The Little Mermaid Character Analysis

A hero is a very popular title for those who rescue or save others so to speak. What most people do not know is that there is a way to determine whether characters are true heroes or not and that is through “A Guide to Joseph Cambell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces” (Vogler). Christopher Vogler lays out twelve stages of a hero’s journey, which, if a hero completes them all, then he/she successfully fulfills the archetype and in this instance, Theseus from “Theseus” and Ariel from “The Little Mermaid” do. In “The Little Mermaid”, Ariel goes on a journey in which she finds true love and completes numerous obstacles while doing so, and in “Theseus”, Theseus travels throughout the Greek region and in turn, saves the woman from being killed by
At the beginning of both stories, Ariel and Theseus show a pride that is not necessary to their heroic journeys. In Ariel’s case, after her father destroyed her grotto, she went to Ursula to find a way to become human to be with Eric, away from the sea, and an undermining way to displease her father (Clements and Musker). This action is not very heroic as the stereotype shows how heroes are supposed to be selfless when all Ariel was trying to accomplish was a way to get back at her father. This does not fit an archetype stage because her action was not thought out well however; if she would not have went to Ursula, then the story would not have progressed and had the happy ending it did. For Theseus, he felt a need to show how he is closely related or better than Hercules. With a prideful mindset “Theseus refused to go by water, because the voyage was safe and easy” (Hamilton 1028). Theseus’ refusal to go the “easy way out” was an arrogant statement. Theseus felt as if he needs to prove himself to the Greek people in the nature that he is unafraid of challenges. This completely derails the course of Theseus’ heroic archetype because all he is doing is being stubborn, cocky, and downright stupid due to the fact that he wishes to risk his safety to seem what he thinks is “heroic”. Most heroes fail in this area like Ariel and Theseus because they let their flesh take over their mind and almost fall short of
Theseus put his superhuman strength into action and with his bare hands “he battered the monster to death” (Hamilton 1031). This surely fits the archetype and specifically, stage eight because he came face to face with the Minotaur and killed it so that he would never hurt the young women again. In that instant, Theseus had a “fight or flight” moment where his only option was to kill the Beast, which demonstrates his ability to save people and overcome the challenges that he faces. Likewise, Ariel uses the same fight or flight mentality when her loved one crosses the path of danger. When Ariel hears the news of Ursula’s disguise she swims out to sea to save Eric as well as herself, her sidekicks (Scuttle, Sebastian, and Flounder) also work together to “round up the troops” to come to the rescue (Clements and Musker). Ariel has a sudden drive to save those in need, which is what heroes do. There is always a risk when dealing with Ursula but because Ariel truly loves Eric, she will take any risk. This goes along with stage eight because it is a supreme ordeal; she must save Eric and herself to have any type of future together. Mutually, Theseus and Ariel perfectly fill the archetype in stage eight which allows for both of these characters to at least accurately fill a stage of the archetype if not the others.
Theseus and Ariel are two characters that fulfill the archetype of a hero but in unique ways and in the princess article,