Lectures For Lifelong Learners!

Disney’s beloved The Little Mermaid is based on 1937 by Danish writer Hans Christian Anderson. The original story has a tragic ending, but in the animated 1990 version the princess Ariel completes her transformation, gets her wish, and marries her prince. Grown-up takes on The Little Mermaid consider the mythic meanings of the mermaid figure, with Ariel an avatar of Aphrodite, Goddess of sex and love and the story of Ariel’s initiation into adulthood, aided by the elder Ursula (a character based on the real-life drag queen Divine). Beauty and the Beast, based on a French fairy tale, tells a story of a young woman whose father gives her to the Beast, who used to be a prince. The message is that if she loves him enough he will turn back into the prince, but here and elsewhere, the story serves as a justification and apology for domestic violence.