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Grimm Brothers Cinderella Feminist Criticism

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Cinderella: Through the Perspective of a Feminist Critic “Oh, fairytales, where desperate, naïve girls sacrifice everything for their so-called prince charming”. The realities of these childhood classics are controversial, sexist, and dark, yet, it’s also adored by millions of young girls around the world. Cinderella, an often sugar-coated story, is a great example on how sexism and gender stereotypes prevail in literature. The Grimm Brothers touch on a variety of devices, from characterization to symbolism, all revealing the inequality in not only fictional literature but our real-life society as well. A feminist literary critic will interpret these controversial themes and apply their beliefs of equal rights into the study of the Grimm Brother’s Cinderella. Throughout the story, the characterization is heavily influenced by gender roles and sexist stereotypes. The role of the stepmother and stepsisters is to solely use their power as a source of evil in order to bring down Cinderella, while Cinderella is depicted to be beautiful yet weak and …show more content…

The gruesome scene of the sisters who were demanded to “cut off your [their] toe” and “heel” (Grimm 3) shows the sacrifices women make for the sake of men and being loved by one. Feminists will view this to be an unequal way of seeing sacrifice because it is very rare that we see a guy sacrificing everything for a girl. Often times, we see girls changing their lives in order to please men, which is untrue in real life. Because of the influence of sexism in literature, women are viewed to be easily manipulated. The “gold and silver” (Grimm 2) Cinderella begs for symbolizes expensive goods used to win a prince’s heart. This shows a degrading attribute in how women use materialistic objects to appeal to men. The subtle symbolism seems innocent at first, but after a feminist-lens analysis, sexism and gender roles are

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