Abstract The paper proposed investigates a selection of contemporary feminist reworkings of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Mermaid (1837), where the common objective is to transform the key component of the original storyline: the ending. One of the hallmarks of the fairy tale genre is the joy of the happy ending, which not only encloses the narrative but also reinforces its moral. In its original version, the story picturing the little mermaid’s struggles does not, however, end fully well, leaving the protagonist in a sort of purgatory with no prince and only the hope of gaining a soul. While exploring the reworked ending scenarios, the article seeks to determine how they reflect the changing principles of feminist thought and how this relationship affects their position towards the original.
Aldona Zańko (Mon,) studied this question.