Research Paper On The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid: A Retelling

It started with a syren. A cold hearted succubus with hair as radiant as the sun, with eyes that shone with the sea’s stormy fervor. And though her physical features were second to none, most striking of all was her voice.

And oh, what a voice.

It was like honey, and her song like a drug. It trapped you, pulling you deeper and deeper into its clutches until you were lost, swept away as easily as foam on the waves. She sat atop a solitary cliff, luring innocent sailors and beggars and princes alike, captivating their helpless mortal bodies before crushing them without a word, feeding off of their very souls without a touch of remorse. And for decades, millennia even, she existed like this, manipulating and killing

But then again, they never really do, do they? Nerissa was everything the king could want in a future princess; smart, beautiful, talented and witty. The entire kingdom was under her spell, and falling deeper within it every passing day. And the king, still mourning over the loss of his wife, who had passed away in childbirth many years prior, was no exception. Besotted with Nerissa, he gave her everything she could have ever wanted, considering her his greatest treasure.

But Nerissa was too smart, too calculating, even as a child, to be affected by the petty baubles and sweet nothings showered upon her. Instead she concentrated on the arts of witchcraft and deception, and focused particularly on Dark magic. She always had an unnaturally keen interest in the subject, always experimenting, always learning. And so the days went on, with the cold-hearted mermaid slowly blossoming into an even stonier princess, until it was time for her to venture into the human world.

It was a simple tradition really. On the first day of her sixteenth year, the princess-to-be would sit atop a rock on the surface for a day, and observe life above the sea. It didn’t mean anything much and many just considered it a silly rite of passage, perfectly harmless. So naturally, the king sent his daughter off to the surface with nothing more than a hearty laugh and a pat on the

She felt it deep within her, and knew that this day would determine her fate. But she never expected the grand ship that approached her from beyond the horizon. To suddenly face a member of a completely foreign species is deterring, but to come across a boat full of them was a completely bewildering experience. She watched in awe as the humans ate and laughed and danced, twirling and moving and jumping with those legs, and oh how she wanted it all. How she wanted to dance as beautifully as they could, like she was swimming out of water. And at that very moment, the sky burst into flames of color, vibrant sparks raining down on the glassy water, and she was overwhelmed. The entire thing was just so brilliant and passionate and something deep in the pit of her stomach stirred. And she was so completely overcome at the arrival of the prince, who was as dashing and handsome as a prince should be, that the feeling bubbling up in the pit of her stomach exploded and she started to