At its core, the fairytale The Little Mermaid is the story of someone looking for more and who is willing to take risks to be true to themselves. It’s the story of a literal fish out of water, desperately wanting to belong in a world not meant for them.  

In Hans Christian Anderson’s original story the unnamed little mermaid longs for a soul. She rescues a prince and leaves him safely at a temple. Curious, she asks her grandmother about the lives of mortals and learns that marriage to a mortal is the only way the merfolk can receive a soul. She bargains with a sea witch for legs and must give up,  not only her voice, but her comfort and potentially her life.  Every time she takes a step on her new legs she feels pain like daggers shooting up her feet and if the prince does not marry her she will turn into seafoam and die.

Once on land the little mermaid finds the prince but he does not love her. He cares for her but sees her as cute and child-like rather than a potential bride. Ultimately he marries a princess who nursed him back to health inside the temple. 

On the wedding ship the little mermaid’s sisters bring her a dagger they bought from the sea witch with their hair. They tell her that if she kills the prince with the dagger she can turn back into a mermaid and return to the sea. The little mermaid, however, cannot bear to harm the man she loves even when he is wed to another. She throws herself into the sea, accepting her death. Because of her sacrifice she is given a soul after all and is permitted to enter heaven when she dies. 

There are many potential metaphors wrapped up in the tale of The Little Mermaid. 

Hans Christian Anderson was bisexual. Living in  the 1800s he would have often had to hide his liaisons. He may have often felt like he was being forced to be silent or as if hiding who he really was was like walking on knives.  Meanwhile the objects of his affection (male and female) often saw him as a friend rather than a lover, and he would be required to bear witness to their weddings.  

The story of someone longing to change their body in order to find their true self can also be a very elegant metaphor for being transgender. Unlike the other merfolk, our little mermaid is not satisfied with her life in the sea and is willing to risk the pain and awkwardness of transitioning to become her true self. (For a more in depth analysis of the transgender themes in The Little Mermaid watch this video by Lindsay Ellis).

Another interpretation that has been suggested is that the little mermaid is autistic due to her intense interest in the human world and lack of awareness of the danger of making a pact with the sea witch (Jessica Kellgren on Autism tropes). This would make a lot of sense because Hans Christian Anderson is also speculated to have been autistic.  In this interpretation the mermaid’s loss of voice and dagger sharp steps are an apt metaphor for masking or hiding one’s true self in order to be accepted.  

The feeling of longing and desire for a place in a world forbidden, is beautifully expressed in the classic “I want ” song “Part of Your World ” from the 1989 Disney adaptation of The Little Mermaid. 

The 1989 Disney adaptation of The Little Mermaid makes a lot of changes to Hans Christian Anderson’s story.  It names our mermaid Ariel and changes her desire for a soul to a curiosity for human life and love at first sight. The prince’s bride is actually the sea witch in disguise and Ariel must rescue him from her enchantment, rather than sacrifice herself to the sea. She succeeds, marries the prince, and lives happily ever after. 

On the surface the Disney version appears to be much more satisfying.  Everything is ultimately restored to our heroine and she is allowed to live in wedded bliss rather than turn into seafoam in order to gain her soul.  But, if we take the religious element out of Hans Christian Anderson’s original story, there is something liberating about learning that the little mermaid doesn’t need the prince to have her desire granted after all. 

The Little mermaid gives her life to save the prince but obtaining her heart’s desire ends up being about her own actions rather than who will choose her as a bride. Her soul is her own, earned by her own innate goodness, not borrowed through marriage. It shifts the narrative from a love story to a story about finding one’s true self. 

This theme of embracing and accepting one’s true form applies to any interpretation of the story. Whether the difference is sexuality, gender, neurotype, or anything else, it is when the mermaid is her truest self, regardless of the acceptance of others, that she ultimately transcends her pain and becomes all that she desires to be. Hans Christian Anderson’s little mermaid pays the ultimate sacrifice in order to be herself and, in the end, that was all she ever needed.

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