Book Report

Title: The little Mermaid

Author: Hans Christian Andersen

Character\s: 1. Princess Ariel 2. Prince Eric

3. Ursula 4. King Triton

5. Flotsam and Jetsam 6. Flounder
6. Sebastian
Setting: Denmark, Atlantis
Plot Summary: Ariel, a sixteen-year-old mermaid princess, is dissatisfied with life
under the sea and curious about the human world. With her best fish friend
Flounder, Ariel collects human artifacts and goes to the surface of the ocean to
visit Scuttle the seagull, who offers very inaccurate and comical knowledge of
human culture. Ignoring the warnings of her father and court musician that contact
between merpeople and humans is forbidden (the sea's primary contact with
humans involve fishermen, so King Triton considers humans as nothing more than
mere predators), Ariel still longs to be part of the human world; to this end she has
filled a secret grotto with all the human artifacts she has found. Sebastian, who is
assigned to watch over Ariel and be sure she does not visit the surface again, tries
to convince her that its better to live under the sea than in the human world.

one night, Ariel, Flounder and an unwilling Sebastian travel to the ocean surface to
watch a celebration for the birthday of Prince Eric, with whom Ariel falls in love.
A sudden storm hits, during which everyone manages to escape in a lifeboat except
for Eric who goes back to rescue his dog Max. He almost drowns saving Max but
is saved by Ariel, who drags him to the beach. Although it seems that his heart isn't
beating, Ariel notices that Eric is breathing. She sings to him but dives underwater
when Max returns to Eric. Upon waking, Eric has a vague impression that he was
rescued by a girl with a beautiful voice; he vows to find her, and Ariel vows to find
a way to join Eric. Triton and his daughters notice a change in Ariel, who is openly
lovesick. Triton questions Sebastian about Ariel's behavior, during which Sebastian
accidentally reveals the incident with Eric. Triton furiously confronts Ariel in her
grotto, using his trident to destroy her collection of human treasures. After Triton
leaves, a pair of eels, Flotsam and Jetsam, convince a crying Ariel that she must
visit Ursula the sea witch, if she wants all of her dreams to come true.

Ursula makes a deal with Ariel to transform her into a human for three days.
Within these three days, Ariel must receive the 'kiss of true love' from Eric;
otherwise, she will transform back into a mermaid on the third day and belong to
Ursula. As payment for legs, Ariel has to give up her voice, which Ursula takes by
magically removing the energy from Ariel's vocal chords and storing it in a
nautilus shell. Ariel's tail is transformed into legs, leaving her naked except for her
seashell bra. Sebastian and Flounder drag her to the surface. Meanwhile, Triton
discovers Ariel and Sebastian's disappearance and, wracked with guilt over his
behavior, orders a search for them.

Eric and Max find Ariel on the beach. He initially suspects that she is the one who
saved his life, but when he learns that she cannot speak, he discards that notion, to
the frustration of both Ariel and Max. He helps her to the palace, where the
servants think she is a survivor of a shipwreck. Ariel spends time with Eric, and at
the end of the second day, they almost kiss but are thwarted by Flotsam and
Jetsam. Angered at their narrow escape, Ursula takes the disguise of a beautiful
young woman named "Vanessa" and appears onshore singing with Ariel's voice.
Eric recognizes the song and, in her disguise, Vanessa/Ursula casts a hypnotic
enchantment on Eric to make him forget about Ariel.

The next day, Ariel finds out that Eric will be married to the disguised Ursula on a
ship. She cries and is left behind when the wedding barge departs. Scuttle
discovers that Vanessa is Ursula in disguise, and informs Ariel. As Ariel and
Flounder chase the wedding barge, Sebastian informs Triton, and Scuttle is
assigned to literally "stall the wedding." With the help of various animals, the
nautilus shell around Ursula's neck is broken, restoring Ariel's voice and breaking
Ursula's enchantment over Eric. Realizing that Ariel was the girl who saved his
life, Eric rushes to kiss her, but the sun sets and Ariel transforms back into a
mermaid. Ursula reverts to her true form and kidnaps Ariel.

Triton appears and confronts Ursula, but cannot destroy Ursula's contract with
Ariel. Triton chooses to sacrifice himself for his daughter, and is transformed into a
polyp. Ursula takes Triton's crown and trident, which was her plan from the
beginning. Ursula uses her new power to gloat, transforming into a giant, and
forming a whirlpool that disturbs several shipwrecks to the surface, one of which
Eric commandeers. Just as Ursula is set to use the trident to destroy Ariel, Eric
turns the wheel hard to port and runs Ursula through the abdomen with the ship's
splintered bowsprit, mortally wounding her. With her last breaths, Ursula pulls the
ship down with her, but Eric escapes to shore in time.

With Ursula gone, her power breaks and the polyps in Ursula's garden turn back
into the old merpeople. Later, after seeing that Ariel really loves Eric and that Eric
also saved him in the process, Triton willingly changes her from a mermaid into a
human using his trident. She runs into Eric's arms, and the two finally kiss.

In the final scene, an unspecified amount of time later, Ariel marries Eric in a
wedding where both humans and merpeople attend.