interventions: Mermaid
One of the darkest of fairytales which includes suicide and murder is that of The Little Mermaid. Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 tale follows the 14-year-old girl/mermaid as she quests to find true love. The mermaid shuns her life in the sea in search of a Prince. But she undergoes torture to succeed at this quest. She visits the Sea Witch, where she strikes a deal. This young mermaid of the sea trades her beautiful voice and tongue for some legs. And although she is able to walk on land, her every step makes her feet feel as though they are being pricked by sharp knives.
The Mermaid doesn't have a soul and can only survive and live as a soul possessing creature by winning the Prince's affections. She fails on this as instead of falling for the mermaid, the Prince chooses to marry another woman. The Sea Witch again enters the story where she strikes another bargain with the the Little Mermaid ensuring her survival if she agrees to murder the Prince, to which the Mermaid agrees. To murder the Prince, the Mermaid approaches the marital bed where the new bride and groom lie but she can't bring herself to kill him and she chooses death for herself instead. The death manifests as the Little Mermaid dissolves entirely in foam and she is made one more offer. Her spirit floats to the sky and through the Sea Witch’s offering, she earns a soul by performing good deeds for 300 years. At that point she ascends to heaven.
In this tale, the sea creatures are not kind or innocent The title character's sisters brag about luring sailors into the water and to their deaths. The prince is not a stalwart or kind person. He is entertained by female slaves in his palace while his affections for The Little Mermaid are seen as questionable.
Image: after illustrator Kay Nielsen
Walt Disney and the sanitization of the modern fairytale
Rogue intervention, New York City, 2021.
Acrylic paint, pencil, archival ink, arches paper (30 X 22 inches)
