I do not think this kind of analysis is an academic exercise. I think that it is about trying to understand why people feel the way they do.
A lot of people have been repulsed by Once on This Island's story since it opened off-Broadway. I heard a lot of people express distaste without being able to say exactly why. I also found myself uneasy without knowing why.
Analyzing it like this let me understand why it was primarily women who disliked the story. And the comparison to The Little Mermaid helped me understand my own response. It is a version of The Little Mermaid in which the melancholy ending is treated as a happy one. I think it is the happy tone of Island's ending that makes it hard for me to love. If turning into a tree were more akin to the Mermaid's death, I might enjoy this musical more.
I never could say what my problem with this piece was before.
