Why the Disney Princesses are Emotionally Strong 

This article is in no order whatsoever, I just really wanted to write about how each of the Disney Princesses show immense emotional strength. 

Jasmine’s emotional strength is underrated. Jasmine has had to live in isolation her entire life, much longer than Anna, yet doesn’t get nearly the credit she deserves. I think people seem to ignore the fact that Jasmine lived without friends, life choices being made for her, and constant supervision because her tough and seemingly unaffected personality hides that. Despite Jasmine’s tough personality, I’m sure her growing up and way she did affected her more than she lets on, and possibly shaped her into the strong woman she is. 

Ariel shows immense strength as well, which also seems to go unnoticed. She’s lived her entire life not fitting in to a society that forces her to hate the very thing that she adores, to be happy and content with the life she dreads, and to marry a nice little merman that she has no interest whatsoever in. It seems that most seem to forget all of that and instantly label Ariel’s actions as selfish and childish, when really her life was being decided for her and her father was forcing her into a life she didn’t feel she belonged in. 

Belle takes the place of staying in the castle for her father. Belle takes the place of staying in the castle for her father!! That alone shows just how much emotional strength Belle possesses, but there’s more too it than that. Belle’s one desire is to get out of her boorish, provincial town, but she’s stayed there anyway to help her father. Belle’s devotion to her father is definitely one of my favorite things about her. 

Merida, like Ariel and Jasmine, is forced to live a life of rules and expectations, constant supervision, tweaking, and critiquing, and worse of all, she’s forced to live a life that forces her to be something she’s not. All her life her mother has taught her what is right and what is wrong for a lady, that there is nothing in between, all her life she has been told to not be who she really is. Also, Merida was willingly going to marry one of the suitors when she was giving her speech towards the end to mend the fighting before Elinor showed her, which showed a lot of emotional strength. 

Rapunzel has lived in an abusive home her entire life, whether she knows it or not, it’s still an abusive household. Mother Gothel has constantly insulted her her entire life, yet still she keeps an optimistic temperament, similar to Snow and Cinderella. On top of that, she’s also lived in isolation, which might seem to not be THAT big of a deal, and many princesses share that similarity, but think if you were in a situation where the you had no one you could interact with, no one you could share your feelings with. She also shows so much strength in standing up to Gothel after all those years. 

Aurora’s strength is also underrated in my opinion. She too has lived in isolation her entire life, yet remains cheerful about the situation. Also, at the young age of sixteen, Aurora’s entire life is revealed to be a lie to her, her name, her age, the fact that she’s a princess! She ends up leaving the one ray of sunshine that she’s found in her dull life in a long time, Phillip, to fulfill her duty and marry a man that she’s never even met and be emerged into a lifestyle completely foreign to her. Yes, Aurora cries! Does that make her weak? No! It makes her human. 

Cinderella is no doubt known as one of the strongest princesses, and it’s of course justified. Whether you believe Cinderella is passive or a doormat is a personal matter, but no one can disagree that Cinderella showed so much strength in putting up with her step family for all those years. I think the thing that adds insult to injury in Cinderella’s case is the fact that she’s seen the other side, she’s seen what is was like to be happy, to have a father who loved her, but then that was all taken away from her. Instead of letting her situation get to her, she remains forever hopeful and kind. 

There seems to be a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to Elsa’s strength, in which I say?!?!? I think people mistaken Elsa’s vulnerability as weakness, when really it just shows she’s human. Although Elsa wants to be with Anna just as much as Anna wants to be with Elsa, she keeps herself away. When Anna says that she wishes things could go back to how they used to be, you can see the hurt in Elsa’s eyes and how she wishes that too, but she can’t because she has to protect herself from Anna. Also, Elsa was left in her room alone to suffer. She didn’t have Anna’s optimism that someday things would get better, she had the idea that she was a monster who hurt her precious sister and that’s all she’s ever going to be.

Tiana has had to deal with dig after dig after dig, people putting her down, telling her that her dream will never be accomplished, that it’s impossible, but what does she do? She keeps trying. She’s extremely resilient and the fact that she’s basically doing this more for her father than for herself in my opinion just makes it all the stronger. Besides the work aspect, Tiana had to live in a time where she was most likely extremely discriminated and looked down on, as both a woman and a person of color, but she defies all odds. 

She takes the spot of her father in war. She takes the spot of her father in war!! This in and of itself is self-explanatory, but the fact that Mulan tries so hard to please her parents, even before this, really displays her strength. I can tell that Mulan could care less about finding a man to marry from the matchmaker, possibly is even opposed to the idea, but she does so anyway for the sake of bringing her family honor. Time and time again she thinks less about her own desires and more about others, which also shows a great deal of strength. 

This girl is strong as heck. Her sister, the one person she loved most, suddenly shuts her out, and unlike Elsa, Anna has no idea why. She thinks that it’s her fault and it becomes her burden. Then, later, when she has to deal with the death of her parents, her own sister won’t even mourn with her. The fact that Anna could keep her optimism and cheer and not grow angry towards Elsa is amazing. Although Elsa continually shuts her out the entire movie, she never once gives up. Also, she gives up her life for Elsa. Okay, she didn’t end up dying, but she believed 100% that she was going to when she stepped in for Elsa. 

Pocahontas seemingly lives the most normal life of all the Disney Princesses in my opinion, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t also show strength. Although Pocahontas and John’s relationship is often seen as little more than a fling, I think the fact that it could’ve been that, but isn’t is what shows Pocahontas’s strength. Pocahontas didn’t have to get involved with the warring sides of her tribe and lover, but she did so anyway. Also, Pocahontas making the decision to stay in Jamestown for the better of her people was such an extremely strong and selfless thing to do that it deserves more credit. 

Saving the best for last, in my opinion. Snow shows so much strength it seriously baffles me when people call her weak. Weak because she cries for about five seconds after almost being killed? That’s the definition of strength in my book. Snow has almost been killed, is now homeless and knows that someone is out there looking to still kill her, yet instead of crying crazily, she apologizes to a bunch of animals for scaring them. I MEAN COME ON. She’s just such a bundle of optimism and joy despite her terrible childhood and her strength just shines through her brightly. 

Sooo, that’s my article! This was extremely fun to write and it made me happy to talk about the princesses purely positively for once, so thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :) ..I shouldn’t have been so lazy and I should have ordered this better and added pictures, but alas, it’s the first day of spring break and I just wanted to write this.