Van De Water: The Story Of Cinderella

Carine Kessie

Prof: Van De Water

ENG 2010-29

Friday 3, 2017

Cinderella

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Cinderella. She lived with her wicked stepmother and two stepsisters. They treated Cinderella very badly. One day, they were invited for a grand ball in the king’s palace. But Cinderella’s stepmother would not let her go. Cinderella was made to sew new party gowns for her stepmother and stepsisters, and curl their hair. They then went to the ball, leaving Cinderella alone at home. Cinderella felt very sad and began to cry. Suddenly, a fairy godmother appeared and said, “Don’t cry, Cinderella! I will send you to the ball!” (Donahue 2015). The godmother did her magic, changed Cinderella’s old clothes into a beautiful new

The plot of Cinderella displays the incredibly conservative nature of this text. This plotline allows the interpellation of traditional beliefs concerning femininity and encourages the blind acceptance of these beliefs, such as the idea that all one has to be is “as kind and sweet as she” (Perrault, 77) to capture the prince’s heart. The role of females and the importance of femininity in finding a husband are also important messages in Cinderella. For example, Cinderella is described as being of an “exceptionally sweet and gentle nature. She got this from her mother, who had been the nicest person in the world. . . The poor girl endured everything patiently, not daring to complain to her father” (Perrault, 67). This description describes the ideal bride for a man of these times because she not only is beautiful and kind, but also won’t complain about having to do work. The typical plot also reinforces the idea of outer beauty to initially attract the man and inner beauty to capture his heart. The happy ending of the story reaffirms the common assumption that children’s stories need to have happy endings in order to protect childhood innocence. Finally, the plot sets up roles for people to be interpolated into. The story encourages little girls to want to be Cinderella and to believe that they will be rescued from their evil families one day and placed into their rightful roles as princesses, which further perpetuates the traditional beliefs of femininity expressed in the

The most striking adult-centered element is the incredibly didactic nature of Cinderella. Perrault’s version is the most didactic because the moral is actually clearly stated at the end of the story in verse form. Although Perrault’s moral is strange it still serves the clear purpose of telling the reader what this story is supposed to teach them. The other four versions of the story of Cinderella are not as straightforward; however, the moral teaching is still present in the contents of the story. The moral to be carried away from Cendrillon, Bubba the Cowboy Prince, and Ashputtle is that if you remain a kind-hearted and respectful individual in all circumstances you will one day be rescued from your circumstances to live happily ever after. The moral of Cinder Edna is similar to the others; however, this story encourages the reader to rescue himself or herself as well as to just be yourself because in the end you will be happier that