Frozen: Far from the Average Fairy Tale Fantasy

One of my favorite subjects that is not thoroughly explained or confirmed within Frozen is why Anna is so adamant that Hans is her true love and why she doesn’t see a problem in them getting engaged so quickly. I have discussed my inputs on this before two times; however, since there is a lot of speculation and potential headcanons about this, I feel it is something I can discuss many times and come up with some new material I may not have realized before. And this time, I have more to say about the headcanon that Anna grew up reading fairy tales and developed her own views on love from reading those kinds of stories.

I know I’m not the first person to speculate that Anna has read fairy tales all of her life. It offers a good, possible explanation on why Anna is interested in and values romance so much (besides her desperation to not be alone anymore). During the years that she and Elsa were apart from each other, it is most likely that Anna did not receive the same, if much at all, amount of formal education that Elsa did. Anna doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would enjoy academics and studying, nor might she remember some of the things she was taught. Maybe there came a time that her parents gave her storybooks to read to keep her entertained (not to mention so she would stop riding her bike down the stairs and crashing into the armors). It is possible that many of these stories were fairy tales. If so, Anna would especially enjoy reading about princesses who fall in love with and are saved by handsome, dashing princes, then they get married and live happily ever after. It was apparent to her that these fictional characters actually fell in love and married very shortly after they met. They didn’t go on dates or spend a lot of time getting to know each other, they just fell in love literally at first sight of each other.

Due to her not being allowed to go outside the castle gates, Anna would just read these fairy tales over and over again as she grew up. She never had any real experience with love since she had limited contact with people, so the only knowledge or “experience” she had of it was what she learned from the fairy tales. She developed a concept that love is all about romance, is easy to recognize, and that it happens quickly (or “at first sight”). Basically, Anna believed that love and even real life in general was just like how it would be in fairy tales. Even further, many of the fairy tales featured princes that were almost exactly the same and no different from each other. So she also developed the idea that all real-life princes are good, noble men who would do no wrong whatsoever. They always know exactly what do and what to say in any situation. In summary, in Anna’s mind, all princes are handsome, polite, kind, charismatic, and basically flawless and perfect in every way imaginable. So as she grew up, I believe that part of why Anna wanted to find romance was because she wanted to be just like the fairy tale princesses. Because she is a princess, she thought that her best bet in finding romance was finding her own prince, who would be her own true love. I think she spent many hours for many years dreaming that her dream prince would one day come into her life. She wanted to live out her own fairy tale by meeting her ideal dream prince, then they would fall in love at first sight, and after a whirlwind courtship (which would include flirting, making each other giggle, and singing a romantic duet), they would marry and live happily ever after. On the side, since fairy tales never said what happens next after the “happily ever after” quote, this meant, in Anna’s mind, that everything between the prince and princess was just perfect. So then once she and her prince would marry, just like a fairy tale ending, Anna and her husband’s life would be completely perfect.



And then come Elsa’s coronation day, what happens to Anna? She stumbles upon Hans, the most handsome man she has ever seen. She probably can’t even believe her luck when he mentions that he is a prince. With his princely title, along with his good looks and undeniable charisma, Anna realizes that her dream of meeting a real life prince charming has come true. But that’s just the beginning. Later, Hans meets Anna again after “coincidentally” catching her before she falls on the ballroom floor. Then he starts flirting with her when he smoothly leads her into a waltz. And as the evening goes on, not only does Hans further prove himself to be exactly what she wanted in a prince, but the two end up doing all of the romantic things Anna had wanted to do with him. This convinces Anna that she knows Hans so well and that he is no stranger to her. In all, these reasons are exactly why Anna believes, despite them having just met, that Hans is her true love.

And from her point of view, Hans feels the exact same way. By the time they finish singing “Love Is An Open Door,” Anna thinks that her dream of a fairy tale romance with the prince has already come true. But something is still missing…and that is the marriage, which will complete her picture perfect romance. So then what happens next? Hans proposes marriage to Anna. Although she gasps, she eagerly accepts without any hesitation. I think it is safe to say that Anna was expecting Hans to do that sooner or later. Because she finds herself in the same position as the fairy tale princesses right before and during when the princes proposed to them, it’s part of why Anna accepts. In her eyes, marriage is the purest form of love. It means that the man and woman will live happily ever after and have a perfect life together forever. To her, a man would propose marriage to a woman solely because he loves her. And because Hans proposes to her, that tells her that he must love her. Why else would he do it?

After his proposal, Hans and Anna go see Elsa to ask for her blessing of the marriage. Now what comes next is a very unique change in a Disney film, especially for a fairy tale. It is really the first time where realism about love sets in, and this is when Elsa denies her blessing and objects because Anna and Hans have just met and barely know each other. Anna doesn’t see the problem in marrying Hans even though they have just met, insisting that it’s true love. When Elsa asks Anna what she knows about true love, Anna argues that she knows more about it than Elsa. This amount of realism comes into play again later, when Kristoff reacts to Anna’s engagement, and his shock is almost identical to that of Elsa. He questions her about Hans and sees gaps in her answers, yet Anna remains confident that Hans is her true love and not a stranger. But again, why does Anna say she knows so much about love and insists that Hans is no stranger? Because to her, love is merely all about romance between a man and woman. It has nothing to do with things like knowing a person’s foot size or even eye color. In just one evening, she and Hans have done everything romantic that she had wanted to do with a prince and he has proven himself to be the exact prince she had wanted. Therefore, Anna believes that anything that happens with her and Hans in the future will be just like what happens in the fairy tales. Having had her own romantic experience while Elsa never had one (and she assumed Kristoff never had, either, which is true) makes Anna believe that she knows more about love than Elsa does.



However, throughout the time Anna spends with Hans and Kristoff, and how much she gets to know them, we can realize that she does not have a very firm grasp on reality. She has dreamed so much about finding true love, and then apparently lives out that dream for a while, that she cannot distinguish fantasy from reality. And Anna not only falls for Hans for the wrong reasons, she never really falls in love with him at all. Remember, she grew up spending most of her time alone with the impression that Elsa no longer loved her. She wanted to make a change (to the point where she became so desperate for one to happen), and she knew that that change could be finding someone to love and love her so she would no longer be alone. Anna also falls for Hans for very superficial, easy reasons: he is handsome, polite, and very charming. These appeared to be the reasons why fairy tale princesses fell in love with the princes, so she “fell” for Hans in the same manner. But in part of her not being able to tell the difference between fiction and real life, Anna does not understand that more serious matters can come into play in the relationship. She thinks that love is not only easy, but that it is perfect. Her feelings for Hans are really nothing more than a naïve, shallow crush. What she “loved” about her relationship was the idea of being in love, especially because it was the first time she ever experienced one and believed that she would never have another chance at it. In all, the only things Anna ever really learns about Hans are his name, that he is from the Southern Isles, and that he has twelve older brothers, and that is it. When she argues with Kristoff, she claims she knows Hans just because of what he has already proven himself to be just what she expected. Anna has no true or firm affirmation of what things will be like between them in the future, so while she thinks she knows him, all she is doing by then is assuming things about him.

So then when Anna finally returns to Arendelle and is slowly freezing to death, she reunites with Hans and tells him what happened. Because she needs her “act of true love,” she assumes that since Hans is her true love, only he can provide her with one: a true love’s kiss (which is, of course, an act of true love that is done in many fairy tales). But then, at the very last second before the couple can kiss, Hans pulls away and smirks, then indirectly reveals that he doesn’t love her and never did. This catches Anna completely off guard, but then she slowly starts to catch on as Hans reveals his matured plot to marry Elsa, then pursue Anna instead, and marry her just to become king of Arendelle (meaning that he only proposed because he was taking advantage of her naïveté and desperation), then kill Elsa just to get her out of the way. Throughout it all, Hans indirectly, yet cruelly and sadistically, makes fun of Anna for having been so desperate for love that she was easy to deceive and didn’t thoroughly think about the repercussions. Upon realizing the depths of Hans’s cruelty when he announces his plan to kill Elsa, then leaving her (Anna) to freeze to death, Anna is given a harsh reality check. His deception about who he really is and how he hid his true colors so well tells her that she did not know him at all. Not only that, but the fact that he just led her on and played with her feelings proved that love is not at all what Anna thought it was, especially in that it is all about romance between a princess and a prince. When Olaf comes to her rescue and asks her for ideas on how else to save her, Anna admits that she doesn’t know what love is. Due to her disillusionment over Hans’s treachery, she speaks the truth.

When she learns that Kristoff and Sven are coming back to Arendelle, Anna rushes outside to get to him, believing that kissing Kristoff is her only chance of being saved. But prior to that, Olaf gives her the correct definition of love: that it involves putting another person’s needs before yours. So she takes this to heart (no pun intended XD) when she saves Elsa from Hans and comes back to life after temporarily freezing to death. This act helps Anna (and everyone else) realize that she did not have to resort to romance in order to save herself, but also that love is not solely limited to romance.

So by the end of the movie, Anna has learned an important lesson: that a lot of things in real life, including love, are a lot more complicated than what they are like in fairy tales. In other words, fantasy is not the same as or at all like reality. Looks can be deceiving, and we must never judge new people purely on their appearances. We should take slow time in getting to know them before we make big decisions about them, especially whether or not we like them. So in real life, the first person you meet may not always be the love of your life. Even if they act so nice and charming, they may not always be who they appear to be. Hans is perfect proof that real-life princes can be evil rather than always be living versions of the fictional “prince charming.” At the same time, Anna begins to understand more about love not being easy to happen or recognize. In fact, she realizes that love can happen in very unexpected ways, that meeting your true love doesn’t always start off with romance. This is what she understands from her growing relationship with Kristoff. They started off not getting along at all, and he is pretty much the complete opposite of what she imagined in a man. But by now, with him having begun to reveal his true self, Anna realizes that him being different (especially from Hans) is a good different. Her true love doesn’t have to be a flawless “prince charming.” but a flawed ice harvester who complements her perfectly. As she begins to fall for Kristoff (she does not love him at the end, since she wants to take things slow after her trauma with Hans), Anna realizes that what she initially wanted with love may not be what she wants after all…and she is (or can be) perfectly happy with that.



This was an extended idea from a few other analyses I have already made before on Anna’s views on love, but I really wanted to say more about the idea of her having read fairy tales as she grew up. I couldn’t have done it without the encouragement and insight by my friend itsaroseforrose since she thought the same things, too. And thanks also goes to arrendelle for her support and allowing me to to use gifs that we thought best relate to the topic. Thanks, guys! :D