“Because romantic love is only a prophet,” Kreeft instructs, “it breaks when it turns into a god.”
Andersen’s story does not make romantic love into an idol. On the contrary, the story communicates a serious admonition about the harm that such an idol can bring upon its worshiper.
. . .
An inordinate erotic attraction to the beloved is bound to lead to unhappiness and ruin. A marble statue is the first object of the Little Mermaid’s desire and yearning for something “beyond”; the young prince is the second. But when she embraces the prince as the final object of her love and desire for happiness, the path of her life becomes twisted and dangerous. She makes the desperate deal with the sea-witch.
The Little Mermaid makes choices, and these choices decide her destiny.
Love and Immortality
Tending the Heart of Virtue
How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination
by Vigen Guroian
