How Frozen and Frozen II's music codes Elsa as aroace

If you’re reading this essay, you’re probably already aware that manypeoplelikereadingElsaasqueer. But if you’re not, the basic gist is that while Elsa isn’t canonically queer, her character resonates with many queer people who can draw connections between her experiences of having ice powers in a kingdom of non-magical people, and their own experiences of being queer in a society of cishet people. (That’s a bit of a mouthful to explain, so people normally say that she’s coded as queer for short.) This is yet another essay about reading Elsa as queer, but I’m expanding on existing writing in two ways: first, I’m exploring the ways that Elsa is coded specifically as both aromantic and asexual, or aroace for short ¹². Second, I’m focusing on how the music in particular ³ codes Elsa as aroace.

Part I: Frozen

Frozen Heart

From the…