After reading “The Little Mermaid”, please share your opinions about these questions:

At the end, the Little Mermaid sacrifices her own life in order to let the Prince go on living.

Why did Andersen create this ending rather than a happier ending?

What was Andersen trying to teach or show with this ending?

Below is the link for the story.
https://andersen.sdu.dk/moocfiles/littlemermaid.pdf