Aschenputtel And Tam Summary

Aschenputtel and Tam

Many girls must have dreamt of becoming a princess and marrying a prince just like Cinderella story. All the beautiful dresses, shoes, a magical gold carriage and a handsome prince in Cinderella story are fascinating enough for girls to give full play to their imagination. However, as growing up and having a more complicated perspective, now, the different sides of Cinderella stories are recognized, which is much more than a mere children’s story filled with surprises and magic. Both “Aschenputtel” by the Brothers Grimm and “Tam and Cam” by Vo Van Thang and Jim Larson share the theme of the failures of blended families, violence and gender roles, but they show different values because the personalities of Cinderella figures

Violence is often enforced upon the evil stepmothers and stepsisters as the results of their ill behavior towards Cinderella figures in the stories. Though both stories have violence, due to the difference in characteristics of Aschenputtel and Tam, the meanings and uses of violence are different. In Aschenputtel, the birds pick out the eyes of the stepsisters, “so they were condemned to go blind for the rest of their days” as ‘the punishment’ “of their wickedness and falsehood” (188). But in Tam and Cam, Tam kills her step sister by “pouring in the boiling water” and “has the body made into a rich sauce, and sends it to her stepmother, saying that it was a present from her daughter” as ‘her revenge’ (200). What makes these two cases different is who committed violence. Tam takes her revenge on her stepmother and stepsisters by herself, whereas birds punish stepsisters instead of Aschenputtel corrupting her own hands. This shows that the stories portray different values through Aschenputtel and Tam. In Aschenputtel, by not committing violence herself, Aschenputtel still remains innocent, soft, good, feminine and ladylike. On the contrary, Tam shows that she can be tough, strong, persistent, consistent and cruel if it is necessary. Aschenputtel and Tam give girls different ideas of how to live, and the more desirable model for modern girls is

Aschenputtel is the kind of Cinderella story that many girls would have dreamt of when they were little. She is pretty, innocent, diligent and pious, and a prince falls in love with her at first sight. She is weak and fragile, but magic from her mother and animals help her whenever she is in trouble. Finally the story ends as she gets married to the prince, and stepsisters are punished by birds. All she has done to meet the happy ending was to be pretty and good, and the prince, birds and her dead mother do all the jobs instead of her. This story shows the old fashioned and traditional image of a desirable woman. On the contrary, Tam does everything alone (even earning Buddha’s favor) to reach her happy ending, not letting others do her job instead. She can be pretty, diligent and ladylike but also strong, tough and active as well. Many girls would have fantasized more about Prince Charming with a shinning armor saving them from vicious stepsisters just like Aschenputtel than Tam and Cam. However, the society does not want the obedient, passive and quiet women anymore. There are new values and images of how ‘individuals’ behave rather than innocent and pretty ‘women’ behave. Aschenputtel and Tam can influence girls who read their stories, and girls will learn the values that each story