Feminism In The Little Mermaid

A Man’s World in The Little Mermaid

American actress Marilyn Monroe once said, “I don't mind living in a man's world, as long as I can be a woman in it” (Monroe 1). In Disney’s The little mermaid It is evident women are vapid and submissive because of the divisions of labour and separate spheres which is depicted through the feminist theory, the applications of Jack Campbell’s Monomyth, and Northrop Frye’s three levels of language.

Firstly, Ariel lacks autonomy because of the male dominated society she lives in. Ariel falls in love with the first human she sees and cannot get him off of her mind until her father; the King realizes that she has been acting strangely. As a result, King Triton has his male assistant, Sebastian, who oversees what

Even though Sebastian is a small, male crab he is a threat to Ariel and Ariel cannot do anything about it, but accept that she is inferior. Sebastian claims, "If your Father knew about this he would never spare you". Thus, essentialism is matched because a male crab has power over the King’s daughter because of its sex even though it is smaller eaten for dinner, and regarded with no respect. Gender is a social construction and is based on the way people grow up, likewise, Ariel is the King’s daughter and is expected to help citizens when needed, but when Ariel saves Prince Eric and falls in love with him, the King is furious and burns her collection of artefacts to assure she plays the stereotypical female role, instead, of trying to be a hero. Ariel gives into essentialism and acts the way women normally do when a problem arises, be emotional and try to connect with others, this is seen with Flounder while Ariel represses her desires on being a human and living with the love of her life. The roles of gender as a social construction are evident because men want solutions to conflicts that arise; King Triton could have let Ariel live her dream earlier in the film by converting her into a human with his trident (a phallus