Construction of Female Subjectivity in The Little Mermaid, Undine, and Frozen

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Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué’s “Undine,” and the Disney films “The Little Mermaid” and “Frozen” have created female characters with different thoughts which act autonomously rather than relying on their destiny. These women are not just women, and they are women who can be as strong and capable as a man. These pieces amplify that women’s roles are no longer stagnant and irrational. Instead, it is evolving, and even though there are repercussions, women are still succeeding in the male-dominated society. Women are still succeeding on their own.
“The Little Mermaid” is written by Hans Christian Andersen (Andersen, 1983). this is the first piece to be examined. The story of “The Little Mermaid” has given birth to a strong female character in the form of Ariel. Ariel had to deal with problems both internally and externally. Ariel had issues because she is a woman, a mermaid. Despite the difficulties she encountered along the way, she was able to succeed in her way. Even though her story does not have a happy ending, Ariel was able to fulfill some of her desires. All of this made Ariel strong
“The Little Mermaid” is an account of a mermaid princess named Ariel. Ariel is the youngest and the most beautiful of the six. She is described as an odd, quiet, and pensive girl. She is also different from her sisters. In the beginning, it implies that Ariel is getting restless with underwater life. Ariel is also fascinated by her grandmother and sisters’ stories about land and people, and because of that, she develops a desire to live a human life on the land (Musker & Clements, 1997). She stated, “Oh! If only I were fifteen! I am sure that I will come to love the world above and the human beings who lived there!” (Andersen, 1983, p. 71). Furthermore, when Ariel first sees the land above the sea and the charming prince, her urge to live a human life grows even more.
Ariel saves the prince from drowning during their first encounter. Ariel cannot take this off her mind, and as days go by, her urge to see this man increases. Many people try to warn Ariel about the dangers of interacting with humans. However, Ariel is very eager to live on land, does not follow and risks trading her voice for feet with the sea witch. The sea witch now curses Ariel. Ariel gets to see and be with the prince but figures out that he is marrying another woman. Ariel does not get the ending that she wants, and she dies. As we can see, no one agrees and supports Ariel’s desire to be self-sufficient or make a personal choice, so everything she achieves has to come at a high cost. She wants to live a life on land, so she pays the price for it; she loses her tongue (Andersen, 1983; Musker & Clements, 1997).
The piece appears to be overridden by masculinity because even women are required to employ physical strength to attain their aims in life. It gives the meaning that masculinity is something that everyone should strive for to find their place in society. When in fact, it is not always necessary to use ph...