In Andersen’s unhappy telling, the mermaid spends a great deal of time watching her prince from afar. And while Disney’s Ariel eventually gets her voice back, Andersen’s mermaid never does, and therefore never gets to tell the prince the about her love for him. Andersen’s mermaid dies when she sacrifices herself to save the life of her beloved, on the night of his wedding to another girl. One object of his romantic desire appeared to be his friend Edvard Collin, the son of Andersen’s benefactor, Jonas Collin. When Andersen began composing “The Little Mermaid” in 1836, he was “in a funk,” according to literary magazine Lit Hub.

Source: The Guardian September 30, 2022 00:50 UTC