The story of Cinderella has become a classic fairy tale, known around the world, and past down from generation to generation. Yet, over the years, the story has been rewritten to better relate to different cultures. While some things never change, authors still manage to convey different messages by making the story their own. This can be clearly seen when the Grimm brothers version of Cinderella is compared to Charles Perrault’s version of Cinderella. While the core of the story does not change, the moral, tone, and “magical” aspects of the two stories are clearly shaped by the different cultures in which they were written in. In Grimm's’ Fairy Tales version of Cinderella, published in 1812, Cinderella’s mother's death is described in …show more content…
Eventually, it was the two sisters turn to try on the slipper. Both had small feet, but not small enough to fit into the slipper, so they each cut off a piece of their foot in hopes of fitting into the slipper. They almost succeeded too, but the birds from Cinderella’s mother’s grave would tell the messenger the truth, and each sister was sent back home. When messenger returned to the house the prince went with him and he asked Cinderella's father if he had another daughter, Cinderella was called for, and she tried on the slipper which fit her foot perfectly. When the wedding day came the doves that had help Cinderella picked out the stepsisters eyes and blinded them as punishment for their wickedness (J. Grimm and W. Grimm 85-93).
However, this is not the case in Perrault’s version of Cinderella. In Perrault’s version there are no doves sent by Cinderella’s late mother, but rather Cinderella has a fairy godmother who uses her magic to help Cinderella attend the ball. The fairy godmother turns a pumpkin into a coach, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman, lizards into footmen, and her old rags into a dress of gold and silver and warns Cinderella that the spell will break at midnight and everything will turn back as it once was. Similarly, when Cinderella enters the ball she meets the prince and they dance while her stepmother and sister do not recognize her. However, in Perrault’s version
The dove and his friends are a source of protection for Cinderella. The dove gathered up all his friends and helped her pick up the lentils that her stepmother threw, just so she could attend the ball. Near the end of the story, when the sisters "came to curry favor", the dove pecked their eyes out. Sexton uses vivid descriptions and literary devices to develop imagery. The similes used such as, "Cried forth like a gospel singer", "Fit into the shoe like a love letter into its envelope”, and "like two dolls in a museum case" really helped form an image in my mind. The descriptive detail displayed images in your head instead of just reading words. The way Sexton worded the line, "All but Cinderella were preparing and gussying up for the event", played an image in my mind of girls freaking out and stressing about looking perfect for the prince. The images of the sister cutting off
In her article, “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior,” Elisabeth Panttaja illustrates the important role of parents in a childhood. She talks about the importance the mother plays in all versions of Cinderella as well as evidence showing what lack of parenthood does to children. Panttaja claims by way of the Grimms Brothers version of Cinderella and how each mother wants to guarantee a bright and happy future for their daughters by marrying them off to the prince. The similarities between the wanting of Cinderella and the stepsisters married- and doing anything to get it- contradicts the idea that Cinderella and her mother were morally superior, or different at all, from the stepmother and sisters.
The prince has every girl in the kingdom try on the slipper. Once the prince arrived at Cinderella’s house her two stepsisters immediately did whatever they needed to do to get their feet to fit in the slipper. The first one cut off her toe, and the second cut off her heel. When Cinderella came out, because it was her slipper, her foot slipped right in. On the day of the wedding the two stepsisters came and tried to benefit from Cinderella’s good fortune, but pigeons came and pecked their eyes out, punishing them to be blind for the rest of their lives for the malicious way they treated Cinderella. We assume that Cinderella and the prince marry, and of course, lived happily ever after.
The Disney version of the story, Cinderella, illustrates a different moral than that of the original story. This story believes an ideal child should do what they are told and follow directions and in the end they will reap the rewards. In this story, Cinderella’s mother dies and her father remarries to a woman who has two daughters. While the daughters are pampered, Cinderella must work to keep the house from falling into disrepair. She befriends the animals and they help her to get ready to go to the ball by finishing her chores and making her a dress. When the evil stepsisters discover the dress they become furious because the mice used trimming from their clothing when making the dress. In revenge, the stepsisters rip the dress, leaving Cinderella out of options and out of hope. Just as Cinderella is about to give up, her fairy godmother appears and with a wave of magic creates a dress and turns a pumpkin and the mice into a horse and carriage. The only problem is that everything will turn back to what it was beforehand at midnight. Cinderella and the Prince fall in love at the ball but she must quickly leave because the
A lot of the fairy tale stories that we have seen as young adults and even as adults are original folk tale stories that have been modified and rewritten to accommodate our new cultures. Cinderella happens to be one of these stories that have been changed over the years. There are many different versions of Cinderella, an African Cinderella, a Hungarian Cinderella and even a Chinese version. All of the Cinderella’s are similar in plot, but the author dictates the story’s theme based on the people whom he is writing for which completely changes the story’s tone, mood and other elements. While Perrault's version stresses the values and materialistic worries of his middle-class audience, Grimm’s' focus is on the harsh realities of life
The last difference between the two stories is quite disturbing. In Disney’s Cinderella, when it came time to try on the slipper the two stepsisters tried their hardest to squish their feet into it. However, Grimms version is drastically different. Instead of trying to just squish their feet in, one step sister cut the heel of her foot off and the other cut her big toe off. A reason to why Brothers Grimm might have included that part is because they wrote this story in 1812. Disney did not want to have that in their version of the story because of the audience that watches, such as little children and their families. It would not be as enjoyable nor as humorous if they included that gruesome part of Grimm’s story.
Have you ever had a dark and gloomy day? Imagine having that feeling every single day. The Grimm’s Cinderella was written in 1812. 1812 was one of the harshest years for America. An event that formed it was the war against Great Britain and the United States. Not only was there a war, but there was also a series of disastrous harvests. Taxes got higher, and more than twenty people who were involved with a Luddite Act were hung. In 1812, there was also the only assassination of a prime minister, who was shot dead in the House of Commons. The Grimm Brothers have put the dark times of 1812 into their stories. Some of their stories contain violence, child abuse, and wicked mothers. They came up with these types of stories after their father died, and when they struggled out of school. That gave them enough time to research and put together a collection of folk tales. Now you can see why the Grimm’s Cinderella was dark and gloomy. Although the plot stayed the same, over the years, the story did get lighter. Disney’s Cinderella came out in 1950. In 1950, learning information was not by fear, but by engaging happiness. Disney’s Cinderella transforms the Grimm’s Cinderella into a happier atmosphere. While some similarities between Disney’s Cinderella and Grimm’s Cinderella are noticeable, the differences are pronounced, especially when referring to the slippers, her father, and the ball.
The Grimm Brothers version of Cinderella is a written down oral story that people passed down from generation to generation, meant to teach a lesson about piety and good behavior. Before the Grimm Brothers ever wrote it down, the story had been told several times by memory. It is thus not surprising that the descriptions of certain events in the story, such as the way Cinderella went to the Ball, are lacking in details. It is obvious that these parts of the story are unimportant to the overall message of the story. Instead, it focuses on the piety of Cinderella and the wickedness of the step-sisters. Through the events of the story, it becomes obvious that the goodness of Cinderella is justly rewarded, and that
After the ball Disney ends their story with the prince searching for the maiden who fits the shoe. Cinderella is locked away so she wouldn’t be able to try it on the glass slipper and then is rescued by her furry friends. She then shows that the shoe is indeed hers and she and the prince live happily ever after. In Grimm’s version, although a lot more graphic, we are told that in a desperate attempt to fit the coveted shoe, the step-sisters cut off pieces of their feet and trick the prince until two crows relay him a message exposing their deficit. The crows then pluck out the eyes of the step-sisters and they, along with their black-hearted mother, are left as beggars. Disney’s version doesn’t go into detail about the consequences of the Cinderella’s step relatives.
Adults realize that despite Cinderella’s charismatic traits, Cinderella’s behaviour in Perrault’s tale is not acceptable for today’s modern western woman.
The story that most of us know as “Cinderella” actually has a lot of different versions. These different versions contain several elements that are similar, but yet even more elements that differ from one another. The three main difference between all the different versions of this story are the characters, how others treat the main character, and the setting in which these stories take place.
The Prince searches for his beloved beauty using a golden shoe left by Cinderella at the ball. The shoe signifies the "happy ever after" ending that so many people in society pursue. The step-sisters, who are both "delighted because they [have] lovely feet," (80) represent many citizens in society. Although their feet are beautiful, the step-sisters are willing to take their foot and "slice it off and put on the slipper" (83) to live the blissful ending they were hoping for. As the image of self-mutilation indicates, people across the world take extensive measures to try and obtain the happiness that they have sought after for so long.
Fairy tales make an important part of cultural prophecy, because they contain wisdom which is passed from parents to their children. They contain basic moral and ethical guidelines for children. Images and symbols used in fairy tales can help to judge about cultural, ethical, social and moral values popular in the contemporary society. Changes and similarities, which can be found in the popular fairy tale Cinderella by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, version of 1812 and the Disney version of Cinderella (2015), can help to realize the changes in cultures and historical epochs.
Each person in the world has heard of Cinderella, no matter what kind of version it may be. Cinderella is the one fairy tale story that has been popular and will always be the one tale that has to be told to children. Words and story lines might be twist and turn, but in the end the knowledge of the story will be learned in similar ways. As we all know when one story is told another is created, when one is at its best then another is at its worse. One version will always be better than another, but no matter what version it might be the story will be told.
Cinderella is a fairytale for children that displayed love, loss and miracles; however, when it is further analyzed, it has a deeper meaning. Cinderella is a story about a young girl who became a servant in her own home after her father remarried a malicious woman with two spoiled daughters. She was humiliated and abused yet she remained gentle and kind. She received help from her fairy godmother to go to the prince’s ball after her stepmother rejected her proposal. Cinderella and the Prince fell madly in love but she had to leave at twelve o’clock and forgot to tell him her name but she left her glass slipper behind. He sent his servants to find her and Cinderella was the only maiden in the kingdom to fit into the shoes. She