The death of the female protagonist

This essay theorises that the death of the female protagonist in

The Little Match Girl, and The Little Mermaid is represented as
deliverance.
When comparing and contrasting the fairy tales, The Little
Mermaid adheres to the conventions laid out in the fairy tale genre. The
female protagonist is a magical creature, she falls in love with a prince,
and through magic from a sea-witch she is given the form of a human.
Which, alas, comes with grave consequences. In contrast, The Little
Match Girl is a nuanced fairy tale. It begins with elements of harsh
reality in that the setting is that of a young female protagonist living in
impoverishment. As the tale progresses, the fairy tale aspects begin to
emerge, until finally it results in fully submerged fairy tale conventions,
specifically that her deceased grandmother comes to take her away.
Both the fairy tales are interesting because they do not follow the usual
fairy tale ending of happily ever after. One important point to consider
when arguing that death is a form of deliverance for the female
protagonists is that the fairy tales follow the home-away from- home
model. This is a significant point because the female protagonists are
unhappy in their current homes, it is only through death that they are
able to find the home they crave.
The death of the female protagonist in The Little Mermaid is
deliverance because the female protagonist was denied the freedom she
sought in both forms she held. Elizabeth Wanning Harries postulates
that The Little Mermaid becomes a metaphor for emotional dead ends
and repetition1. She places significance on the female protagonist losing
her ability to speak as this takes away her chance to fulfil her desires,
which at the time she believed were to marry the prince and become
fully human. However, despite masquerading as a human, the Little
Mermaid was relegated to a lowly status of being the princes pet. She
was allowed to sleep on a cushion outside his room and he had a pages
dress made for her, that she might accompany him on horseback 2. The
fact that she was given a pages dress further exemplifies this theory
1 Harries, Elizabeth Wanning, Twice Upon a Time: Women Writers and the
History of the Fairy Tale, (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001), p. 146

because she was given the status of servant, therefore limiting the
freedom she desperately desires.
As a mermaid she sought freedom because she did not have a
soul, and disliked the notion that after three hundred years death was
final. This can be evidenced when after learning the truth from her
grandmother the little mermaid asks if she was to die without hearing
the music of the waves, nor seeing the pretty flowers and the red
sun?3. The use of the phrase the music of the waves is significant
because this enforces the notion that her experience of life is limited.
Though she is a sea-dwelling creature she has never heard the sounds
of sea-life and therefore strengthens the theory that her eventually
death is deliverance because she was able to experience sounds, as well
as other physical manifestations of emotion such as tears.
Both the female protagonists are shackled to their situations by
desires that are essentially earthly substitutions. The female protagonist
in The Little Mermaid yearns for the prince and could therefore be
argued to have sexual desires. Sheldon Cashdan posits that Andersens
fairy tale is about sexual fulfilment. He theorises that the female
protagonist wished to have a tail because a tail is an impediment when
it comes to making love4. However, this essay disagrees with the notion
that the female protagonist only desired legs into order to gain sexual
satisfaction and argues that legs represent humanity. The little
mermaids deepest desire is to rise to Heaven. The only way she can
entry is if she is in possession of a soul, and she only have a soul if she
is human. This can evidenced when she tells her grandmother that she
would happily give up her three hundred years of living to be a human
for one day to be given a chance of partaking the heavenly kingdom 5.
This weakens Cashdans argument because if sexual fulfilment was her
ambition then she would wish for a long and healthy life as a human
wife to the prince.
2 Andersen, Christian Hans, The Complete Fairy Tales, (Hertfordshire:
Wordsworth Editions, 1997), p.83
3 Andersen, p. 78
4 Cashdan Sheldon, The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairy Tales,
(USA: Basic Books, 1999), p. 165
5 Andersen, p. 78

In comparison the female protagonist in The Little Match Girl also

has limited freedom. Where the female protagonist in the first fairy tale
is restrained because of her dual forms, the female protagonist in The
Little Match Girl is confined by poverty. Like the female protagonist in
The Little Mermaid the plot is propelled by the desires of the little match
girl.
The female protagonists desires in The Little Match Girl are much
simpler as a basic instinct and more relatable for any young readers,
particularly children. Her innermost desires are food and warmth.
Andersen cleverly sets the fairy during the Christmas period. This is a
time when food is an integral part of the celebrations, and when the
season is cold. In contrast to The Little Mermaid whose home life is, for
want of a better description, a lovely fairy tale, the female protagonists
situation is described as dire from the opening line as in the cold and
gloom, a poor little girl, bare headed and bare foot, was walking through
the streets6. The use of the phrase cold and gloom immediately
conveys an unsettling scene. The use of the word gloom is particularly
effective because it is the Christmas season and one expects it to be
cheerful, with warm candlelight and the glow of the fire. Her desire to be
warm is further exemplified when she sits and strikes a match, her
imagination turns it into a great polished stove, with bright brass feet
and a brass cover. How the fire burned!7.

6 Andersen, p. 342
7 Andersen, p. 343

When comparing and contrasting the fairy tales, The Little

Mermaid adheres to the conventions laid out in the fairy tale genre. The
female protagonist is a magical creature, she falls in love with a prince,
and through magic from a sea-witch she is given the form of a human.
Which, alas, comes with grave consequences. In contrast, The Little
Match Girl is a nuanced fairy tale. It begins with elements of harsh
reality in that the setting is that of a young female protagonist living in
impoverishment. As the tale progresses, the fairy tale aspects begin to
emerge, until finally it results in fully submerged fairy tale conventions,
specifically that her deceased grandmother comes to take her away.
Both the fairy tales are interesting because they do not follow the usual
fairy tale ending of happily ever after. One important point to consider
when arguing that death is a form of deliverance for the female
protagonists is that the fairy tales follow the home-away from- home
model. This is a significant point because the female protagonists are

unhappy in their current homes, it is only through death that they are
able to find the home they crave.
The death of the female protagonist in The Little Mermaid is
deliverance because the female protagonist was denied the freedom she
sought in both forms she held. Elizabeth Wanning Harries postulates
that The Little Mermaid becomes a metaphor for emotional dead ends
and repetition8. She places significance on the female protagonist losing
her ability to speak as this takes away her chance to fulfil her desires,
which at the time she believed were to marry the prince and become
fully human. However, despite masquerading as a human, the Little
Mermaid was relegated to a lowly status of being the princes pet. She
was allowed to sleep on a cushion outside his room and he had a pages
dress made for her, that she might accompany him on horseback 9. The
fact that she was given a pages dress further exemplifies this theory
because she was given the status of servant, therefore limiting the
freedom she desperately desires.

8 Harries, Elizabeth Wanning, Twice Upon a Time: Women Writers and the
History of the Fairy Tale, (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001), p. 146
9 Andersen, Christian Hans, The Complete Fairy Tales, (Hertfordshire:
Wordsworth Editions, 1997), p.83