12 Rules for Life (Full) ENGLISH

older queen in Snow White, Lady Tremaine in Cinderella, the Red Queen in
Alice in Wonderland, Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmations, Miss Medusa in The
Rescuers and Mother Gothel in Tangled).
Ariel wants to kindle a romance with Prince Eric, whom she previously
rescued from a shipwreck. Ursula tricks Ariel into giving up her voice so that
she can have three days as a human being. Ursula knows full well, however,
that a voiceless Ariel will not be able to establish a relationship with the
Prince. Without her capacity to speak—without the Logos; without the
Divine Word—she will remain underwater, unconscious, forever.
When Ariel fails to form a union with Prince Eric, Ursula steals her soul,
and places it in her large collection of shrivelled and warped semi-beings,
well-protected by her feminine graces. When King Triton shows up to
demand the return of his daughter, Ursula makes him a terrible offer: he can
take Ariel’s place. Of course, the elimination of the Wise King (who
represents, to say it again, the benevolent side of the patriarchy) has been
Ursula’s nefarious plan all along. Ariel is released, but Triton is now reduced
to a pathetic shadow of his former self. More importantly, Ursula now has
Triton’s magic trident, the source of his godlike power.
Fortunately for everyone concerned (except Ursula), Prince Eric returns,
distracting the evil queen of the underworld with a harpoon. This opens an
opportunity for Ariel to attack Ursula, who grows, in response, to monstrous
proportions—in the same manner as Maleficent, Sleeping Beauty’s evil
queen. Ursula creates a huge storm, and raises a whole navy of sunken ships
from the ocean floor. As she prepares to kill Ariel, Eric commandeers a
wrecked ship, and rams her with its broken bowsprit. Triton and the other
captured souls are released. The rejuvenated Triton then transforms his
daughter into a human being, so she can remain with Eric. For a woman to
become complete, such stories claim, she must form a relationship with
masculine consciousness and stand up to the terrible world (which sometimes
manifests itself, primarily, in the form of her too-present mother). An actual
man can help her do that, to some degree, but it is better for everyone
concerned when no one is too dependent.
One day, when I was a kid, I was out playing softball with some friends.
The teams were a mixture of boys and girls. We were all old enough so that
the boys and girls were starting to be interested in one another in an
unfamiliar way. Status was becoming more relevant and important. My friend