Elsa | hiddenfrozen

Elsa - The Sinner

Throughout the movie Froze, it is evident that Queen Elsa is comparable to sinners, and to an even greater extent, Satan. Elsa has guilt and broken relationships with those who used to be close to her. Because of this guilt she feels trapped and pushes people away.

In her dissertation The Differences Between Anna’s and Elsa’s Characters Biased on Their Speech Act’s in Frozen Movie, Putri Kurniasari sets out to analyze the differences between Anna and Elsa’s characters biased on their speech alone. She insists that Elsa’s character is naturally commanding and unhappy, using negative speech utterances throughout the movie. Thus, it may be easier for her to simply isolate herself than seek help and love from others. Throughout his post Christ’s Love in Disney’s Frozen on the PEITA Ministries website, Tyler Carlos goes into depth about Elsa’s sinning ways. He suggests that like society, Elsa is a natural sinner. Like sinners, Elsa strives to sin no longer and her sister Anna must sacrifice herself to save her, like Christ sacrificed himself to save sinners. However, her fear of being judged, looked down upon, and unloved keeps her from finding help and redemption sooner, just like how all these things can keep us from giving our sin to Christ. For example, when confronted about her powers, instead of relying on her family to help her, she isolates herself and pushes everyone and everything around her away in fear of being rejected.

Collin Garbarino’s, assistant professor at Huston Baptist University has his own, convincing interpretation of Elsa’s character. Garbarino suggests that Elsa’s character is comparable to Dante’s Satan and to a smaller extent even Milton’s. Throughout the whole movie, Elsa is determined to become “free” from her powers which have caused her to isolate herself from society and all those who were ever close to her. She finally gives in and “Lets it go”, however, by indulging into her powers, she’s imprisoned and isolated herself even more. In Dante’s Inferno, Dante takes a trip through the nine circles of hell. When Dante gets to the very bottom of hell he finds Satan Frozen up to his waist in ice. In Dante’s Inferno, Satan has been gifted wings. He uses these wings to serve himself rather than god and because of this they have become a curse - every time he flaps them they freeze him even further into ice. Satan and Elsa both desire freedom and in both cases, their desire for freedom traps them in their own ice.

Garbarino also suggests that there are similarities between Milton’s Satan in “Byronic Hero” and Dante’s Satan to Elsa’s character. In Anne Paolucci’s “Dante’s Satan and Milton’s “Byronic Hero”, she suggests that the Satan in both Dante and Milton’s works are extremely alike. She states that though both characterizations seem nothing alike, both Satans suffer from desire and rage and are punished by god, and become isolate by their own gifts for their rebellion against him – just like how Elsa isolates herself by indulging in her powers.

Garbarino, Collin. "Exploring Dante's Inferno in Disney's Frozen." COLLIN GARBARINO.N.p., 19 Dec. 2013. Web. 03 Feb. 2015.

Paolucci, Anne. "Dante's Satan and Milton's" Byronic Hero"." Italica (1964): 139-149.Web. February 2, 2015.

Fox News Interview about Christianity and Disney. Perf. Collin Garbarino. COLLIN

GARBARINO. Fox News, 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 04 Feb. 2015.

Carlos, Tyler. "Christ's Love in Disney's Frozen." PIETA Ministries. N.p., 29 Jan. 2014.Web. 04 Feb. 2015.

Dante, Alighieri. The divine comedy. Grolier, 1973.

(Satan is trapped in the frozen central zone in the Ninth Circle of Hell, Inferno, Canto 34.)

The following quotations are from Dante's Inferno. They help to illustrate the remarkable similarities bewtween Elsa's character and Dante's Satan.

"The Emperor of the kingdom dolorous from his mid-breast forth issued from the ice; And better with a giant I compare/ Than do the giants with those arms of his; Consider now how great must be that whole,
Which unto such a part conforms itself./Were he as fair once, as he now is foul, And lifted up his brow against his Maker,Well may proceed from him all tribulation."

"Where is the ice? and how is this one fixed Thus upside down? and how in such short time
From eve to morn has the sun made his transit?/And he to me: "Thou still imaginest Thou art beyond the centre, where I grasped the hair of the fell worm, who mines the world./That side thou wast, so long as I descended; When round I turned me, thou didst pass the point To which things heavy draw from every side/
And now beneath the hemisphere art come Opposite that which overhangs the vast Dry-land, and 'neath whose cope was put to death/The Man who without sin was born and lived.Thou hast thy feet upon the little sphere Which makes the other face of the Judecca./ Here it is morn when it is evening there;
And he who with his hair a stairway made us Still fixed remaineth as he was before./ Upon this side he fell down out of heaven; And all the land, that whilom here emerged, For fear of him made of the sea a veil,/ And came to our hemisphere; and peradventureTo flee from him, what on this side appears Left the place vacant here, and back recoiled.""