The Little Mermaid Ariel Quotes

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Claim: Ariel from the Disney movie The Little Mermaid, belongs in the second layer of Dante’s The Inferno because although she commits many sins such as falsifying herself, hoarding objects, and betraying her father, she commits these sins out of her unreasonable desire for love.
Data: Ariel’s obsession with humans intensified when she found Eric on the shore and tried to save him. After seeing him for the first time Eric consumed her thoughts and influenced her decisions. She states when she first sees him, “No, look! He's breathing. He's so, beautiful” ( The Little Mermaid).
Warrant: This is the first time Ariel sees Eric, but she acts completely unreasonably by thinking she is in love with him. She is attracted to his looks, and in fact …show more content…

Dante describes this carnal sin as “those who sinned in the flesh who betrayed reason to appetite” ( Ciardi V. 38-39). It is dangerous for her to go see this witch, and in doing so she is betraying her father, however she cannot understand this because she loses all reason to this carnal desire.

Data: Part of the agreement that Ariel makes with Ursula includes that she will, “never be with my father or sisters again” (The Little Mermaid) and that she gives up her voice to Ursula.
Warrant: Ariel lets herself be easily manipulated by Ursula, and gives up her freedom, family, and voice, for a man she hardly knows. In each of his sins Dante also empathizes the impact that sins have on others, and how if one understood how their sins would impact others they wouldn’t commit them. As Ariel abandons her reason for love, she also forgets how her family and the people she surrounds herself with will be negatively affected. The family that loves her and supports her will never see her again, and her friends Flounder and Sebastian are terrified they will get in trouble for her unreasonable …show more content…

Dante included several characters in the Inferno that could be put in several circles, but he puts the sinner in the circle that corresponds with the sin they committed the most. Take Cleopatra as an example, Dante places her in circle two, even though she could be placed in the woods of the suicides seeing that she killed herself, however Cleopatra killed herself for love which is why she is in circle two. Ariel is essentially in circle two for the same reasoning. Ariel betrays her family and she falsifies herself for love. Ariel becomes so obsessed with Eric that she is willing to do anything to be with him, even if it is the sins that are mentioned above. However the motive behind all of them is lustful and therefore Ariel ultimately belongs in circle

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