The Quest for an Immortal Soul
Mythic transformation in Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid"
Traditionally, fairy tales have been used as a way to teach children moral lessons while entertaining them with fantastical stories full of magic, talking creatures, and heroic adventures. Those by Danish author Hans Christian Anderson, however, are not merely moralistic in nature. Rather, they are decidedly much darker in tone, more emotionally complex, and often deal with existential themes.
One of his most tragic tales, The Little Mermaid, tells the story of a young mermaid who desires to win an immortal soul through the love of a human prince. Unlike most written during the time, this fairy tale has a bittersweet ending, contradicting beliefs that such stories should end happily in order for children to feel a sense of reassurance. However, the core of The Little Mermaid story resides in the transformation of consciousness she undergoes as a result of her deep suffering. Literary theorist Joseph Campbell argues in his seminal work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, that there are monomythic patterns throughout all of history and across varying cultures in which a hero embarks on a quest for transformation.
The heroic journey takes the central character outside of their ordinary world and into the unknown so they may confront numerous challenges. After overcoming the greatest ordeal, they are forever changed as a result, enabling the hero to return to their world with newfound knowledge. The little mermaid’s quest for an immortal soul rests at the heart of the tale, closely aligning with Campbell’s heroic myth in which her suffering facilitates inner transformation.
The little mermaid begins her journey in the first stage of the monomythic quest known as The Departure. This is where the hero begins in their ordinary world, is presented with a quest, refuses the call to adventure, meets the mentor, and finally, crosses the threshold into the unknown.
She begins in the ordinary world as a princess yearning to venture out to the surface. At this point, her mind still yet resides within the unconscious depths of the sea, desiring to delve into the unknown. The young princess is filled with sorrow until at last, on her fifteenth birthday, it is her turn to see the human world. After saving a human prince from a shipwreck, she falls deeply in love with him. Her grandmother tells her that unlike mermaids, humans possess an immortal soul. Distraught that she cannot have one too, she laments her doomed fate to become seafoam.
The next step in her journey must soon follow and in her mourning, she resolves to take upon the call to adventure, “I will venture all for him, and to win an immortal soul, while my sisters are dancing in my father’s palace, I will go to the sea witch, of whom I have always been so much afraid, but she can give me counsel and help” (Anderson 10). In seeking the aid of the mentor, she refuses the call, nearly turning away in fear of the monstrous polypi threatening to strangle her. She continues forward though, going into the house made of the bones from shipwrecked humans.
There, her mentor laughs, calling her stupid and warning the little mermaid that she will endure much sorrow during her quest. This does not deter her, so she agrees to trade her voice (by way of cutting out her tongue) to the sea witch in exchange for human legs. She also accepts the other terms of her deal: that her transformation will be exceedingly painful and that every step she takes on land will feel like stepping onto sharp knives.
If she cannot gain the prince’s love, she will face her demise and turn into seafoam. Leaving with the glittering elixir, she reaches the surface and drinks it, crossing the threshold into the unknown world, “Then the little mermaid drank the magic draught, and it seemed as if a two-edged sword went through her delicate body: she fell into a swoon, and lay like one dead” (Anderson 13). This is the moment the young princess undergoes an agonizing rebirth so that she may fulfill her transformation into a higher consciousness.
The next stage of the heroic journey the little mermaid must undergo is The Initiation. During which, the hero must face a series of trials, approach the central challenge, overcome the greatest of them all, and receive their reward. The little mermaid has crossed into the unknown and without her voice she is unable to truly connect with the human prince. As a result, he views her only as a platonic friend, loving her the way a parent loves a child. Her challenges come in the form of withstanding his affections, listening to him without being able to respond.
At the innermost cave of her challenges, the prince becomes engaged to the girl from the temple who he believes saved him. On their wedding day her sisters give her a knife that she can use to kill him, with the chance to return to her ordinary world, get her tail back, and save her life. Thus, she must overcome the greatest challenge of them all, choosing between his life, or her own, “The knife trembled in the hand of the little mermaid: then she flung it far away from her into the waves; the water turned red where it fell, and the drops that spurted up looked like blood” (Anderson 18).
By refusing to kill the prince, she proves herself to be a worthy hero through her brave act of self-sacrifice. Accepting oblivion, she hurls herself into the sea, only to find that she is not dead nor has she become seafoam. Her selfless act earns her the reward, allowing her to fulfill the true quest. The daughters of the air offer sympathy as they give her the reward, “You, poor little mermaid, have tried with your whole heart to do as we are doing; you have suffered and endured and raised yourself to the spirit-world by your good deeds; and now, by striving for three hundred years in the same way, you may obtain an immortal soul” (Anderson 18). Her heroic quest reaches its ascension, not through the prince’s love, but through her own heroic deeds. Through enduring agonizing trials and tribulations, her true objective of obtaining an immortal soul is at last within reach.
Concluding the heroic journey is the final stage in which enlightenment is achieved, known as The Return. The hero has departed on the call to adventure, faced the central ordeal, earned their reward, and must go back to the special world, be resurrected, and finally, return with the elixir. Once learning she has become a daughter of the air she turns towards the sun, and in a cathartic release of all her suffering, she cries for the first time. Unable to cry as a mermaid, her pain was increased and furthermore, suppressed into the unconscious mind.
Before completing the monomythic cycle, she returns to the special world she sought to bid her farewells before the final resurrection, “Unseen she kissed the forehead of her bride, and fanned the prince, and then mounted with the other children of the air to a rosy cloud that floated through the aether” (Anderson 18). The little mermaid shows the prince and his bride the same compassion that had earned her reward, there is no resentment or residual pain after the catharsis.
The heroic journey is nearly complete with the sea of her unconscious mind having crossed the threshold onto land, and finally, ascending into the air towards immortality. She may now return with the elixir by way of performing good deeds onto mankind. Her journey which began in the sea will now end in the air, “After three hundred years, thus shall we float into the kingdom of heaven” (Anderson 19). The little mermaid has undergone the heroic cycle, experienced death and rebirth, and has ascended into a higher consciousness. In the end, the little mermaid has risen above her earthly woes and fulfilled the monomythic transformation.
The Hero’s Journey, as detailed by Joseph Campbell, is one of inner transformation and divine salvation, an outward quest undertaken to achieve enlightenment. The tribulations that must be endured are paramount to the heroic myth, testing their resilience and strength of character. Andersen’s fairy tale is often criticized for its harrowing ending, and although this may be true, it is important to note that in the original version, she simply dies and turns into seafoam. With that in mind, the little mermaid’s fate is rather optimistic in comparison.
Through the lens of heroic myth, it is a story of empowerment in which the hero earns a chance to obtain an immortal soul. While fairy tales are indeed important for a child’s development and growth, The Little Mermaid functions, more importantly, as a map towards inner transformation. This tragic quest tells a universal story of the feminine unconscious persevering hardship and ultimately ascending. It is a tale which has been seen across the world throughout all of history.
The heroic journey is certainly agonizing, but, as Joseph Campbell writes, “The agony of breaking through personal limitations is the agony of spiritual growth…Finally, the mind breaks the bounding sphere of the cosmos to a realization transcending all experiences of form – all symbolizations, all divinities: a realization of the ineluctable void” (The Hero with a Thousand Faces 125).
Works Cited
Andersen, Hans Christian. The Little Mermaid. Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, 1872. PinkMonkey.com, https://pinkmonkey.com/dl/library1/tale056.pdf. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton University Press, 1949. PDF file, https://www.eriesd.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=35845&dataid=53662&FileName=The%20Hero%20with%20a%20Thousand%20Faces.pdf. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.
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Great archetypal reading of this story! Fairytales are such troves of deep knowledge. Have you read Women Who Run with the Wolves? This gives me the same vibes!
Also never realised how alchemical the little mermaid's transformation is before: from water, to earth, into air
Great stuff!
I literally stopped reading this so I could go and read the little mermaid and I WILL be returning 🌊🖤