Poor Thumbelina

This week I have watched eleven movies. It is true that not all of them were strictly speaking about love, but most of them contained it in some shape or form. In Thumbelina, for instance, there are at least five types of love: the love of a mother for her child, romantic love between two equals, unrequited love, the love of friendship, and shallow, fickle "love" that depends on beauty. These loves are shown to different extents, but each one dictates how certain characters behave. The two romantic loves, for instance, both set out in search of Thumbelina, however they have different intentions in their searches. The fairy prince Cornelius' object is to save Thumbelina from whatever trouble she may be in, whereas the frog's intent is to find Thumbelina so that she can marry him and make him happy. Thus, Cornelius braves terrible winds in autumn and howling snow storms in winter, only to eventually be frozen in pond-water and found by the beetle; and the frog gets his mother to kidnap Thumbelina from her windowsill and make her part of the Frog Family Singers, and when she runs away goes searching for her, coercing and torturing various other insects on the way.

The two suitors' actions towards Thumbelina are also drastically different. While Cornelius sings to her and takes her for a magical ride, promising to "lift her high above the stars" and "never let her fall," the frog does no even tell Thumbelina that he loves her, but simply asks his mother to kidnap her and force her to be a star, hoping that Thumbelina will just go along with it if he plops the whole plan irrefutably in front of her. While these methods do not necessarily indicate the pure-heartedness of the suitor, but rather his adeptness in social matters, Cornelius' way does show a certain respect for his damsel that the frog does not. Cornelius' treatment of Thumbelina proves that he knows her to be a person, with feelings and opinions; the frog's treatment of Thumbelina indicates that he views her more as a posession than as a life-partner. As I said, it is not impossible that the frog truly does love Thumbelina, and would make a passable husband, taking good care of her and obeying her every whim. However, given his brutish treatment of the beetle, it is likely that he would be a rather jealous husband as well.
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ok. I think essay writing mode has been re-established... forward march!