“Your beautiful form, your graceful walk, and your expressive eyes; surely with these you can enchain a man’s heart.
For her to impress the prince she would have to get rid of all her masculinity and use her feminine beauty instead, losing all her agency.
the youngest was the prettiest of them all;
In fairy tales the youngest sibling is usually the prettiest of them all, because the youth signifies innocence which is a synonym of beauty in fairy tales.
All day long they played in the great halls of the castle, or among the living flowers that grew out of the walls.
It is a very feminine thing to stay home a lot and take care of the home
AR out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many church steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to the surface of the water above. There dwell the Sea King and his subjects. We must not imagine that there is nothing at the bottom of the sea but bare yellow sand. No, indeed; the most singular flowers and plants grow there; the leaves and stems of which are so pliant, that the slightest agitation of the water causes them to stir as if they had life. Fishes, both large and small, glide between the branches, as birds fly among the trees here upon land. In the deepest spot of all, stands the castle of the Sea King. Its walls are built of coral, and the long, gothic windows are of the clearest amber. The roof is formed of shells, that open and close as the water flows over them. Their appearance is very beautiful, for in each lies a glittering pearl, which would be fit for the diadem of a queen.
This is all the exposition, which serves as a way of introducing the environment the story happens to the reader and give them context to the story.