8 The Little Mermaid Features: Mutilation, long-term suffering, suicide A young, beautiful mermaid falls in love with a dashingly handsome human prince, after saving him from drowning. In the hope of winning the prince’s heart, she asks the sea witch for a pair of human legs. The witch agrees to give the mermaid the most beautiful pair of legs known to man. But there’s a catch: every step the mermaid takes will feel like it was taken on razorblades – her feet will bleed ceaselessly. And even worse, her greatest possession – a beautiful mermaid voice – will forever be silenced. But the mermaid, in love with the Prince, agrees to the deal.The next morning, the prince finds the mermaid washed up on the shore, naked, with her beautiful new human legs. Long story short, he marries another woman. The mermaid, after toying with the idea of killing the Prince, eventually throws herself into the ocean and dies.I always preferred this version over Disney’s rendition. Some children might beg to differ.-(Hans Christian Anderson – Fairy Tales 1839)
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 23:59:08 +0000