Sareena Haq Essay 2 Storyboard by Sareena Haq

Claim

sareenah3 — 2024-10-21 15:38:51 UTC

By closely examining the assumed roles of the main characters in Cinderella and The Little Mermaid, I will detail how the depiction of what a woman changes between stories and how their differences help support the main messages of the story. This is important because, in classic fairy tales, the perception of women is often very skewed and demeaning, so I’m trying to highlight how they contribute to the stories.

Similarities: Passivity/Suffering

sareenah3 — 2024-10-21 15:54:08 UTC

Both in Cinderella and The Little Mermaid, the main characters wait for their circumstances to improve rather than actively trying to better their lives. In Cinderella, she suffers the abuse of her stepmother but never retaliates or acts out. She instead is saved by her situation when an outside force comes along. In The Little Mermaid, she silently suffers as she waits for his attention and the opportunity to marry him. Her voice got taken away, and she was made to be this passive figure even while in physical pain.

Similarities: Self Sacrifice

sareenah3 — 2024-10-21 15:58:00 UTC

In both stories, both characters self sacrifice in the pursuit of love. In Cinderella, all of the self-sacrifice and abuse she went through with her stepmother is rewarded by marrying the prince. In The Little Mermaid, she gives up her voice (a main factor of her identity) to pursue her chance at love with a human, even though, in the end, it leads to her not being able to return a mermaid or be a human.

Similarities: Beauty

sareenah3 — 2024-10-21 16:02:10 UTC

In both stories, the main characters are defined by how beautiful they are and effect the outcomes of their stories. In Cinderella, the prince knew nothing about her other than the fact that she was beautiful which ended up being the sole reason she was able to escape her abuse situation at home. In The Little Mermaid, her physical appearance as a human becomes the only factor she can use to attract the prince into marrying her since she can't speak or communicate with him. The emphasis on beauty suggests that their values come from their looks rather than their character.

Differences: Agency

sareenah3 — 2024-10-21 16:10:50 UTC

In the stories, the characters have different perceptions of agency. Cinderella is a completely passive character who only has change in her story due to an outside force (the fairy godmother) stepping in and turning her life around. If the fairy godmother never appeared, she would continue to receive abuse from her stepfamily. In The Little Mermaid, she actively tries to change her circumstances; she decides to meet with the sea witch and sacrifice her voice and feel stabbing pain every time she walks in hopes of achieving her dreams. While she is passive in suffering, she actively tries to change her fate and makes choices for her life, unlike Cinderella.

Differences: Outcomes

sareenah3 — 2024-10-21 16:27:15 UTC

In the stories, the characters end up with dramatically different outcomes. In Cinderella, she is rewarded for her patience and for sitting through abuse by being able to marry the prince and escape her previous life (It also reinforces the idea that marriage is very beneficial for women). In The Little Mermaid, She ends up not getting the prince, and sacrificing her voice was for ultimately no reason besides seeing what life is like for humans. She does end up as a daughter of the air however, does not receive the life she was dreaming of before.

Supporting Main Messages: Cinderella

sareenah3 — 2024-10-21 16:30:54 UTC

In Cinderella, the depiction of women as passive figures but also very beautiful supports the story's message of patience and sticking to the traditional gender roles in society. Cinderells has the "some day my prince will come" mentality where without her meeting the prince, she would be stuck in an abusive environment. The story suggests that happiness for women can be determined and rewarded by male approval and acceptance from men.

Supporting Main Messages: The Little Mermaid

sareenah3 — 2024-10-21 16:35:14 UTC

In The Little Mermaid, the story critiques the idea that women should sacrifice everything for love since in the mermaids case, led to her demise. In my opinion I think this idea challenges the idea that romantic love should be the goal for all women and that women need to be overly sacrificial to gain approval by men.

Final thoughts

sareenah3 — 2024-10-21 16:37:58 UTC

Both stories reflect traditional depictions of women, but the differences in their portrayals highlight the messages of each. Cinderella reinforces the idea of being passive and being rewarded for being a good person and adhering to societal norms, whereas in The Little Mermaid, the main character shows a more complex depiction of female agency and how self-sacrificing too much can lead to one's own demise.