Ariel vs. Ariel

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Ok, I admit it... I'm a nerd. And this statement is possibly a betrayal of mermaids everywhere... but I always used to prefer Sleeping Beauty to the Little Mermaid, because for some reason Ariel's troublemaking attitude and lack of foresight never really fit with me... I always used to skip over the scenes where her father punishes her, too. Ariel shows defiance and willpower that earlier heroines lacked... but she still has to be saved by her father and her love interest in the end.

However, I've loved William Shakespeare's The Tempest... the characters, the story, the setting, the message behind many of the features, etc. And of the elements of the Tempest, I loved the character of Ariel (referenced in the play as male, though my favorite portrayals have been either the male version by Ben Whishaw in the movie that came out a year or so ago, or a version on stage where the role was broken into three actors, two women and one man, making Ariel's voice seem especially spiritlike since it was coming from different bodies in different places on the stage), a spirit and shapeshifter longing for freedom, but still willing to help his/her/its/their master, Prospero, and possessed of a heart that eventually awakens the sorcerer's own. Ariel eventually wins his/her/its/their freedom and is the one who takes Prospero's books and tools of magic under the water for safekeeping. Ariel serves as an intriguing discussion of sorcery (most familiar spirits of the time period were depicted as demons... it seems unusual for a more neutral being to rise to such prominence) and of the effects of colonialism (Ariel and Caliban's differing views on their "servitude" to Prospero, their differing appearances, and their different roles under Sycorax's reign provide a great deal of discussion).

So what do you think? Which Ariel do you prefer and why?

[Mermaid Dottie]

Very Deep. I think I have to go and read the tempest now.
Personally, as far as Disney goes, I preferred Belle over Ariel most of the time. However I did used to make a mess of the bathroom trying to use the slanted back of our tub as a rock and do that sing-y splashy thing she does....

[Alveric]

One's an adolescent Mermaid, the other an immortal, bodiless spirit. One is a heroine, the other sexless or ambiguous. One is on the border between childhood's restrictions and the relative freedom of adulthood. The other a sorcerer's bound spirit. Only the name is the same. It's kinda apples and oranges or ham and spinach.

In a crisis, I would seek Shakespear's Ariel for help.

[Coradion]

I don't really like either one. I hated what Disney did to the Little Mermaid. I much prefer the original version where the little mermaid is looking for an immortal soul and goes through extreme pain in pursuit of a soul. The Tempest's Ariel is weird, I mean the whole play spans a time period of three hours? I just got the impression the Tempest's Ariel was a random sprite, not much really stood out to me about the character, he seemed more like a minion.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Having read the original Little Mermaid story and the Tempest, I must admit that I prefered the mermaid. However, when basing on the Disney version, I'd have to go with the Tempest. Disney just butchered Ariel in my opinion. Though I agree, it is difficult to compare them when they are so different.

[New York Mermaid]

i perfer rapunzel over ariel myself, probably cause i can see quite a bit of myself in her, (other than the bi-polar scene) , Though the little mermaid was cute.. dont get me wrong, Ill stick with rapunzel..lol

yeah .... So Me..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVovNi55HrU

[Kanti]

Yea wasn't the actual Little Mermaid story really sad and junk? I've never read it but
I think I was told she ends up not being able to get the prince to like her and she
just sort of dies? Sounds like a Greek story sort of. Either way, I sort of like the
tragic ending style.
Dinsey is ok, but they censor everything way too much for my liking. I also never really
liked the Little Mermaid.. The whole message of the movie is so... shallow. She gives
up her life, family and friends to pursue some guy she never even met?
Also never read Tempest.

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

@MermaidDottie: I did the same thing, and I had Disney's Ariel toys, pencilcases, etc, everywhere when I was a kid. I still think that Shakespeare's Ariel is the superior character.

@Alveric: You make a good point, but they also bear several similarities. Both turn into other creatures through magic. Both interact with witches and sorcerers. Both are depicted as being trapped in forms and situations not to their liking. Both are beautiful, ethereal counterparts to more human characters (The Tempest's Ariel compared to Shakespeare's other servants, and The Little Mermaid's Ariel compared to Disney's other princesses). I agree with you about Shakespeare's Ariel being more handy, though.

@Coradion: I agree that Disney's Ariel is a bit of a disappointment compared to the original character in Andersen's Little Mermaid. However, consider all the stuff that Ariel does in the Tempest... most of the play's events are a direct result of his actions... and he was able to sway many of the different characters (including Ferdinand, Prospero, Caliban, Miranda, and the other shipwrecked survivors) in a number of different ways. His status as a figure of colonialism is important as well, and you might want to re-read the story, or go see it in a play sometime to take another look at the character.

@Mermaid Lorelei: Yeah, I'm focusing on Disney's Ariel as opposed to the unnamed Little Mermaid of Andersen's book... the two Ariels, not the Tempest's Ariel and Andersen's Little Mermaid.

@Mermaid Lanai: Yeah, though it should be noted that both Disney's Ariel and Disney's Rapunzel are products of their time... each came from different decades and had different attitudes as a result. We might see Rapunzel as more engaging and "real" and similar to ourselves because she's more recent and up-to-date.

Ok, Kanti, you desperately need to read Hans Christian Andersen's the Little Mermaid. Period. End of story. It'll take maybe five minutes. It is not "really sad and junk." In it, the Little Mermaid isn't really looking for love... she's looking for a soul (which mermaids don't have in the story... though they do live for a couple hundred years in exchange). She saves the prince because she is curious and intrigued and attracted to him. She then goes to the sea witch in order to be given a chance to become human and gain a soul. In the end, though the prince mistakes the girl (another human princess) who found him on the shore for the one who rescued him from the storm, and ends up marrying her, the little mermaid is offered a way out that involves killing the prince and becoming a mermaid again instead of dying, but she turns away from the temptation and sacrifices herself so that the prince and princess might live. She doesn't die, but instead becomes a spirit of the air and is told that she still can gain an immortal soul through her efforts. So she gets what she needed and can live happily... even if she doesn't "get the guy." I think that it is actually pretty empowering... far more so than the Disney version. Disney is good at what it does: entertaining. It doesn't do much else. Ariel's depiction, while fun in some parts and a marked transformation from the shy and sweet and demure earlier Disney Princesses, is still not a very good role model, and her characterization is a bit flawed.

You also need to read the Tempest. It'll take longer, but it is twice as awesome.

[Theta]

I'm not a fan of Disney's Ariel. If you guys want to watch a better animated version of the Little Mermaid, check out the 1978 version by Toei Animation- it's true to the story (minus a bitchy talking cat) and the ending... omg. It's beautifully done.

In the story (and in this movie) the mermaid's sisters cut their hair and sell it to the Sea Witch to get a knife for the mermaid to kill the prince with. When his blood falls on her legs they'll turn into a tail again and she can return to her family. This is the end of the movie, starting just after the mermaid is given the knife.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJyobMimYHg

[ShyMer]

Sorry it's off topic, but the prince looks like Link to me in that video...

[Theta]

HA! He totally does :)

[Kanti]

Haha Joy xD I took your advice. It was a really nice story, pretty sad, if you ask me. The
ending was actually pretty nice too. I always thought she just died and that was the end of
everything. I suppose I'll have to read the tempest soon, but eh, not too much of a big reader
over here. I suppose the message is also a BIT difference since she technically is trying to
gain a soul rather than just blindly in love like Disney's Ariel is.

Dammmmnnn. Link be pimpin and shit.
This does sort of look like an anime as well. o.O

[Theta]

It's totally an anime ^_^

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Haha Joy xD I took your advice. It was a really nice story, pretty sad, if you ask me. The
ending was actually pretty nice too. I always thought she just died and that was the end of
everything. I suppose I'll have to read the tempest soon, but eh, not too much of a big reader
over here. I suppose the message is also a BIT difference since she technically is trying to
gain a soul rather than just blindly in love like Disney's Ariel is.

Dammmmnnn. Link be pimpin and shit.
This does sort of look like an anime as well. o.O


Cool, glad to hear it, Kanti. I agree that the little mermaid's quest for a soul does ring more true than the "marry the prince" focus would. If lack of time or unwillingness to read the original Shakespearean language is a contributing factor, might I suggest the version of the Tempest retold for children by Bruce Coville and Illustrated by Ruth Sanderson? It's the first version I encountered, and you might be able to find it in a library or on Amazon. There is a recent movie version as well, but they replace Prospero with a female Prospera, which didn't quite ring true to me (I can kinda see Prospero overcoming his rage and need for vengeance, but, and this is very likely sexist of me, I still can't picture stealing a lady's duchy from her, setting her and her child adrift on a boat and leaving them to survive on a dessert island for years being something a lady would be so easy to forgive).

[malinghi]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/ArialMTsp.svg