The Modern Princesses: Wish for Independence, Still Inferior to Men

Fig.1 Ariel as a mermaid

Ariel (Figure 1) is the underwater princess in the movie The Little Mermaid. She is the most beautiful daughter of the Sea-King, King Triton, curious to learn, who disobeys her father so she can discover what she does not know.  Disney, once again, casts the powerful female in the evil role with Ursula, while King Triton is portrayed as all that is good.  In Ariel’s first song, “Part of Your World”, she sings in her beautiful voice about her desire to be living on land with the people and her curiosity about all of the things they can do.  She has a will for change and for something more for herself, until she sees Eric, a prince whom she rescues during a storm.  By the end of the song her will changes from wanting to be “part of that world” to “part of your world” (Princess Lyrics) showing that her strongest desire is to be with him.  She even goes so far as to give up her own voice to be closer to him.  He meets her and falls in love with her based solely on her looks, since she has no voice to have any type of conversation with him before their marriage. At the end of the movie Eric ends up killing Ursula, and King Triton grants Ariel her one wish to be on land with Eric by giving her legs.  The movie displays men as being all powerful.  On page 325 of the book Mediated Women, Henke and Umbel state, “power over her life merely changes from her father’s rule to the prince’s rule”.  King Triton is very controlling of Ariel and refuses to allow Ariel to live on the land with the humans until he sees that she will be in the care (or under the control) of another man, Prince Eric. She is constantly under the watchful eyes of the male characters. 

Fig. 2 Belle

Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, is a beautiful young girl who lives in a small town full of “provincial” people.  Belle (Figure2) is a seemingly independent and not afraid to speak her mind, teaching girls that it is okay to be yourself not matter who is watching you.  Belle enjoys reading and is very smart, that is where she is considered an outcast.  Belle reads of far off places, creating dreams for herself and how she imagines her life to be.  She cannot leave however because of her love for her father and the care that he needs.  Belle is selfless, and goes so far as to sacrifice herself to the Beast to save her father from him, but the Beast presents her with a challenge.  He is a bitter “creature”, but she sees something more in him.  No matter how cruel or cold he is to her she keeps going back, refusing to believe that is all there is to him.  Once he lets his guard down they fall in love and one special kiss turns him from a beast into the prince he was before he was cursed.  Although Belle is a persistent and determined princess, once she falls in love with the Beast all of her dreams turn from far off places to no farther than the Beast’s castle, another example of giving up your dreams to live forever pleasing a man. 

Fig. 3 Princess Jasmine

Jasmine (Figure 3) is the princess of the city Agrabah in the movie Aladdin.  Her father, the Sultan, is forcing Jasmine into marriage.  Jasmine does not want this.  She wants to be independent and free, telling her father, “Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends…I've never even been outside the palace walls” (Internet Movie Database).  Jasmine is asking for her father to comprehend that his plan for her life is merely suffocating her.  However the Sultan is allowing Jasmine to choose her prince, which is not customary.  This gives Jasmine little freedom, but she is still obligated to marry.  Also in this Disney movie, the men may possess the power, but they are not all powerful.  The Sultan is a man who controls the city of Agrabah, he means well, but he is rather spacey.  Jafar is the power hungry advisor to the Sultan, who spends the whole movie scheming about how to take over the Palace, but ultimately fails.  Aladdin, the title character, falls for Jasmine’s beauty and attempts to become her prince through lying and trickery, but gets sidetracked by the appeal of the power that comes along with becoming Prince of Agrabah.  Jasmine’s story shows young girls that only you know what is right for yourself.  Although her father has good intentions and wants only the best for Jasmine, she ultimately has to make the decision that will shape her destiny.