In this fairy tale, a teenage mermaid saves a human prince from a shipwreck and falls in love with him. To pursue a life on land, she visits a sea witch and barters her voice for legs that feel like knives with every step. Her ultimate goal is to win the prince's love and gain an immortal soul, something merfolk lack. When the prince marries a different woman, the mermaid faces a choice: kill him to reclaim her life underwater or perish and dissolve into sea foam.
Readers of folklore and nineteenth-century literature study this text to understand the religious moralism and social isolation often present in Andersen’s work. It appeals to those interested in the distinction between Victorian biological nature and spiritual salvation. A reader walks away with a clear view of the protagonist’s physical agony and her eventual transition into a spirit of the air, where her afterlife depends on her own endurance rather than a romantic partnership.
- Published
- 1836
- Language
- EN
