have you read Hans Christons Andersons little mermaid

[Terter]

and in the orignal story did the grandma clip or pin oysters to her tail? or was it a belt. My book just said it hurt when she put them on to show her ranking and the grandma said it would make her look smart.

[Dragonlion]

Anderson wasn't the only one to write that soulless beings could fall in love.

Actually in a version I read, the mermaid actually did have a soul.

[Disney Duster]

Yes, I love this story, too. It's my favorite fairy tale after Cinderella I guess, but only the original with this soul plot. It's so freaking beautiful and dramatic and real.

No one is quite sure what a soul is or does, we, or I, simply feel I have one and it is who I am, but for Anderson he could have believed that love was seperate from a soul, and soul was moe what kept who you are after death into eternity. A soul was like eternal life. The mermaid thought of how she would live and live...and then suddenly be no more, like she was nothing and was never there. She didn't want to stop...being. So she went after a soul. Good for her. She became a daughter of the air, and maybe she has one by now!

It could also be a comment saying she was very soulful even though she didn't have a soul, and thus should deserve one, or maybe even that there is no soul but people don't need one. Doubtful, from the way Anderson did everything, especially with the ending. Maybe he was still conficted over spirituality as he decided whether or not to add that ending.

It could also be like saying she always had a soul, because she always had what was in her to earn one. The rest of the sea folk didn't care, right? But for some reason she did.

[Wonderlicious]

It could also be like saying she always had a soul, because she always had what was in her to earn one. The rest of the sea folk didn't care, right? But for some reason she did.

I think that this again links into the general idea of Andersen's desire to ascend the social ladder that appears in many of his stories (other examples: the swan born in the duck yard, the princess suspected of not being a princess, the plain nightingale brought to the Chinese court), as well as his problems fitting into the poor society that he was raised in when he obviously had far greater talents. The idea of the merfolk not caring about a soul arguably parallels Andersen's frustrations with the unambitious provincials that he grew up with.

Either way, yes, her desire for a soul does set her aside from her deep-sea peers, as if it were perhaps her destiny. And considering that, even before Disney came along, she was the most famous mermaid of all time, it appears as though she finally got an eternal soul long ago.

[Siren]

Another great, but sad story (probably his saddest) is The Little Matchgirl. Beautiful, sad, and spiritual. In the end, she was happier, but it was still such a sad story.

[Wonderlicious]

And whilst I'm at it, here are some links that may be of interest:
"The Annotated Little Mermaid" by Heidi Anne Heiner (her website also has countless other annotated fairy-tales - highly recommended)
"A Million Little Mermaids" by Virginia Borges (the Endicott pages are also highly recommended)
"Hans Christian Andersen: Father of the Modern Fairy Tale" by Terri Windling

[Margos]

Another great, but sad story (probably his saddest) is The Little Matchgirl. Beautiful, sad, and spiritual. In the end, she was happier, but it was still such a sad story.

I especially loved the short that Disney made of that! It makes me cry every time I see it!

[Cordy_Biddle]

Yes, the animated short film is so beautifully sad. The Borodin musical score totally sets if off.

[Terter]

Do you think people would still love TLM if the story had ended with her killing the prince and returning to the sea as a mermaid again?

[bradhig]

I wonder if Anderson suffered from depression given he wrote such sad stories.

[jeremy88]

Do you think people would still love TLM if the story had ended with her killing the prince and returning to the sea as a mermaid again?

Probably not. I think it's the whole theme of learning to let things go makes this story so appealing. When you really love someone or something, you have to learn to let them go, because they can't always be there. In the story the mermaid gives up what she has so she can get the chance to be with her prince, she moves forward and lets go of her past. The ending epitomizes this when she is given the chance to kill the prince and return to the sea as a mermaid and continue her 300 years of life. Her choice not to kill the prince shows that she accepts death while losing everything else and even though she's lost all that she has. Her character isn't a selfish one anymore as the story begins. She makes up for her mistakes and accept the consequences but the most important aspect of the story is that she's learned to love and that's what makes it all so "bitter-sweet" as they say.

I've read this story a few times, it's one of my most favorite fairy tales. Actually on Disney's "The Little Mermaid" DVD, in one of the special features they show some original illustrations done by Andersen, so you get an idea of how he invisioned her himself.

[Siren]

I wonder if Anderson suffered from depression given he wrote such sad stories.

He suffered terrible abuse from his schoolmaster and teasing from the students for his looks and dyslexia. Yes, one of the most amazing writers of all time, was dyslexic. Proving that a disability can't stop greatness. As a teen and adult he tended to try and woo women who were far above his status. And later there is also indications he either either had homosexual or bisexual tendancies. But he shunned sexual encounters. Which makes me wonder if the schoolmaster did more than beat him.

But yes, he had a tough life. He was one of the few writers to live to see the popularity of his writings, often invited in with royalty. But still at the same time, shunned by them.

I see Ugly Duckling as being his mini-biography.

Anderson is one of my favorite writers and I have been working on a novel of an adaptation of one of his stories I hope to see get published. Part of my research I did into his story was into Anderson himself. His talent won him love and at the same time, made him a living joke to those who didn't understand him.

[pap64]

Speaking of Andersen...

He wrote "Emperor's New Clothes", right?

I take it the story was his commentary of how people are willing to let people make fools of themselves simply because they are afraid of being labeled as dumb.

According to Andersen's story, he was likely someone who spoke his mind and was likely shunned by it. So having people stare at a naked guy walking down the street is likely his idea of expressing his anger and frustration.

Never mind my rambling, I am sleepy.

[Terter]

just my opinon but I think I would have liked it if she had returned to the sea to live lol.

[Disney Duster]

Wonderlicious, I guess the mermaid did love on forever in our minds, that was cool...it would be great to believe that if the mermaid was real, she really got her soul long ago and she's not still waiting!

It's also confusing to me that she was somehow some spirit in the air living on to get a soul, yet that wasn't a soul yet. Well, it certainly deepens what our ideas of a soul might be.

Thanks for the info, and hope your book gets where you want it, Siren!

Probably onto what was going on there, pap.

And Terter, it's okay that you may have been scared or wanted to live with your family again and take back what you did...but to kill another person would probably cause your life under the sea to be miserable anyway! The mermaid knew she was doing the right thing (I think), and she was rewarded for it. She got something way better than she would have gotten going back to her family, who didn't even care about souls like her.

[Terter]

"The Little Mermaid" DVD, in one of the special features they show some original illustrations done by Andersen, so you get an idea of how he invisioned her himself.

can some one post a pic or a screen cap of this please?

[Terter]

no one is willing to take a screen cap and post it?

[jeremy88]

no one is willing to take a screen cap and post it?

Well, I thought there were more on the dvd...but there's only this one. You can't even see her face but I guess it does give you a basic idea of what she's supposed to look like..simple but nice drawing really.

[Terter]

no one is willing to take a screen cap and post it?

Well, I thought there were more on the dvd...but there's only this one. You can't even see her face but I guess it does give you a basic idea of what she's supposed to look like..simple but nice drawing really.

awesome thanks jeremy88 !

I even see the clams stuck on her tail.

[Siren]

It is always nice to see how an author envisions his/her own characters. Not really like the mermaid often seen in other people's illustrations and movies. The tail is much lower, showing off a human rear, and yeah, the clams/barnacles, likely he got the idea from seeing whales. The way the tail tapers so be so small too, its kinda hard, in a logical sense, to see how a small tail could propel the large front half of her body though. The pose is so nice. She looks like she is playing with her hair in the breeze, being underwater all the time, it must feel so different for her to be dry.