She approaches the Sea Witch to help her in reaching her goal. She must be loved by the Prince as though she is a family member, yet she dares to risk everything to take advantage of the opportunity to win his love and affection. Despite her Grandmother’s clear warning to steer away from thoughts of life above water, and her insistence that she honour her commitments as a mermaid, the Mermaid pays no heed and determines the land is where she wishes to be. Her adoration of mankind grew until she could no longer sustain the thought of being a mermaid. When she turned the age of fifteen, she was allowed to approach the surface of the water to view the world from above the waves. From the time that she was young, she was desperate to find out as much as she could. She begs her grandmother and older sisters for information about the wildlife, the greenery, and the scents.
In Andersen’s story, the Mermaid holds a fascination with humans. Living in the ocean, the merfolk may rest on the waves or a rock in the water and be often disguised by the water or as a fish. This combination of sea and land forms appears time and time again in real life accounts and in fictional tales of mermaids in contact with humans. Their top halves are human-like, while their bottom halves are fish-like. Merfolk exist in stories from all the world over, and are represented in a multitude of forms. Since the time of early mythology, fantastical creatures of the sea have had a place in the oral traditions of folklore. Andersen used elements of traditional mermaid characteristics, but still created his own personal version that is original in its story. Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was knowledgeable on mermaids as they appeared frequently in popular culture during the period in which he lived.
Specifically this presentation focuses on Hans Christian Andersen’s short story, The Mermaid (1837), and Disney’s film, The Little Mermaid (1989), to demonstrate how evolving time and an ever-changing societal moral code have defined these two distinct interpretations of mermaids. This exhibit examines by example the way in which their roles and moral representation in pop culture have morphed through the ages. For centuries they have been interpreted in many different mediums (including folklore and film) and portrayed in different societal roles. Mermaids have been a part of popular culture dating back to their date of origin in 1000 BC in Assyria. “The Mermaid.” The Mermaid and Other Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen. © Copyright 2011, Alison Haberstroh, Victoria MacdonaldĪndersen, Hans Christian.
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