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Mothers and Daughters: A Brave Essay 2-2

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Plot Rundown and Personal Thoughts – Part 2

The film really moves into its second half when Merida and Elinor leave the castle and head back to the Ring of Stones. The wisps do not appear this time, so Merida and Elinor take off in the forest in the same direction that Merida had previously taken. They manage to find the witch's cottage, but discover that it is now deserted. However, the witch has left a voice message in her cauldron for Merida, saying that the spell will be permanent by the second sunrise unless she can interpret the meaning of this riddle: "Fate be changed, look inside. Mend the bond torn by pride." Merida doesn't immediately understand this, so she panics and throws more vials into the cauldron in hopes of finding more information, but she causes the cottage to explode. Although the pair seems to think that all hope of turning Elinor back into a human is lost, they spend the night in the ruins and Merida promises that they will sort out the problem tomorrow. Because it is raining outside, she has a dream about a memory from her childhood, when Elinor is sewing the tapestry and singing a Gaelic lullaby called "Noble Maiden Fair" to her, then they sing it together. In the previous scene, it's noticeable that before the cottage explodes, Elinor doesn't hesitate to shield Merida from harm. A similar moment also occurred in the scene when Elinor turns into a bear: after Merida screams, "Bear!", Elinor is also spooked by seeing the shadow of a bear on the wall (not yet realizing it's her own), and places her paw over Merida, as if to protect her. These moments show us that, despite their constant friction and Elinor wanting Merida to marry to ensure peace in the kingdom, she still loves Merida very much and would do anything to ensure her safety. I also liked seeing Merida dream of that memory, because she was frightened by a crack of thunder and Elinor comforted her by saying that she would always be there for Merida. It showed how Merida was beginning to remember when her mother had been there for her, especially after she claimed the opposite earlier. I think she said that because this was when the friction between them was building up so much that Merida was remembering less of the happy times that she shared with Elinor when she was a child.

By the next morning, Elinor still acts like a proper queen while a bear, and even during the night before, as she insisted on walking upright and put her crown back on her head. She finds berries and water for breakfast and items to use for a table and silverware. She even gets frustrated with Merida when she puts the bow she brought with her on the table, and because she cannot speak English, she signs to Merida to take the bow off the table. Merida realizes that the berries are actually poisonous nightshade berries and the water is mixed with worms. So she leads Elinor to a nearby stream and successfully catches a fish by shooting it with an arrow. Elinor is impressed and starts to gain respect for Merida's skills, and when Merida takes it away and repeats her mother's words that "a princess should not have weapons, in your opinion," Elinor nods, but then shakes her head, as if those words were nonsense. Then she makes a face and refuses to eat the raw fish after it flaps, and Merida asks her, "How do you know you don't like it if you won't try it?" I found this quote to be somewhat ironic, because Elinor had said the very same words to the triplets in the dinner scene, when they refused to eat their haggis. Merida cooks the fish by roasting it on a spit over a fire, and Elinor finds it to be tasty. She signs for two more fish, and Merida catches them, but when Elinor asks for even more, Merida points to the river, which is her saying, "If you want more, you have to get them yourself." This moves onto one of my all-time favorite scenes with them, which is when they go fishing in the stream. In it, Merida and Elinor seem to reverse roles because Elinor takes lessons from Merida on how to catch fish and to do other things to survive in the wilderness. Elinor always knows exactly what to do when inside the castle, but Merida knows just what to do when outside of the castle, and that includes building a shelter from the cottage ruins the night before and making a fire to cook the fish for Elinor. Merida shows Elinor how to catch a fish in her mouth, and she manages to catch several of them, while at the same time, she and Merida play together in the river. On an additional note, I thought the song that played during the scene, "Into the Open Air," was perfect for the scene, because some of the lyrics match the situation of their relationship, such as "I tried to speak to you everyday." But my favorite lyric is "Can we carry this love that we share?", because they both obviously love each other very much, despite their differences, and they begin to show appreciation for those differences. Near the end of the song, Merida looks over at Elinor eating a fish. She looks at her with a semi-shocked expression, then it slowly changes into a smile. She doesn't say a word, but it's obvious that she realizes how much she loves her mother and always has, and how much she enjoys being with her. I love the whole scene because it shows Merida and Elinor enjoying each other's company, and it is probably the first time that they have in many years. As an additional note, lighting has a good usage of symbolism for them in this scene and the previous one of them together. When Merida first wakes up and tells her mother that the berries and water are no good, the area seems to be dim and lacks sunlight. But when she catches the fish and then plays with Elinor in the river, the sun is shown to be out and shining. The fact that there is virtually no light in one scene and more obvious light in the next scene is a way of reflecting their reconciliation, like they are finally "stepping out into the light" since they are beginning to appreciate each other's differences.

Merida gets confused when Elinor randomly leaves the stream and starts walking off into the forest, and on all four legs. She runs after her and catches up, but when she touches her, Elinor turns around, and Merida notices that her eyes are all black, like a wild bear. Elinor growls and approaches Merida menacingly while Merida backs away in fear. Just as Elinor raises a paw to strike Merida, her eyes clear and return to her normal eye color. Elinor sees that she looks like she was about to swipe Merida and stands up on her hind legs, and she expresses her worry when Merida says that she changed and acted more like a wild bear. Both of them realize by now how little time they have left to undo the spell before Elinor becomes a permanent bear, and then Merida sees a wisp appear. Elinor chases after it and it manages to escape from her every time she thinks has it cornered. After slamming into a tree, Merida soothes her mother and convinces her to listen to her and wait to make a move on what they should do next. Finally, a trail of wisps appears, and Merida convinces Elinor that they should follow them. The wisps lead them deep into the forest and through mist, and finally up to a hillside that contains the ruins of what appears to be an old kingdom. Merida notices that the gateway contains a familiar symbol of two axes crossing each other. As she walks further towards the ruins, Merida steps on an unstable piece of floor and falls inside. She discovers that it is a throne room and wonders if it was the kingdom from Elinor's legend. Her suspicions are confirmed when she finds a stone carving with four princes carved into it, but the one that represents the oldest prince is split from the rest, just like how Elinor's image on the tapestry was split from the rest of the family. As Merida touches the carving, she remembers the moment when she cut the tapestry, and also has a vision of the prince cutting his image off from the carving. This makes Merida realizes that the spell on her mother has happened once before. As she looks around the throne room and notices skeletons of old warriors and deep claw marks, she remembers the witch's words about the prince who came to her for a spell as well as the symbol of the crossed axes on the ring he had given her. Putting all of this information together, Merida realizes that the prince who met the witch is the same prince from Elinor's legend, and the spell he received transformed him into Mor'du! Just as she determines his true identity, Merida spots Mor'du behind her. She shoots several arrows at him, but they do not stop him. She scrambles onto a big piece of stone to try and reach for Elinor through the opening, and Merida jumps up to her and manages to grab her paw at the same time that Mor'du swipes at her.

Merida and Elinor escape from the ruins of the kingdom and come back to the Ring of Stones. It is there that Merida deduces that Elinor will become just like Mor'du if they don't break the spell, and that the witch's riddle of "mend the bond torn by pride" means that the tapestry she tore has to be fixed in order to change Elinor back. Back at the castle, Merida discovers that the clans are on the verge of war because of her actions, and she realizes that she has to stop the fighting because Elinor can't do it in her bear form. When Merida walks through the Great Hall, the fight immediately ceases and everyone stares at her. This is much like the earlier scene when the brawl stopped as Elinor walked through it, though I think the main reason why they stopped when Merida walked in was because they were stunned to see her. I doubt that right now, they hold the same amount of respect for Merida that they have for Elinor as a ruler, so they will listen to whatever Elinor says rather than Merida. Once everyone stops fighting, Merida says that she was having a conference with Elinor, so the lords demand to see her, while Elinor sneaks into the Great Hall and poses as a stuffed bear before someone looks her way enough and sees her. Now knowing that Elinor's legend is true, she reminds the lords about it and even repeats Elinor's words of "Legends are lessons. They ring with truths." Merida reminds them of how their clans used to be enemies, but also of how their alliance began when they joined together to defend their lands from invaders of the north. She also reminds each lord of what great achievement they did for one person or what someone else did for them. Then she admits how she was selfish and wrong for her actions at the Games, and that only she should take all the blame. Realizing the importance of her betrothal at last, Merida says she is prepared to do the right thing by choosing a suitor in order to mend the bond of the clans. But as she does, she notices Elinor shaking her head and miming "breaking" with her paws. Watching Elinor mime what she wants Merida to say for her, Merida says that the queen has decided to break this betrothal tradition and wants the young people to find love in their own time. The lords' sons agree with Merida, so their fathers decide that they will now try to win Merida's heart before her hand. Fergus feels proud of Merida for acting like a wise diplomat, and he places his hand on her shoulder as he says, "Just like your mum. You devil!" By now, Elinor is on the verge of being discovered, so Merida convinces everyone to go to the cellar to celebrate in order to clear the hall. When everyone is gone, Merida does a little sing and dance of happiness. She walks over to Elinor, who by now is very proud of Merida for bringing the clans back together. The whole time Merida made her speech, Elinor listened very well, starting from when Merida used Elinor's own words about legends, and looked at her with love and proudness. She expresses her happiness with Merida by stroking her hair and face, and then Merida hugs her mother's paw. Elinor was clearly proud of Merida for having the courage to speak to the lords like she herself would do, and she acted like a true diplomat and peacemaker, which is why Fergus said she was just like Elinor. The other part that made her proud was that Merida's speech showed Elinor that Merida had indeed paid attention to her lectures about the kingdom's clans, as well as the fact that she finally took responsibility for her previous actions at the Games. That was a very brave thing for her to do because of how prideful she was before and not willing to take the blame or responsibility for what she did. I think that all of this could be the reason why Elinor had decided not to force Merida to get married right now.

Up in the tapestry room, Merida realizes that Elinor will change back by having the torn tapestry sewn back together. Elinor starts to look for a needle and thread, but she suddenly turns wild again. At the same time, Fergus heads to his room to tell Elinor the good news about the clans, but inside he finds that the room has been wrecked and Elinor's dress has been torn. Fergus imagines the worst, and then he comes into the tapestry room where he sees Merida and Elinor. Thinking that Elinor is Mor'du, he tries to swipe at her with his sword, but she ends up scratching Merida's arm and throwing Fergus against the wall. Then Elinor finally snaps out of it and realizes with horror what she has done. Merida tries to calm her, but Elinor runs out of the room. The clans spot her and chase out of the castle. Believing that Elinor has been killed, Fergus decides to chase after her and refuses to believe Merida's claims that Elinor is the bear. He locks her in the room and gives the key to Maudie. Merida unsuccessfully tries to break free and briefly cries after seeing the clans go after Elinor, knowing Elinor won't stand a chance against them. Then she looks at the tapestry and finally pulls it off the wall. She calls out for Maudie, and then sees three bear cubs outside the door. She instantly realizes that the triplets had eaten the rest of the cake and had become bears, too! They take the key from Maudie and release Merida from the room, then they all take off on Angus to find Elinor and the clansmen. As they ride, Merida sews up the tapestry (albeit not very neatly), and then a trail of wisps appear and lead her to Elinor and the men. By this point, they have gathered at the Ring of Stones where they have captured Elinor and tied her down. Just as Fergus is about to cut off her head with his sword, Merida shoots an arrow, which knocks the sword from Fergus's hands. She also grabs a sword and cuts off his wooden leg to keep him from killing Elinor.

Just then, Mor'du appears at the Stones. Everyone runs to attack him, but he knocks them all away. When he closes in on Merida, she screams in fear as he looms over her, with his open mouth just inches from her throat. Seeing Merida in trouble, Elinor roars furiously and breaks the ropes holding her down and charges Mor'du before he can kill Merida. Elinor clashes hard with Mor'du, and after he throws her against one of the stones, it cracks, which gives her an idea. As he starts to pursue Merida again, Elinor pulls him towards the stone, then she steps out of his way as he chases her and rams into the stone. Elinor then hits him against the stone several times, but he swipes her away. Just as he begins to run towards Merida and Elinor, the cracked stone finally falls onto Mor'du, crushing him to death. Moments later, the spirit of the prince rises up from the stone. He looks at Merida and Elinor and nods to them, as if in acknowledgement and gratitude, because their killing him finally released him from his curse after so many years. He then takes the form of a wisp and disappears. A few pieces of this entire scene really stood out to me in terms of Merida and Elinor, like many of the others. When Mor'du was standing over Merida, she screamed in terror, and it was really for the first time since the prologue that we see her being genuinely scared. (In the prologue, she was also scared by Mor'du and screamed when she saw him.) But during the majority of the movie, we see that Merida's personality is one of a fearless and rebellious young woman, so it makes her horror in the latter scene more significant. Merida has been able to escape from Mor'du in the past, but then in this scene, she is finally vulnerable and can't escape from him because he has his entire body over hers. She knows that she can't get away from him this time, and that she will die whether or not she tries to escape. At the same time, Elinor had previously been unable to escape after the men captured her and tied her down. But the moment she saw Merida in danger, Elinor looked on with horror before letting out a furious roar and snarl. Seeing Merida in danger gave her the strength and energy to finally break the ropes and throw off the men in order to leap into action to protect Merida before any harm could come to her. Then literally seconds before Mor'du can lunge down at Merida, Elinor attacks him and they roll away from Merida. At least two more times occur when Mor'du tries to go after Merida, but Elinor always gets in his way somehow to keep him away from her. During the whole time that they fought, I think that Elinor knew that she might not be able to stop Mor'du because he is much older, stronger, and more dangerous than her. But she never buckled down; she used every ounce of her strength to keep going, and that was because she and Mor'du possessed very different forms of strength. Mor'du had once been a prince who asked for the strength of ten men, and his bear form gave him that brute strength. But while Elinor also had more strength in this form, the strength she used was a different one: it was her unconditional love for Merida and determination to keep her safe. This was a great way of showing Merida just what kind of mother Elinor is: that she would risk her own safety just for Merida's, and her seeing her mother do this is what would make their healing absolutely complete. In the end, it's why Elinor was able to defeat Mor'du and not only save Merida, but release the prince from the curse that had taken over him so long ago.

Seeing the sun about to come up, and realizing it's now the second sunrise, Merida grabs the now mended tapestry and wraps it around Elinor because she thinks that it needs to be touching Elinor in order to break the spell. Nothing happens immediately, and then Elinor's eyes turn black like a wild bear again. Thinking that she has failed to bring her mother back, Merida begins to cry. She finally apologizes to Elinor for everything that she has done, and she continues to cry while she tells Elinor that she wants her back and that she loves her. Before this scene played, I had figured out from the moment that the witch said the message of "mend the bond torn by pride" that it actually meant that Merida had to mend her relationship with Elinor, and she took that too literally by fixing the tapestry. However, the answer is still in the tapestry in a symbolic way: Merida tore the tapestry due to her pride and anger, then she thought that mending it by stitching it up would change Elinor back. The tapestry depicted Merida and Elinor holding hands, which illustrated their bond, and as I said earlier, Merida specifically slashed it between those two images (splitting it between their joined hands), and that was symbolic of how broken their relationship had become by that point. Merida probably assumed that something needed to be physically fixed in order to undo the spell, and she thought of the tapestry because she remembered tearing it. She was also in a panic about changing her mother back that it was the first thing that came to her mind. However, I believe that the tapestry was not significant to changing Elinor back at all, as the whole answer was really that Merida and Elinor had to mend their relationship. That was all being done on the journey they faced together, from their time together in the forest to the final showdown with Mor'du.

The whole scene of Merida crying and professing her love to Elinor really moves me, because Merida made a big change in herself here than she had in the beginning, including when Elinor first became a bear. When that happened, she twice objected that it wasn't her fault and didn't apologize, and when she argued with Elinor after the Games, she exclaimed that her mother had never been there for her. But here, she finally takes responsibility for her actions like she is supposed to: she realizes just how much she loves her mother and what she means to her, so she contradicts everything she said and did before, especially when she apologizes and takes all of the blame for the spell on her mother. It's interesting to note that the lyrics of "Noble Maiden Fair" plays in the background as Merida says that she wants her mother back. I bet that was because Merida was thinking of that memory again, especially because she remembers Elinor saying she would always be there for her, and she had been, which is why she says, "You've always been there for me. You've never given up on me." I think that when Elinor starts to turn into a permanent bear, Merida snuggles into her because she wants to be with her, and she doesn't care that she's putting herself in danger that way. She feels that she deserves it after all that she's done. By now, I know that Merida would do anything in her power to bring her mother back to her, and I'm sure she says "I love you" to Elinor because she wants her mother to know that before she would become a full bear. Merida may have taken the meaning of the riddle too literally by using the tapestry…but the overall true meaning of it was what she just said to her mother right then and there. Even if the tapestry had not been sewn up, Elinor would change back as long as Merida had fessed up for everything by apologizing to Elinor, admitting that the spell's consequences were her fault, and telling Elinor that she loves her.

By the time the sun has come up completely, Merida is still crying, but soon becomes shocked when she feels a human hand stroking her hair. Hardly daring to believe it, she gasps and looks up and sees Elinor's human face smiling down at her! Merida happily exclaims that her mother is back, and Elinor laughs tearfully as she affectionately kisses Merida all over the face, and Merida also tearfully laughs as her mother kisses her. After receiving the last kiss on her forehead, Merida says, "You've changed," and Elinor replies, "Oh, darling, we both have." Then she kisses Merida's forehead again before Fergus shouts out Elinor's name, and he stumbles over to them and hugs them both. Then he dips Elinor and kisses her passionately, and Merida groans disgustedly at seeing her parents kiss. Merida then notices that her mother is wearing nothing but the tapestry wrapped around her, so she whispers to Elinor, who whispers to Fergus. He orders the lords to turn around and not look at Elinor. They do as he asks, and the triplets, who have also changed back (and are also naked), run over to their family, and they all are reunited. Then sometime after they are all home, Merida and Elinor start working on a new tapestry together, and what it shows is very different from that of the first tapestry. In the first tapestry, while Merida appears to be only how Elinor wants her to appear and be, Elinor is depicted as how she usually looks: wearing a royal dress and her crown, with her hair in their tight braids. But in the second tapestry, Elinor is depicted as the bear, not wearing any clothes nor her crown. As for Merida, she is shown to be wearing her usual comfortable dress and cloak, and her hair is shown as it really is: wild, unruly, long, bushy, and hanging out in all directions. And in this tapestry, while Merida and Elinor are holding hands like in the first tapestry, they are also facing and looking into each other's eyes. In real life, Elinor is wearing a dark blue dress and much of her long hair is now worn down, with some of it tied up at the top, and Merida is wearing a deep purple dress that appears similar to her simple blue dresses, but also appears more formal. When the lords are getting ready to depart, everyone gathers at the docks to say goodbye to them. Sometime after they sail off, Merida rides Angus to the top of a hill, and this time, Elinor appears beside her on her own horse. After they watch the lords' ships in the distance, the two of them take off on their horses together. Merida and Elinor have finally made peace with each other and their friendship and love for each other has become stronger than before.

To wrap on my comments on the final minutes of the film, my all-time favorite moment in the entire film is when Elinor kisses Merida's face after she changes back. I kind of thought it surprised Merida and thought it was a little out of character for Elinor to do, because Elinor probably hasn't kissed Merida like that or been so affectionate with her since she was little. It's likely that Merida hadn't said "I love you" to her mother in a very long time, too. But since this is a very happy moment for both of them, especially because Elinor's so proud of Merida, how could she not be so affectionate and motherly to her? :) And I definitely agree when Elinor said that she and Merida have both changed from the experience. During the scene where they fish, they began to reconcile their relationship by working as a team to catch fish, and managed to start showing appreciation for their differences. By the end, they have accepted those differences, but they have also changed in significant ways. In contrast to the images of themselves in the first tapestry, their different appearances in the second tapestry emphasize how they have come to appreciate each other's differences and become closer. I thought that Elinor's hair was a perfect representation of how she had changed, because she had previously worn her hair in two large braids, and that very precise and neat fashion of it was a great example of symbolizing her strict and proper personality. However, in the end of the film, much of it is worn down in a very loose and flowing way, with only a little bit tied up at the top. This shows how Elinor has become less strict, less of a perfectionist, and more open to and accepting of new things, and she has finally learned to be more understanding of Merida's needs and desires. With Merida, because she had acted like a typical teenager of today who rebelled against one or both of her parents, she appeared like those kinds of teens who had to learn things the hard way, and for her, it was to understand the importance of keeping peace in the kingdom and accepting her responsibilities as the future queen of DunBroch. It was because of their conflict that it seemed that Merida would not believe anything her mother would say in terms of warnings, including the legend of the ancient kingdom and that the clans were going to fight following her actions at the Games, and that the only way to get through to her was if she actually saw proof that her mother's words meant the truth. But in the end, Merida understands the importance of everything, accepts responsibility for her actions and duties as DunBroch's heir, and works to fix her mistakes. By the end of the film, the dress she wears is a purple color and more formal in appearance, which may represent how she has finally accepted her status as a princess (since purple is often associated with royalty). When Merida spoke to the lords and their clansmen, Elinor was proud of her because she handled everything in a mature and brave way, and Merida realized how her mother's wisdom was important in making sure that the kingdom was ruled well. Merida's new behavior has made Elinor believe that, while Merida may not become exactly like her, she will still turn out to be a great queen of DunBroch one day. Both of them learned a great deal about themselves and about each other, especially in valuing their most important traits, and they made that new tapestry of them together so they would always remember what they learned from their journey. But most importantly, they realized that their love for each other makes it possible to overcome any and every obstacle. In the end, their relationship is stronger than it had been before, and even now, with any and all differences between them, Merida and Elinor realize that they love each other just the way they are.


Final Reflections and Conclusion

Because Merida and Elinor's relationship is the focal point of the film, it definitely has an uplifting message about improving communication between mothers and daughters. Even though the film is set in the 10th century, the relationship portrayed in it is very realistic and similar to what the bonds between mothers and daughters are like today, and this kind of relationship is very unique and complicated, so it could be told during any time period in history. Merida and Elinor were both depicted as strong characters in their own rights, and while they clearly love each other very much, there is a great deal of friction between them. This is because they are very different people, and they struggle with each other so much because they have a hard time understanding and accepting those differences. The film allowed you to empathize with both of them, rather than take the side of one character and show feelings of dislike towards the other one. While you could take both of their sides, you also realize that Merida and Elinor had differences, including flaws, that neither would admit to each other or even to themselves. Through their journey together, they come to terms with their differences and realize how they were both at fault in the situation. The result from their journey was not a one-sided lesson, but both of them learned that they must have open conversation and understanding to preserve the special bond that they have. In the end of the film, they have finally accepted their differences, but they also have changed by acknowledging their own faults and learned to be better people from them. But most importantly, they have realized just how much they love each other and have accepted each other just the way they are.

So this concludes my entire essay on analyzing Merida and Elinor's relationship in this great movie from Pixar. Some of my words may have been said more than once, but since there was a lot that I could say about them, some repetitions needed to be made in order for my analysis to be made to the point. Thank you for reading and have a good day. ;)
Merida and Elinor's relationship is really the heart of Pixar's Brave, so I've written this essay about them, and it gives an analysis on their relationship based on various, important scenes from the movie.
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Normanjokerwise's avatar
this is very good stuff and i love the points you said in this part and i can see what you are talking about cus thous are one of the things i thought about when watching the film well done =)