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Examples Of Isolation In Cinderella

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In “Cinderella,” the heroine is emotionally, physically and socially isolated. She is forced to endure stressful verbal and physical situations alone, without the emotional support that a friend, family member or mentor would provide. Because of their lack of support emotionally isolated characters are more vulnerable to outside attacks and manipulation. The death of the mother and the replacing of the mother with an unsuitable substitute, verbal and physical abuse that eventually leads to the reduction of a character to a caricature and the forbiddance to interact with society contribute to Cinderella’s emotional isolation. Cinderella loses her mother at a young age. Her mostly absent father remarries. The new bride, a shrewd yet beautiful woman, has two daughters of her own. She resents Cinderella for being prettier than her two daughters and tries to remedy her state of jealousy by making Cinderella’s life harder. She …show more content…

Cinderella’s notion that her existence is an unacceptable occurrence pushes her to believe that all desires are forbidden, an idea evident in her askance of a twig from her father rather than a more valuable gift. The twig grows into a tree that grants her all of her wishes as long as she remains good and pious which remedies her feelings of invalidation. The tree is supposed to be an alternative mother, one that rewards her piousness and goodness by providing her with material gains. However Cinderella’s isolation does not stem from a lack of material gifts, but rather of emotional connections. The tree, by virtue of its non-humanness, cannot grant the maternal love that Cinderella is looking for. Instead of alleviating Cinderella’s dead mother syndrome the tree gives her a glimpse at the life she could have had if her mother had not died, resulting in her feelings of loneliness and envy

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