an immortal soul to her, a layer of self-interest and personal gain is added on top of her captivation. The incentive renders her love complex, even questionable. Moreover, her relationship with him becomes fatuous love, a union with passion and commitment, but without intimacy. Her devotion to the man she “loves more than [her] father or mother” is clear in her willingness to bear the pain of walking on her cursed legs without a voice (96). The way the prince calls her “his little foundling” and the fact that it “never occurred to him to make her his queen” reinforces the one-sided nature of the little mermaid’s fixation (98, 99). The stone statue of a boy in her garden also metaphorically indicates his detachment from her. The unhealthy obsession she harbours for the young man reflects and intricately develops her character.

Despite the little mermaid’s quietness, her actions speak volumes. She possesses the agency to prove the resilience of her own virtue during the initiation. Her sorrowful sisters hand her a knife to “kill the prince and come back” (100). However, she decides the outcome of the situation by herself, regardless of her siblings’ peer pressure. The sea-witch gives the young maiden the option of saving the prince or herself as the man lies helplessly asleep, a powerful role not often reserved for women in traditional fairy tales. Furthermore, her moment of uncertainty draws attention to the complexity of her mind when “the knife tremble[s] in the mermaid’s hands”, but her virtue shines as “she [flings] it far out into the waves” (100). The actions mirror her inner conflict between her interest in gaining an immortal soul and her values. She proves to be pious and good in this challenge. Thus, the little mermaid holds the power to direct her own fate. Although her body melts into sea foam, she successfully gains a new form.

In the quest’s return phase, the offering of a spiritual existence to the young mermaid is a sign of a complicated earthly life. Justice and divine powers typically grant mercy to those who commit a crime and wish to make amends. In her case, she is punished for sacrificing “the most beautiful voice of anyone on earth or in the sea”, which is a symbol of her individuality (96). She also betrays herself for the perfection she perceives in the human soul, evident in her garden, shaped “perfectly round, like the sun” (92). When the sun goes down with the prince, she understands that faultlessness is unattainable. Her final act of valor allows her to become a daughter of the air for three hundred years, the same amount of time as the merfolk’s lifespan, but with the added condition of committing nothing but good deeds. She receives a second chance to start over a life that ended too early. The reprieve from God emphasizes her flawed aspects as well, traits not found and forgiven in Perrault’s tale “Little Red Riding Hood.” Thus, the dichotomy of the young lady’s good and bad deeds acknowledges her complexity as a person.

The combination of realistic motivation and the power of choice and individuality enhance the convolution of the little mermaid’s character and, hence, Andersen’s tale. A fleshed-out and imperfect personality with unique ties to secondary characters is essential to complex stories. Perhaps it is as a result of the Grimms’ and Perrault’s didactic efforts in regards to children that they have favoured repetition and simplicity over distinctive characters.

 

Work Cited

Blanc, Marie-Therese. “Fairy Tales Then and Now.” Comp. Marie-Therese Blanc. English 102. Dawson College, Montreal. Winter 2014. 120 p. Print.