A search for love

The opposing responses toward The Little Mermaid by H.C. Andersen and Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm signify a common trope about the need for women to love men, both in fairy tales and real life. This approach highlights women’s dependency on love, creating a contradictory message where hopeless devotion (as seen in Rapunzel) and the Little Mermaid’s one-sided love for an oblivious prince are presented as emotional ideals.

As the story unfolds, we are presented with repeated actions by the prince that help to unravel the Little Mermaid’s love and devotion for him. However, the key issue in their storyline is the apparent argument that she sacrifices everything for a man she thought was everything to her and could not be replaced or bargained with. According to the text, “while I am by his side, and see him every day. I will take care of him, and love him, and give up my life for his sake” (Anderson 579).  For the Little Mermaid, it was an all-or-nothing situation: either she won the prince’s love or faced death. However, the prince becomes apparent quickly as we progress through the tale that he has no romantic feelings towards her. For instance, “The little mermaid bought her legs with great pain and loss, only to fail in winning her beloved” (Fass 298). Furthermore, the Little Mermaid is presented with multiple opportunities, whether they be by fate or additional factors, to choose the prince, but her pure heart is unable to handle the obvious signals and cries for her to make the “right decision.” This also comes into account when analyzing why she makes some of the decisions we see in the story. In Andersen’s original version of The Little Mermaid, he describes the thoughts she went through after she decided to spare his life and sacrifice her own for love. She appears to insinuate her wish for the prince’s happiness, as well as her apparent devastation for failing to win his love, and nearly needing to accept that she is no longer his—all of which lie back to the idea that the Little Mermaid is portrayed as a child, and the writer seems to fall into the same trap, leaving out any sense of maturity or proper perception of how she should approach healthy ways of loving.

While Andersen focuses on unrequited love in The Little Mermaid, the Brothers Grimm approach love differently in Rapunzel. They take the path of requited love; however, the extreme nature of Rapunzel and the prince continues to be apparent throughout the fairy tale. For instance, the love between the pair is evident in their secret visits and marriage, following the initial attraction through physical appearance. However, the reality of their tale is based more on fear and insanity, as opposed to real, healthy love. For instance, “At first, Rapunzel was afraid, but soon the young prince pleased her so much that she agreed to see him every day and pull him up into the tower” (Grimm 39). Rapunzel, being a defenceless woman who has never seen another person besides her kidnapper, let alone a man, should not be so easily accepting of a stranger climbing into her home after “pleasing her” (which can be implied as sexual acts, as her clothes become tighter later on), to a point where she simply“agrees” to see him again. However, the author creates a sense of normality in this behaviour and sways our attention from the strange encounter of both Rapunzel and her prince to their “magical” love story. The couple’s willingness to endure extreme and illogical obstacles to be together highlights how the fairy tale romanticizes obsession, creating a distorted image of love. For example, “Sadly, he wandered around in the forest, eating nothing but grass and roots, and did nothing but weep […] Some years later, he made his way to the desolate land where Rapunzel was leading a wretched existence with her children.” (Grimm 39) This demonstration of “love” is made to appear as pure and rewarding. However, the obsession for each other that both characters develop is more detrimental than exemplary, since without each other, they would have continued to live in continuous suffering. Furthermore, this love is overlooked as an unnatural obsession and painted off as something out of a fairy tale. For instance, “Thus the reference to a marriage ‘ceremony’ […] is erased (the marriage is only planned), and Rapunzel’s motive in marrying the prince becomes not passion but a strange pragmatics: ‘He’ll certainly love me better than old Mother Gothel’” (Vellenga 66). This demonstrates a dependency from Rapunzel in needing something different from her current situation, and the reason for her dependency on a man, as well as why she is so easily swayed into this path. However, the writer convinces the reader that it is purely subject to the emotions both parties feel for each other, and nothing else.

Both Rapunzel and The Little Mermaid demonstrate some variation of undivided devotion to male characters. This is created through their many attempts to maintain those relationships throughout their stories. For example, the Little Mermaid’s constant suffering on land through the sharp pains in her feet after every move she makes, as well as Rapunzel waiting for her prince to find her after many years of being separated. Johansen claims that much like Rapunzel’s reliance on the prince, in The Little Mermaid, “He is at once the mermaid’s object of love and the potential donor of himself and an immortal soul” (Johansen 212). Furthermore, both characters are obsessed with the idea that men will come to their aid and protect them from all of their sufferings merely thanks to their presence. However, the contradictory portrayals of love in both stories—such as the prince searching for Rapunzel and the Little Mermaid’s silent suffering—misrepresent true love and its proper expression. Finally, Smith argues that these stories are not only unrealistic but also create false narratives for children and young girls in our society. For example, “Fairy tales are seen as ideal in this regard, for, in addition to their cross-generational appeal […] they make clear divisions between good and evil, with their established narrative and character conventions” (Smith 426). Since fairy tales hold such a powerful impact on their readers, their interpretations of love must be properly demonstrated for the sake of children. However, that is not what was shown previously.

The confusion that can arise in young readers from stories such as The Little Mermaid and Rapunzel, through their detrimental interpretations of love, can play a large role in what they think is a correct representation of what love is, and what is a correct way of being treated by partners. For instance, “In brief, the popularized heroines of the Grimms and Disney are not only passive and pretty, but also unusually patient, obedient, industrious, and quiet” (Stone 44). This demonstrates the unrealistic tolerance and beauty that women have in fairy tales are the main focus, and when presented to young girls, this can alter their perception of factors such as how they must act and what they must look like to be socially acceptable. In addition, current feminist views argue that these original implications of perfection in women, as well as meek behaviour and accepting personalities, continue to leave their mark on society as we continue to progress. For instance, this tendency to “naturalize” gender inequality in society resulted in women being both denigrated (as powerless and weak) and, simultaneously, idealized (as “domestic goddesses”)” (Smith 428). The unrealistic expectations that are forged in women through these stories have a negative impact on our society whether it is acknowledged or not. Women are brought up to believe that only beautiful princesses are allowed to have a happy ending with their prince, but then women are also kept from the reality that characters such as Rapunzel and The Little Mermaid were treated terribly by their princes.In conclusion, The Little Mermaid and Rapunzel both present love in a way that’s unrealistic and unhealthy, by encouraging women to sacrifice everything for men and reinforcing harmful stereotypes about passivity and dependence. While these stories may seem sweet at some point to readers in the past. They do not represent the modern views of love and respect that we know now are correct. By challenging these ideas, we can encourage young readers and women who have been affected by these stereotypes to break these norms. As well as, creating a more inclusive and morally just view of love in our society.