What Is The Moral Of The Little Mermaid

Reworking of the “Little Mermaid” Modern day fairytales are known to have been reworked and romanticized, losing the original’s mature message and theme, however still retaining certain aspects from the original tale. One of the many iconic fairytales following this example would be the “Little Mermaid”. The Walt Disney version of the “Little Mermaid” has borrowed several aspects from the original tale, written by Hans Christian Andersen in the year of 1837, such as the themes of self sacrifice, consequences , and desire for things unattainable. The theme of self sacrifice is one of the several aspects that the Disney version of the tale has borrowed from Andersen’s original “Little Mermaid”. However the effects of this theme differentiate in both works. The effect of this theme within the original tale was to successfully convey the message that not everything will happen the way someone wills it to, however that is not the message portrayed within the reworking. Within the reworking there is a reoccurring theme of self sacrifice present, however there are no ever-lasting consequences for these action which ultimately
However within the reworked fairytale the overall effect and message is altered. There are several consequences that the protagonist of Disney’s tale, Ariel, faces due to the risks taken, such as having to give up her voice in order to attain her human legs as well as her father having to give up his trident to the sea witch. However there are no long term consequences for her actions in the end, but rather praise and reward. This has a large effect on the overall message, which in this case is that the results of sacrifice will always be what was desired. Meanwhile within Andersen’s version there are severe and eternal consequences instead of rewards for the actions taken by the protagonist. Thus portraying a completely different message,