The main theory comes from Rictor Norton inMy Dear Boy: Gay Love Letters through the Centuries.
The Little Mermaid, written by Hans Christian Andersen, shares many similarities to events and letters between Anderson and his good friend Edvard Collin. Andersen wrote letters to Collin that clearly exposed his romantic interests in his friend, though it is known that these interests were rejected. Anderson was also interested in a few other men throughout his life, so it is reasonably confirmed that he was gay or bisexual.
In his correspondence with Collin, he relates that he is sad to hear that Collin had engaged to a woman at the time, since he has strong romantic feelings for him. Anderson related his feelings to being "feminine" in nature, or that he had "womanly" sentiments towards Collin. This is around the same time The Little Mermaid is written.
In the original story, the prince falls in love with a princess from another Kingdom who is beautiful and pious, because he thinks that she was the one who saved him from drowning (when it was really the mermaid - this is mirrored in the Disney movie, and the mermaid is generally taken as representing Andersen). The prince (taken to represent Collin) earlier confessed in the story, before he thought the princess saved him, that if he had the choice, he would rather marry the mermaid. This does not mirror Anderson and Collin's relationship perfectly, since Collin did not wish to enter romantic affiliations, however he was to marry someone else.
Additionally, at the end of the story, the mermaid is supposed to stab and kill the prince in order to become a mermaid once again, but she sees that the prince is happy, and decides to throw the knife into the sea. Since she did not end up gaining the prince's love, she dissolves into sea foam. It's suspected that what happens after this point (instead of dying, she becomes an air spirit that eventually floats into the Kingdom of Heaven) was added hastily in order to tack on some children's Victorian values to the story (e,g. "if children are good, they help people get into heaven"). As far as I'm aware, Andersen never intended to send the message to Collin that he wanted to kill him because of his rejection but held back because of his virtue, but much is obscured about why he added it in the first place.
The theory is that the mermaid represents Andersen, the prince is Collin, and the princess from another Kingdom is Collin's then fiancee. It is definitely possible Andersen took inspiration from his romantic rejection to create this fable, though how closely it follows his feelings for Collin is unknown.
The Little Mermaid, written by Hans Christian Andersen, shares many similarities to events and letters between Anderson and his good friend Edvard Collin. Andersen wrote letters to Collin that clearly exposed his romantic interests in his friend, though it is known that these interests were rejected. Anderson was also interested in a few other men throughout his life, so it is reasonably confirmed that he was gay or bisexual.
In his correspondence with Collin, he relates that he is sad to hear that Collin had engaged to a woman at the time, since he has strong romantic feelings for him. Anderson related his feelings to being "feminine" in nature, or that he had "womanly" sentiments towards Collin. This is around the same time The Little Mermaid is written.
In the original story, the prince falls in love with a princess from another Kingdom who is beautiful and pious, because he thinks that she was the one who saved him from drowning (when it was really the mermaid - this is mirrored in the Disney movie, and the mermaid is generally taken as representing Andersen). The prince (taken to represent Collin) earlier confessed in the story, before he thought the princess saved him, that if he had the choice, he would rather marry the mermaid. This does not mirror Anderson and Collin's relationship perfectly, since Collin did not wish to enter romantic affiliations, however he was to marry someone else.
Additionally, at the end of the story, the mermaid is supposed to stab and kill the prince in order to become a mermaid once again, but she sees that the prince is happy, and decides to throw the knife into the sea. Since she did not end up gaining the prince's love, she dissolves into sea foam. It's suspected that what happens after this point (instead of dying, she becomes an air spirit that eventually floats into the Kingdom of Heaven) was added hastily in order to tack on some children's Victorian values to the story (e,g. "if children are good, they help people get into heaven"). As far as I'm aware, Andersen never intended to send the message to Collin that he wanted to kill him because of his rejection but held back because of his virtue, but much is obscured about why he added it in the first place.
The theory is that the mermaid represents Andersen, the prince is Collin, and the princess from another Kingdom is Collin's then fiancee. It is definitely possible Andersen took inspiration from his romantic rejection to create this fable, though how closely it follows his feelings for Collin is unknown.
男神Andersen
Edvard Collin
