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Kimberly Ting
Professor Haas
Writing 37
27 November 2016
Rhetorical Analysis of The Little Mermaid: Beauty Above All
In Disneys rendition of The Little Mermaid, Ariel differs from prior Disney princesses
the conventional damsels in distressbecause she has a headstrong attitude and ambitious
dreams. Based on Hans Christian Andersens original tale, this film tells the story of a rebellious,
young mermaid Ariel who fascinates about her life above water. Insistent on being with the man
she loves, this fiery-haired heroine sacrifices everything, even if that means going against the
patriarchal figure in the movie, her father King Triton, and seeking help from the sea witch
Ursula. However, in light of 21st century attitudes, the 1989 film produced by Ron Clements and
John Musker may not be as progressive as it was set out to be. Feminists criticized the film for
furnishing its impressionable viewers, the children, with yet another female role model whose
singular motivation is to find her prince(Haas & Trapedo 10). Film critic Jackie Ma agrees,
calling Ariel another fair skinned beauty clad in nothing more than a very precariously placed
seashell bra and tail (1). With the constantly changing ideologies of the 21st century, society has
outgrown some of the classic conventions of the fairy tale portrayed in The Little Mermaid such
as beauty and the lack of agency, or the inability to decide their own fate, in these classic
princesses.
If there is a requirement that every princess needs to have in order to be labeled a Disney
princess, it would be beauty. However, the convention of beauty actually did not originate from
Disney. In classic tales such as Perraults The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, the title already

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says it all. The words beauty and beautiful were used eight times to describe Sleeping
Beauty but nothing about her intellect or other traits were ever mentioned. The very fact that the
first wish she is granted at her christening is that she [would] be the most beautiful person in the
world goes to show the necessity of beauty (Perrault). This convention is slavishly kept when
Disney creates the princess characters we all know today (Haas).
Beauty is a common theme in fairy tales, particularly in the female lead. Ariel is no
exception, with her long red locks and her perfect figure. No matter how much time passes, the
need for a beautiful heroine seems to never age in the fairytale industry. Rather than noticing
how Ariel is an intelligent protagonist, the first thing Los Angeles Times film reviewer Michael
Wilmington notes is her good looks: Ariel, isn't much like Andersen's sad, noble sea-maid.
She's a sexy little honey-bunch with a double-scallop-shell bra and a mane of red hair tossed in
tumble-out-of-bed Southern California salon style. She has no gills, but, when she smiles, she
shows an acre of Farrah Fawcett teeth(Cruz 1). In one short sentence, Ariel, a more
proactive...Disney princess (Ness) is diminished to nothing more than a sex symbol.
Unfortunately, even without Cruzs input, Ariel does quite well on degrading herself to being just
another bobble-headed princess. Once she acquires her new legs, the first thing she does is dress
up and look pretty for her one true love, Eric. She acts like any love-struck teen would and
tries to capture the object of her affection. Without a voice, Ariel somehow ends up almost
sharing a first kiss with him, with not one word leaving her lips.
Meanwhile, the archetypal villain in the movie is portrayed by the scheming sea witch
Ursula. Her overweight and unattractive demeanor could easily be connected to why she is
portrayed as the villain. There is a distinct contrast between Ariel, whose appearance was based
on model Sherri Stoner, and Ursula, who was designed after a corpulent Cecaelia; a legendary

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hybrid of human and octopus and a Charm City drag queen named Divine (Ferree). In the
scene where Ariel visits Ursula, Ursula requests from Ariel her voice. When Ariel tries to
question who she would be without her voice, Ursula responds to Ariel that she would still have
[her] looks, [her] pretty face; And don't underestimate the importance of body language
(00:42:42-00:43:01). Ursula is blatantly insinuating that Ariel doesnt need a voice because she
has her beauty, and that is all she really needs. In her opinion, Ursula believes Ariel could capture
Erics heart without him knowing how her personality is or any of her attributes our society holds
dear. In previous Disney films, the role of beauty is enforced when the villains are transformed in
appearance; for example, in Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent turns into a dragon, and in Snow White,
the evil stepmother who turns into a hag [with tangled white hair inspired by] European
illustrations of fairy tales (Disney Wiki). These subtle implications that appearance equates
personality can affect the way Disneys young audience, especially young girls, perceives beauty.
Ursula proves to be an outspoken individual which explains why she was exiled from the
kingdom. Her desire for King Tritons power is seen as an act of greed. Villains such as the
wicked Queen in Snow White, Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty, and Ursula are all examples of
Disneys femme fatales. They are all portrayed in a negative light because their audacity to desire
their former youthful beauty as they age or to attempt to gain power over a patriarch. In Snow
White, the Evil Queens sole goal was to kill Snow White so that she can be the most beautiful
woman in the land led to her demise. The punishment she receives reveals how villains like
Ursula are wrong to desire beauty and power because it will not be given to them. The Little
Mermaids push to have female characters defy patriarchal figures is seen again as Ariel attempts
to do the same.

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Ariels act of defiance against her father seemed to mark the beginning of the
deconstruction of the patriarchal dome that surrounded Disney: unlike all the passive, sleeping
princesses before her, she has some agency. However, despite her act of rebellion against her
father, her wish involves joining the world above and then just conforming to another set of
patriarchal social norms. Furthermore, she portrays the message that in order to achieve her
desires, [she has to] give up her special voice to be part of a society that would not normally
accept her in her true form (Sheinbaum). Her desire to want more as stated in the song, A
Part of that World came with a cost, as does many things when it comes to girls sacrificing to fit
beauty standards (00:15:44-00:15:49). The film anaesthetizes the physical pain Andersen
describes as part of achieving [her feet], the girls physical and psychological endurance and loss
mark almost every moment of the filmAbove all, sacrifice, the hallmark of movie
womanhood, is written into the Disney version as it is into the tale (White 190).
Similar to prior male leads in Disney films, Prince Eric plays the hero figure and kills
Ursula, saving the damsel in distress, Ariel. Despite Ariel having enough agency to rebel against
her father, she ultimately lets Ursula and Eric dictate how the plot goes. Eric is yet another
prince in a long line of colorless, bland Disney princes (Ness). In the beginning, Ariels desire
to go on land was purely out of curiosity. However, upon seeing Eric, Ariel decides to sacrifice
her voice to chase what she sees as true love. The film then starts to focus on Ariels pursuit of
Eric and Ariels fiery personality slowly starts to shimmer out as she becomes completely
occupied with obtaining Eric's affection. Disney further reinforces the rigid gender roles, that
have been prevalent in prior films, by having yet another docile protagonist, which seems to be a
reoccurring character in many fairy tales. One who is inept to save herself and depend on the
male lead to decide her fate. The lack of agency is prevalent because no matter how hard Ariel

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tries to remove the shackles that chain her, she is a victim of falling into yet another mold of a
submissive and quiet princess.
As the film goes on, Ariel starts to lose her ambition to unshackle herself and attain
freedom. Living in an ocean ruled by her father, Ariel is enslaved by his wishes. His opinions
vetoes any decision that differs from what he wants. When King Triton finds out that Ariel went
against his wishes, he tells her that he set[s] certain rules, and [he] expect those rules to be
obeyed (00:34:39-00:34:45). She then listens to Ursula who advises her that men are not all
that impressed with conversation; True gentlemen avoid it when they can; But they dote and
swoon and fawn; On a lady who's withdrawn; It's she who holds her tongue who gets a man
(00:43:16-00:43:26). Essentially stating how a man would rather have a girl who keeps it to
herself than speak her mind. Furthermore, Eric falls in love with Ariel, who has never spoken a
single word in his presence. Forget politics, religion and issues of the world these two do not
discuss anything (Sheinbaum). This keeps with the previous Disney films where couples sing a
song and they fall in love in a matter of minutes. In fact according to data collected by linguists
Carmen Fought and Karen Eisenhauer, in many Disney movies, the men speak 68 percent of the
time in The Little Mermaid; 71 percent of the time in Beauty and the Beast; 90 percent of
the time in Aladdin; 76 percent of the time in Pocahontas; and 77 percent of the time in
Mulan. With the exception of Aladdin, its mind blowing how these films which all include
female leads, have males speaking significantly more. That goes to show how the voices of these
princesses are often covered by the louder and more dominating voices of their male counterpart.
Since The Little Mermaid was released almost twenty years ago, it is expected that pop
culture has since changed. That brings up the question if any heroine could ever reach our
expectations of how a strong female character should act. This nebulous and never-stagnant

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answer is determined in part by cultural critics and media-makers on one side, and by parents
and children themselves on the other (Cruz). So what makes children and adults alike watch a
film that includes flawed conventions repeatedly? Its because stories like...The Little Mermaid
serve, of course, to disguise the extent of damage that [frightening demands on them] incur, and
to promise that male ador will be more fulfilling than anything else could possibly be (White
191). Ariel seems to think that Eric is what she was looking for all along. The classic Disney
princesses all have similar aspirations, and that is to find a prince and live their happily ever,
even if that means losing a part of their identity.
Although America is progressively becoming more accepting of all shapes and sizes,
such as the addition of plus-size models in the fashion industry, there are still many adolescent
girls looking up to public figures as body goals. Whether females notice it or not, dominant or
hegemonic forces of Western society work subtly, even microscopically to form womens
attitudes about themselves (White 182). The princesses that Disney portrays, such as Ariel,
could have a negative impact on how young girls see themselves as they might try to strive to
look like them. Some psychologist studies have found that it's better to praise children for their
efforts or accomplishments rather than their traits [because] even positive comments may lead to
body-image problems because they reinforce the idea that appearances are important
(Sheinbaum). This is still a topic that has yet to be settled but thankfully, communities are
growing larger in support of acceptance of all people, no matter their race, gender, class, or size.
The gradual acceptance of these communities is slowly influencing Disney as it begins to realize
that classic ideologies are no longer accepted and changes its films accordingly.
With that said, it would be unreasonable to say that The Little Mermaid did not make a
huge step towards a stronger female lead, making way for future films such as Brave and Frozen.

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If the first reviews of The Little Mermaid [were to] reveal anything, its how pop cultures
loose, collective definition of heroine, changes over time, sometimes dramatically (Cruz 1).
The Little Mermaid is not completely to blame for these conservative conventions because it
made a valiant effort to differ from those preceding it. Unfortunately, with society constantly
changing, it is harder for folk and fairy tales to keep the ideals relevant. With the audience
mainly being young adolescent girls, hopefully, they are not phased by some of the underlying
messages that are insinuated and enjoy it as they would any other film. However, the freespirited and passionate mermaid that many children may see is no different than the those that
preceded her: subservient princesses, but at least theyre pretty.

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Work Cited
Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. The Film Experience: An Introduction. New York:
Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Print.
Cruz, Lenika. "The Feminist Legacy of The Little Mermaid's Divisive, 'Sexy' Ariel." The
Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 13 Nov. 2014. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
Haas, Lynda, and Shaina Trapedo. "Disney's Magic Mirror, Haas & Trapedo." Google Docs.
N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.
Ma, Jackie. "Visual Pleasure Theory: The Little Mermaid." Rhetoric and Pop Culture.
Wordpress, 05 Mar. 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
Ness, Mari. "Disneys Renaissance: The Little Mermaid." Torcom Disneys Renaissance The
Little Mermaid Comments. N.p., 08 Dec. 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
Pasulka, Nicole, and Brain Ferree. "Unearthing the Sea Witch." Hazlitt. N.p., 14 Jan.
2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
Perrault, Charles. The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood. New York: Limited Editions Club,
1949. Print.
Sheinbaum, Hilary. "Why My Kids Will Not Be Watching The Little Mermaid." The Huffington
Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 July 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
The Little Mermaid. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Walt Disney, 1989. DVD.
"Ursula & Ariel." Disney Wiki. Wikia, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.