Leslie Bickford
English 208
March 23, 2007
The Little Mermaid’s Pact with Satan
With Disney’s 1989 production of The Little Mermaid, America was introduced
to a new kind of Disney heroine. Ariel’s predecessors, Snow White, Cinderella, and
Sleeping Beauty, were all passive, dreamy princesses who found salvation in their
respective Prince Charmings. None of them took charge of their fate in the way the
headstrong Ariel does. Where each of the preceding princesses waited passively for
salvation from her Prince, Ariel works actively to save Eric when he is shipwrecked.
Where the others earn their “happily ever after” by being docile and sweet, Ariel works
actively to ensure the fate she wants for herself: to walk on the earth with her true love.
But the kind of love she fosters for Prince Eric and her decision to get into his world at
any price show us that Ariel, though not a passive figure, actually gives up her selfhood
for her superficial love for Eric. Ariel’s actions amount to selling her soul to the devil to
ensure this fate.
Though Ariel stands up to her father’s prejudiced remarks about humans when her
love for Eric is discovered, that love is based solely on superficial attributes. Upon first
seeing Eric, Ariel tells Scuttle, “he’s beautiful” (43), focusing on his looks rather than
anything she’s learned about his personality. This is the opposite of the next Disney
heroine, Belle, who will fall in love with the beast, despite his terrible looks, because of
his personality. Though many of the earlier Disney heroines fall in love at first sight like
Ariel, none goes to the lengths she does to secure that superficial love.
Ursula, with whom Ariel makes a pact to get her chance with Eric, is definitely a
satanic figure. She is banished and exiled from the halls of the merpeople, just as Satan
was banished from heaven by God for his pride. Sebastian actually calls Ursula a
“demon” and a “monster” (67), furthering her allegiance with the damned. In addition,
Ariel’s deal with Ursula is that if the Prince doesn’t kiss her within three days, she will
belong to Ursula; she is literally wagering her soul here (70). And for those three days,
she must give up nearly as much as her soul.
As if the final payment is not enough, Ursula takes Ariel’s voice for the three
days, symbolically taking her ability to express herself. In her article “The Little
Mermaid and the Archetype of the Lost Bride,” Margaret Starbird argues that Ariel is
akin to the sacred female, an archetype not unlike Mary Magdalene from the Bible. She
says Ariel is “chided and teased about her wish to be human. …Her voice is stolen and
she is unable to speak her truth” (1). But what Starbird seems to forget is that Ariel has
chosen to give up her voice; it is not stolen. Self is one thing she’s willing to give up to
get what she wants.
This means Ariel must get Eric to fall in love with her based solely on her looks: a
superficial requirement to match her superficial love. Ursula reassures her, “You’ll have
your looks, your pretty face. And don’t underestimate the importance of…body
language!” (73), insinuating that the physical element is the most important in luring
Prince Eric into love. Eric, on the other hand, a model for more mature love, has already
fallen in love with the voice, the symbol of self expression.
That things work out “happily ever after” for Ariel is none of her own doing. She
risks everything, from her soul to her father’s crown, just because she likes Eric’s face.
Surely, though she is more active than her predecessors, she is not a good role model for
young people. Doing anything for love should not include selling one’s soul to the devil.
***On a Separate page, put your Works Cited or Bibliography:
Works Cited
Disney, Walt. The Little Mermaid. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed.
Vol B. Ed. Sarah Lawall, et al. New York: Norton, 2002. 143-177.
***If you have more than one work from our anthology, do it this way:
Disney, Walt. The Little Mermaid. Lawall 143-177.
Disney, Walt. Beauty and the Beast. Lawall 109-140.
Lawall, Sarah, et al, eds. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed.
Vol B New York: Norton, 2002.
***Remember to cite your outside source as well.
Starbird, Margaret.“The Little Mermaid and the Archetype of the Lost Bride.” Title of
Site, if there is one 1 Nov. 2004 <www.BelovedDiscipline.org>.