It is really amazing to know that some of the kid's loved and idolized Disney heroines would play a major part in humanities- specifically feminism.Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle and Pocahontas may be the main characters of their own tale but what the society involvement with them is that the development and changes of shy, timid, and perfect ladies to bold, rebellious and much more matured ladies.
It is much knowledge for us that Cinderella is one of the kindest characters that ever exist in tales. She was abused and manipulated by her two stepsisters and her stepmother. In the present world, she's the martyr-type or the saintly-lady-type of a girl. She is powerless to act for herself although she has her own dream.
Aurora of Sleeping Beauty is much the same as Cinderella. She's a fine gentle woman who also lacks control of her life. her parents made her destiny and thus, she had unabled to mold her own fate. She was protected by fairies from her true identity- she is a princess. She was protected until the day that she touches the spinning wheel trapped for her by the wicked witch or dark fairy. She sleeps through the whole story while her prince is struggling for her life and her future. Thus, shows that she didn't able to make a change in her life or in her fate.
Ariel of The Little Mermaid, however, portrays the exact opposite of the first gentle ladies.
Ariel does what she wants and acts on her own will even if it means rebelling to her father, King Triton. Ariel might have Sebastian as her chaperone but it doesn't stop her in exploring, questioning abd reacting for every thing. The love story begins when Ariel save Prince Eric from the sea and asks Ursula,the evil mermaid, to give her human legs in exchange of her voice. But then, when she left the underwater to be with his prince, the society looks at it that she was controlled by masculinity.
as the Disney heroines became bolder and bolder, Belle in the Beauty and the Beast came,as well as the Native American heroine, Pocahontas. They make their own decisions and do not allow anyone to manipulate them. They do what they desire without portraying any single traits from the classic heroines like Aurora and Cinderella.
Thus, the Disney showed great changes from the perfect women to independent women. Cinderella and Aurora are the female protagonists who masked as the gentle, loving and passive women. Belle and Pocahontas and also Ariel, construct the female self in different ways,in much more independent ways.