Disney Princess Article: Did Ariel really not learn anything?

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posted by rhythmicmagic

People say that Ariel never learned a lesson in The Little Mermaid and that she never really was sorry for what she did. I kind of agreed with this until I watched The Little Mermaid last night, and I realized that she does actually learn a lesson.

When people like to defend Ariel, they tend to point to this line:
Daddy, I'm sorry! I - I - I didn't mean to. I didn't know –
However, those who say Ariel doesn’t learn anything say it is only one moment, and that she was really just sorry she got caught.

The weaker scene everyone remembers

However, no one pays attention to the scene after Eric starts to go after Ariel. Look at what happens here:
Ursula: Now! Do we have a deal? (Triton signs contract.) Ha! It's done then.
(Ariel is released and Triton is withered as Ursula laughs.)
Ariel: No . . . Oh, No!
Sebastian: Oh, your majesty . . .
Ariel: Daddy? . . .
Ursula: (Picks up crown.) At last, it's mine. Ho, Ho . . .
Ariel: u - u monster!
Ursula: Don't fool with me u little brat! Contract of no- AAAAHH! (She is hit
with a harpoon thrown door Eric.)
What this leaves out is that Ariel starts fighting after she calls Ursula a monster. This part of the scene shows that she is genuinely sorry for what happens to Triton. While this may not toon her taking responsibility for it, we do see her learn her lesson. Before Eric came and they were fighting Ursula to protect each other, Ariel started fighting Ursula to avenge Triton. What happened to Triton truly angered and distressed Ariel, and when u watch the scene, u can see that Ariel says “No” after she is taken out of the- seaweed vortex- before Triton is turned into seaweed. Now, would Ariel have gotten anywhere before Eric got there? Probably not. But she still was fighting Ursula out of anger for what happened to her father. She fought Ursula before Eric ever turned up.

The stronger scene everyone forgets

Now ultimately, I will say that the movie should have done a better job of tonen Ariel apologize and take responsibility for her mistakes. They should have added a scene where she went to Triton and apologized of even apologized publicly for the trouble she created before she goes back to the surface and is turned into a human. That could have been a Brave-like ending that I think would have been really powerful. However, Ariel did learn from her mistakes and was sorry for them, and she had still changed in the end when she said, “I love you, Daddy.”

I love you, Daddy

wavesurf, PrueFever and 7 others like this

MaidofOrleans Great article! I've always been of the opinion that Ariel learns something from her adventures, and I'm glad to see someone else supports that. :)

Jayden-G I do see your point, but j think she is sorry for what happened, not for her going to the human world. Ther is no indication that she felt bad or was remorseful until Triton bumped into them, and Ursula showed him the contract. After he was turned into whatever that was (forgot the name of it at the moment), and Ursula put the crown on, she got mad because Ursula did this and caused all of this trouble and tricked her, not because she did anything. Nonetheless, she knew that Ursula was a sea witch and had some knowledge of what happened to her in the castle, so she obviously knew that she should not have been trusted. She did not care or seem remorseful at all until Triton showed up. I think she was sorry for what happened, but not for going to the human world behind her back and disobeyed him. We disagree on Ariel and Jasmine (and that's cool), so good article.

kristenfan10109 of course she does everyone learns from there mistakes its how we grow and I'm glad another person thinks so to great article

rhythmicmagic Thanks everyone! Jayden-G- Yeah, I get what you're saying. I don't really think Ariel was sorry for going to the surface, either, but I DO think she was sorry for making a deal with Ursula. I think that, had she gone about it another way that didn't hurt anyone, she wouldn't be sorry. But I do think she was at least sorry for the part about going to Ursula and making a deal that hurt someone else. My point was just that she was sorry for a reason other than getting caught. So I think we actually kind of agree.

CyberFive When you really think about it, technically Ariel did change (as what you've written), the line just wasn't as clear or obvious as it should have been, and technically she didn't have to. It's actually not really in your face about it, but it's Triton that needed to change his ways. Ariel's views were the correct one: not all humans are bad and by falling in love with Eric and him saving her and Triton's life during the climax, she proves that. Triton then has to understand this because it was his callous actions and stubbornness that forced her to make those foolish choices in the first place.

girlygirlspwn Cyber, ariel didnt know that for a fact though. remember what she say, "i dont see how a world that makes such wonderful things can be bad!" she was really just being naive and wishful thinking. America makes wonderful things and lots of people say we are bad! she had no proof humans are good any more then triton had they were bad. actually Triton has more proof, since humans killed his wife.

rhythmicmagic Thanks both of you! CyberFive- I agree that Ariel did change and that it should have been more obvious about her change, I kind of touched on that at the end. And I also agree that it was more about Triton changing, but I am still of the mindset that the protagonist should change or learn something or have some self-discovery or something. And I do think Ariel has some of that. girlygirlspwn- I'm not sure we can take what happens in the second sequel as reason for Triton's motivation in the first movie. I do agree Ariel was being naïve, but I also think she had closer to the right mindset that some humans are good and some are bad.

shanyuisboss Bravo! This was wonderful! You pointed out great points and Finally someone decides to make an article about this!

disneyland2013 Thank you! No I'm not the only person who thinks this!

GreatLance_30 Wow! I agree with all your points! Great article!

rhythmicmagic Thanks all of you! shanyuisboss and disneyland2013, like I said in the article, I didn't think like that until I watched the movie last night!

Newbiehere13 Someone else noticed this scene! :D But there's still a scene that still confuses me, when Ursula had her on that golden vortex, Ariel just watched as Ursula and Triton made an agreement, she didn't object to her father's decision or was she just restrained from moving, I'm not sure. Anyhow, great article as always!

rhythmicmagic Newbiehere- I'm pretty sure that she couldn't really do anything and was just sort of suspended in the golden vortex, especially because she was slowly turning into seaweed as well. Thank you!

Swanpride Yeah, but I think THAT'S the scene they should have done different. They should have given Ariel a line in which she says "Don't do it, it was my decision!" The way they did it, it looks more like Ariel is waiting for Triton to save her. The question is not really if Ariel changed or not, but how much of change was shown on screen and that wasn't particularly much.

shanyuisboss ^I actually agree, I believe Ariel was sorry, but I think they could've made her look a bit more guilty.

rhythmicmagic Swanpride- I'm not entirely sure which scene you're talking about. If you're talking about the second one, I don't think she was able to in the seaweed thing. If you're talking about after that, I guess you have a point. Thanks for sharing your insight.

maryksand Great article and I actually agree with the fact that Ariel does not particularly change to a high extent, but DOES learn a lesson nonetheless. Also, her attraction to the human world was defined by open mind and longing for knowledge versus Triton's discriminatory tendencies and judgment towards entire culture because of the actions of a few while conveniently overlooking the legitimate damage inflicted by Ursula under the sea and in his zone of responsibility seeing as she safely ran illegitimate business under his nose causing harm to his citizens he was in charge of. Ariel's actions were directed at debunking bigotry, expanding horizons and obtaining independence whereas Triton's were driven by said bigotry regardless of how strongly he made himself believe he has a right to perpetuate this mindset. I would also like to point out that Ariel doesn't fight or actively confront Ursula until the point where her father and Eric end up in danger because she is willing to face the consequences of her own decision but not willing to let her loving ones be negatively affected by them.

rhythmicmagic maryksand- I recognize a lot of your brilliant article in that comment! But yes, thanks for your two cents.

Disneyfan231 I agree. Ariel did learn from her mistakes. And her apology was geniuine and real, because she would never put anyone at risk besides herself. And we see the regret in her face during the climax of the film. Ariel learns to not give up a part of herself to follow her dreams, her dreams wouldn’t be complete unless you are. And if anything it was all Triton’s fault that this happened.