Category Archives: Issue 18

Cinderella

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Tarah Leake

Written by (among others) the Brothers Grimm, the story of Cinderella has survived for decades. About one hundred twenty-five years later, Disney produced a film based on the Grimms’ tale. Today, Cinderella presents a beautiful princess who marries a charming man and lives happily ever after. However, this story is not to be taken casually; rather, the telling of Cinderella’s family, trials, and outcome holds intrinsic educational value for the real world. In both versions, characters demonstrate inverse and similar characteristics, themes of humility and judgment transpire, and symbolism is apparent.

After her mother dies of ailment, young Ella is lost in a world with her dreadful stepsisters and stepmother. She is treated awfully and forced to sleep by the fireplace, covering her in cinders and deriving the nickname, “Cinderella.” Even after this, Cinderella remains humble and grateful for what she does possess. The stepsisters and stepmother, on the other hand, are selfish and arrogant. In the Grimms’ tale, when Cinderella’s father goes to a fair, he promises to bring back gifts for the girls. The stepsisters request dresses, pearls, and jewels. Cinderella, however, simply asks for the first branch that knocks off her father’s hat. This demonstrates Cinderella accepts her life and is not concerned with obtaining carnal, materialistic desires. When the stepsisters are preparing for the ball, Cinderella helps them with their hair and dresses instead of focusing on herself. This shows maturity, because the stepsisters would never help Cinderella prepare for the ball; they treat her like a slave, and yet she still offers up her assistance.

The stepmother is conceited and demanding. She places her personal satisfaction above others’ needs. She marries Cinderella’s father, not because she loves him, but rather she loves his money. She does everything in her power to eliminate competition for the prince’s hand in marriage; in her mind, forcing Cinderella to stay home and do chores confirms the choosing of one of her daughters. This shows the stepmother recognizes Cinderella’s elegance and feels threatened by it. Disney makes a point of highlighting the stepmother’s extreme jealousy of Cinderella’s beauty and her hatred of the young girl. The Grimm Brothers demonstrate this hatred by the stepmother’s constant attempt at the humiliation of Ella. When Cinderella asked if she could go to the ball, the stepmother reprimanded her for even considering going to the ball looking as vile as she does. The stepsisters assumed their mother was trying to help them; however, once again the stepmother was conceited and wanted her daughters to marry the prince so she could be recognized and respected. The stepmother was also quite demanding and cruel in both stories. According to the Grimm Brothers, the stepmother poured lentils into the hearth and told Cinderella she must pick all of the lentils out if she desired to go to the ball. In Disney’s story, she forced Cinderella to cook all of their meals, do their laundry, and clean the house. Even with how dreadful she treated Cinderella, Cinderella never disrespected her. Not only was the stepmother demanding of Cinderella, but even to her own daughters. In the Grimms’ tale, when the messenger arrived with the golden shoe looking for the owner, the stepsisters’ feet were too large. The mother was so determined to have her daughters marry the prince, she forced them to cut off parts of their feet so the shoe would fit, finishing with the cruel demand to swallow the pain. This is far removed from anything Cinderella would do especially to her own children. This shows, yet again, the inverses of characters’ morals in this classic.

Along with these varying morals and aspirations, two major themes are scattered throughout the story: sacrifice and judgment. Self-sacrifice was seen with the stepsisters when they brutally removed portions of their body in order to be accepted by the prince, which proved useless in the end. Cinderella made self-sacrifices by choosing to be humble and respectful to her stepmother and by choosing to help the stepsisters with their dresses rather than make her own. This theme pairs perfectly with Christ’s words in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The second major theme is judgment. The stepsisters’ hearts were full of arrogance and conceit, and they were judged accordingly. The Grimm Brothers describe the haunting event where the stepsisters’ eyes were plucked out by the bird on Cinderella’s shoulder during the wedding. Judgment is not always bad, simply a conclusion based on one’s choices. Cinderella was humble, kind, and a servant to others and was ultimately rewarded for her actions. The Bible often announces the rewards of humility and kindness; James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” Proverbs 22:4 explains the wages of humility are riches, honor, and life. This is applicable to eternal life as well: Matthew 20:16 says, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” In the end, the sacrifices and responses of Cinderella were judged accordingly, and she was granted a beautiful life and husband. The stepsisters and stepmother, however, who desired only to please themselves, paid the ultimate price in the end.

The use of symbolism is frequent in both versions of Cinderella. In many ways, Cinderella represents a Christ-like attitude. She was rejected and terribly punished in her own home, yet continued to serve others with love, willingness, and humility. Christ also came to the world to serve others and demonstrate love and humility even when persecuted. When the stepsisters arrived at Cinderella’s wedding in the original, they desired to befriend Cinderella so they could share in her wealth and recognition. They attempted to beg Cinderella for forgiveness, however, Cinderella ignored the sisters, and the once beautiful girls lived in pain and blindness the remainder of their lives. This is symbolic of people in the world who choose to neglect God’s word and live out their carnal desires. When the bird removed the sisters’ eyes, Proverbs 30:17 comes to mind. It reads, “The eye that mocks a father, that scorns an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures.” Just as Cinderella ignored the sisters, so will Christ ignore the evil on the Day of Judgment. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 reads, “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” Matthew 7:23 reads, “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Another example of symbolism is the likeness of Cinderella’s relationship with her stepsisters to the Biblical story of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Luke 16:19-31 describes the story of how a rich man mistreats poor Lazarus. When both men die, the rich man calls up to Lazarus from Hell and requests just a drop of water to quench his thirst. Likewise, in the story of Cinderella, the stepsisters were tormented by their judgment and sought refuge in the very individual they disgraced. The final demonstration of symbolism is the false promises of the stepmother. Three times the stepmother promised Cinderella permission to attend the ball as long as she completed her tasks.  Each time, however, Cinderella was met with rejection and disappointment. This represents how Satan can promise individuals their innermost desires in exchange for something else; however, he never fulfills his agreements and many are left disappointed like Cinderella.

Although written during different centuries and varying in minor details, both the Grimm and Walt Disney versions share similar values and lessons. Cinderella is often regarded as a light-hearted fairytale with the classic happy ending; however, when truly analyzed, it outlines many real-life applications of consequences and judgment, humility and reward, and biblical symbolisms. Cinderella showed humility and respect in the presence of cruelty and arrogance. The stepsisters chose selfish desires over good morals and were judged accordingly, spending the rest of their lives as cripples. The stepmother was the epitome of jealous hatred and conceit, the opposite of Cinderella’s gentle nature. Elements of the story symbolize the rewards God honors the humble with, judgment upon the wicked, and deceitful promises of the Devil. Cinderella is not simply a fairy-tale for children; rather it is comprised of moral lessons that individuals of any age can benefit from.

Bibliography

BibleGateway.com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 100 Versions and 50 Languages. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

“Cinderella.” Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Web. 12 Nov. 2015. <https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/016.txt&gt;.

“Cinderella’s Story — Disney Princess.” Disney Princess. Disney Entertainment. Web. 22 Nov. 2015. <http://princess.disney.com/cinderellas-story&gt;.

The Depiction and Ideals of Women in Fairytales

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Melissa Yeh

In the classic stories of the poor maiden girl who turns into a princess, or the frail, beautiful girl rescued by the prince, the typical archetype takes a particular form paired with specific attributes.  Fairytales build characters to inspire children, as the female protagonists become a role model to young girls.  For these protagonists, the usual stages of the their life are the good girl, the good wife, and the good mother.  Their behavior sets an ideal in beauty and innocence, usually remaining passive in nature.  This leads to their dependence on other characters.

Fairytales are designed to leave an impression on children.  They are designed to teach children how they should behave regularly each day.  Through the interactions of the characters, a framework or model is created to shape the belief system of the child at a young age.  At the same time, the journey the characters go through present a sense of life; they invoke curiosity, “their spirit of wonder,” as well as a growing anticipation to know the outcome.  The natural response of the child is to root for poetic justice and to have a desire for a sense of adventure, all woven into the child’s imagination, creating a lasting impression.  The characters themselves express a range of emotions, attitudes, and feelings.  These include heartfelt love, compassion, faithfulness, and tenderness; the hero figure promotes justice and resolve but also carries virtues such as mercy and diligence.  The characteristics the female protagonist holds also impact the reader at the same level.  Her standards and attitude toward not only other characters but also herself leave an impression and provide an example to the child.  Eventually it leads to developing ideas about family life, what priorities should be determined, and the most important values in life.  However, these personalities have constantly changed along history from the moment they were first written.  As history changes, the standards people uphold also change.  This paper only analyzes how the original fairytale descriptions and plots depict women.   The fairytales reflect the behavior of ideal women in a different time frame, while expressing fantasy and teaching moral lessons to children.

When describing the gender ideology of the main female character, the components can be divided into three highlighted stages in her life: the good girl, the good wife, and the good mother (Erum para. 10).  Not every fairytale covers each stage, yet recurring aspects in different stories build the model of the ideal character.  The good girl stage is the most frequently seen in fairytales.  The stereotype promotes qualities where the young girl is obedient, submissive, and gentle.  Take Cinderella, for instance: she begins with a perfect life with her father and mother, and tragedy befalls her; her mother becomes ill and passes away (Beust & Hale 74).  Her response in significant as she proceeds to continuously listen to instruction and prays to God daily.  Her submissiveness withstands the torment the stepsisters and stepmother put her through.  She remains humble and diligent, never complaining and waiting patiently.  Obedience is emphasized; Cinderella is rewarded for hers through a supernatural agent.  In the Charles Perrault version (and the Disney version), her anguish of being unable to attend the ball is answered by the appearance of a fairy godmother (Beust & Hale 76).  She gives Cinderella a beautiful gown, a coach, and glass slippers.  In the Brothers Grimm version, Cinderella runs to the tree by her mother’s grave, where a white bird flies by to drop anything she wishes for.  In this case, the bird drops a gold and silver dress.  On the other hand, a famous example of disobedience is Red Riding Hood.  Her mother specifically tells her to stay on the path to her grandmother’s house.  As the story goes, she strays off the path and as a result, gets eaten by the wolf.  As children do, Red Riding Hood learns from her mistake, knowing not to repeat it in the future.  The second time another wolf appears she ignores him to avoid his evil intentions (Beust & Hale 315).  Another part of the typical responsibilities the good girl has is taking care of household chores.  She has this expectation, which is meant to influence readers, being young girls, to have the same expectation.  Cinderella worked morning until night; she carried heavy pails filled with water, cooked meals, and washed the floors (Beust & Hale 75).  Snow White was expected to cook food for the dwarves, make their beds, wash, sew, and knit; the home is her responsibility (Beust & Hale 304).

The next stage the female character encounters is the good wife (Erum para. 17).  She is subordinate to her husband and passive.  This does not mean she is unhappy; she is perfectly content with her life and never complains.  Shortly after, she enters the stage of being a good mother (Erum para. 18).  The goal in her marriage is to give birth to healthy children.  In Sleeping Beauty, the king and queen long for children.  The queen especially feels shame for being unable to bear a child.  When they receive the princess, they are overjoyed (Beust & Hale 272).  Rapunzel also has the similar situation where the king and queen desperately want a child.  The mother figure is symbolic toward a good household.  Cinderella’s godmother was helping and caring toward her (Beust & Hale 76).  The absence of a good mother disrupts the harmony of the household.  In Hansel and Gretel, when the good mother dies, the loss affects their lives, as their stepmother wants to leave them to starve in the forest (Beust & Hale 202).  The cycle starts from the good girl to the good wife to the good mother who parents another girl, so the cycle restarts.

General characteristics a female protagonist has are beauty, grace, honesty, and forgiveness.  Another underlying message is it is a prerequisite for a lady to attract a gentleman.  Snow White is known as the “fairest if the land” according to the fairytale; her beauty invokes jealousy especially in the evil queen (Beust & Hale 300).  At the same time, it saved her from the huntsman sent to kill her.  It also influences the reaction of the dwarves, no anger when she was in their home, and the prince who never even talked once to her.  For Cinderella, her stepsisters tried to guarantee she would not go to the ball, to eliminate the competition for the prince’s hand in marriage (Beust & Hale 78).  Even at the ball, she catches the attention of everyone around her.  Specifically her small feet define her femininity and no other girl could fit into the glass slippers (Nanda para. 7).  Masculine traits were less desirable.  Another major characteristic is her passive roles.  She mainly waits patiently for the male lead to come and rescue her from her life.  She is submissive and self-sacrificing as a wife and then a mother.  Rapunzel is stuck inside her tower.  Sleeping Beauty is immovable under her spell.  Cinderella must wait until the prince finds her with the other glass slipper.

These characters teach a lesson, each reflecting that of the women and ideals in the time periods of when the original plots were written.  They define beauty and what is attractive; the move in grace in peaceful manner.  They represent the shape of a role model for young girls.

Bibliography

Beust, Nora E. and Jeanne Hale. Mostly Magic. Eau Claire, WI: E.M. Hale, 1958. Print.

Erum, Tazreen. “The History of Gender Ideology in Brothers Grimm’s Fairy Tales.” The History of Gender Ideology in Brothers Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Academia, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.

Nanda, Silima, Dr. “The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales.” (2002): n. p. Valleyinternational.net. IGNOU. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.