Eastern Variations Of Cinderella

Have you ever wondered if there were other versions of Cinderella? Well there are, there isn’t just one version of Cinderella. Each version is a little bit different from each story because of the culture behind it. For example the “Cinderella” we know and love and the Ireland version the “Cinderlad”.The two cinderella stories, “Cinderlad” the Irish version and “Cinderella” the French version have both differences and similarities. Using the Motif “Damsel in distress” I can show that they are different & similar because of the culture they originated from and their social necessities.

In our two tales, both Cinderella and Tam suffer from injustice and harassment. The evolution of magic or fairies has helped them to overcome the living condition. Both Cinderella and Tam gets help from miraculous power. Cinderella gets help from the fairy by getting a new dress and glass shoes. That gives her a chance to join the royal party. Also, Tam gets help from the magic fish bones and the bird. She gets a beautiful dress and two jeweled bai. Both Cinderella and Tam has new shoes; their shoes were a gate to royalty. Both have dreams of getting royalty marriage. Even they do not know the prince how he looks like, or where he lives. They are believed the mentality produced consecrates the power of the man in exchange the life of a submissive woman.

Cinderella, Aschenputtel, Little Saddleslut, and Cenerentola. These are all examples of different versions of the same story. What is the appeal in adapting a story? Why or how is the meaning changed for adaptations? How have stories been adapted? What effects do the stories and adaptations have on people? There are numerous renditions of the same folktales, most differentiating due to the fact that they were each adapted to be based on their cultures. Certain cultures alter specific aspects of the story so that it can be more relatable to their society. However, these alterations can affect how people interpret the meaning or purpose of the story.

The other two tales being analyzed are The Algonquin Cinderella and Tam and Cam. These tales have more differences than similarities. Their similarity is within the magic. The magic is based off of the ideals of the time. In The Algonquin Cinderella, the magical aspect about it is her wonderment and innocence. In Tam and Cam it is within her religion, Buddhism. They are similar because they are social strengths based on the time and culture.

Cinderella is a story that is known to be the best fairy tale in the world. There are more than 700 different versions of Cinderella in the world. Throughout history, "Cinderella" is a story that is interpreted by different countries such as; Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Although the name, clothes, and other details alter in each story, the theme remains the same. In each story, there is an outward transformation of "Cinderbottom" to "Cinderella." In the French "Cinderella" by Charles Perrault, the Native American "Oochigeasw" by an unknown author, and "A Chinese "Cinderella" by Tuan Ch'eng-shih, all of them show the transformation of Cinderella from "rags to rich" because of her kind heart and dedication

The central focus of this unit is to identify the elements of stories and how their themes may relate to each other in a variety of ways. Students will be guided in a variety of comparison and contrasting activities in order to gain understanding of main ideas, characters, and cultural themes across similar fairy tales from different cultures. This unit focuses on three different versions of Cinderella from different cultures. I chose to focus on the common elements of the fairy tales and the cultural differences because this was something the students were struggling with previously.

Triumphant reward in spite of unjust punishment is a universal sentiment that transcends languages and cultures. There are thousands of folktales and fairy tales that are firmly rooted in individual cultures, yet the tale of Cinderella has been told through many centuries and throughout the far corners of the world. With thousands of versions of this classic tale in print worldwide, the tale is believed to have originated with the story of Rhodopis, a Greek slave girl who is married to an Egyptian King. The story of Rhodopis, which means rosy-cheeks, dates back to 7 BC and is attributed to a Greek geographer named Strabo. The Chinese variation of this fairy tale is named Yeh-hsien. The Chinese version is traceable to the year 860 and appears in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang by Duan Chengshi. Yeh-hsien is a young girl, motherless and in the control of her stepmother, who befriends a treasured fish. The jealous step-mother kills the fish, but it’s bones provide Yeh-hsien with magical powers, eventually enabling Yeh-hsien to escape the control of her step-mother for a royal life. The Story of the Black Cow which is found within the pages of Folk Tales from the Himalayas by John Murray, published in 1906, the child who is mistreated by a stepmother is a male and the role of savior is portrayed by a snake, with a cow serving as the moral of the story, faithfulness. These two versions of Cinderella carry many common threads that are

"Cinderella" is perhaps the most recognized fairy tale in history, one of the few that spans across generations and cultures. Every prominent culture in the world tells some similar version of this story of a poor girl going from rags to riches; over 700 versions have been accounted for worldwide. In America, numerous authors have penned their own version of the classic folktale. One of these is Tanith Lee, a prolific writer of stories for young adults. Lee cleverly found a way to include all of the traditional elements of the classic "Cinderella" tale, but added a new twist: Cinderella, or the character similar to her in this story, had malicious intentions for the prince, and her purpose throughout the tale was a malevolent one: revenge.

Cinderella’s story is undoubtedly the most popular fairy tale all over the world. Her fairy tale is one of the best read and emotion filled story that we all enjoyed as young and adults. In Elizabeth Pantajja’s analysis, Cinderella’s story still continues to evoke emotions but not as a love story but a contradiction of what we some of us believe. Pantajja chose Cinderella’s story to enlighten the readers that being good and piety are not the reason for Cinderella’s envious fairy tale. The author’s criticism and forthright analysis through her use of pathos, ethos, and logos made the readers doubt Cinderella’s character and question the real reason behind her marrying the prince. Pantajja claims that

Authors James Poniewozik and Peggy Orenstein are both concerned with the increase of princess culture among young girls. Poniewozik’s article “The Princess Paradox” and Orenstein's article “Cinderella and Princess Culture” discuss similar aspects of princess culture that could be potentially harmful to it’s audience. Both Poniewozik and Orenstein take on a feminist perspective in their articles. Specifically, both authors discuss feminist themes in princess culture but Orenstein focuses on toddler to pre-teen aged girls while Poniewozik is more concerned with specifically teenagers.

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.

The three versions of Cinderella below share other common characteristics of the culture such as the belief that is you do good then you will be rewarded, the idea that if you keep your head down, do not complain too much then you can achieve something through your hard work and the belief that if you do wicked things then you will be punished her those actions. Using the components of culture across the three different versions of Cinderella chosen, I have concluded that the culture of all three novels is similar. On pg. 237 of our text it says that

The “Cinderella Story” has been a classic trope in literature throughout the ages, and there are numerous variations of the story across Africa, Asia, Persia, and even Native American Algonquian traditions. Some cite the earliest appearance of Cinderella as far back the first century CE with Greek Scholar Strabo’s mention of the myth of Rhodopis. This story recounts a woman whose sandal was snatched by an eagle as she bathed in the river and carried to the king of Memphis, who immediately sought out the woman to whom the shoe belonged. However others cite the first documented Cinderella story as the tale of Ye Xian, written by Chinese scholar Duan Chengshi in 850 CE. In this version, Ye Xuan is gravely abused by her stepmothers and sisters, and her only friend is a fish, which the stepmother cruelly kills and eats. However, a magical spirit appears from the fish bones, granting Ye

On Google.com the word “significant” refers to something that is “sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention; noteworthy.” For something to have a significant impact on someone, it must be meaningful, relevant, and important. As stated by Thomas Hardy, “A story must be exceptional enough to justify its telling; it must have something more unusual to relate than the ordinary experience of every average man and woman.” It must have something meaningful, something that pulls a reader in- so that the audience can laugh when the character laughs or cry when the character cries. It must be significant. A story that fits the definition of “significant” is one by Adeline Yen Mah. In the novel “Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter,” Adeline Yen Mah pulls the reader in by using the themes of loneliness and acceptance- something that is faced by nearly all at some point in their life.

The book Chinese Cinderella, written by Adeline Yen Mah has four main themes. They are: family & relationships, abandonment & loneliness, self-esteem and history. The author Adeline Yen Mah, also wrote the book Falling Leaves but Chinese Cinderella was written for younger audiences. Chinese Cinderella is actually an autobiography, not a fairy tale. Adeline (the protagonist) has to work for her dreams, not by wishing from a fairy godmother. This book was set in the 1900’s (1941-1952). At that time WW2 was happening making Adeline’s life harder. The moral of this book would be that no matter your circumstances, you can work hard and achieve your dreams. This book is really captivating and it tells the reader not to underestimate anyone. That’s why I think this is an amazing book for everyone to read.