Another Cinderella Story?

            Fairy tales have existed for as long as people can remember, they have been passed down from one generation to another. It only makes sense for there to be changes done to the stories depending on where they come from or what time period it is. Most of these fairy tales tend to pick up on the stereotypical passive female character. It must’ve seemed like after while of following the same plot and having the same characteristics that someone must’ve wanted to change it up a bit. Yet it wasn’t really until recently in which we started to see the female leads break out of the typical passive role. Cinderella is just one of these fairy tales which is constantly latching onto the gender stereotypes.

           One of the many versions of Cinderella is Charles Perrault’s, “Cinderella, or The Little Slipper Made of Glass.” In this story we are presented with Cinderella who is ordered by her step mother and step sisters to run around doing all the household chores. Cinderella’s step sisters are dressed in lavish clothes, while she is left in rags. Despite this treatment Cinderella remains kind towards her step sisters and even gives them advice in how to dress for when seeing the prince at the ball.

            In “Female Heroes in Myths and Fairy Tales” by Björn Sundmark it says, “First of all: the feminine heroism filtered down to present day readers and viewers of fairy tale anthologies is passive and suffering.” It is obvious to the reader that Cinderella is a passive character because she never takes initiative in defending herself or doing as she wants. Cinderella continues obeying as she is told to do and doesn’t even bother to tell her father of the unfair treatment. When the day of the ball had finally come, “Cinderella watched them on their way for as long as she could; seeing them no longer, she began to cry” (Perrault 183). Before this part in the story, Cinderella seemed fine with taking any insults thrown at her and helping her step sisters. Now after they have left, she is finally able to cry, showing her suffering which in this case happens to mainly be because she wants to go to the ball.

            Cinderella is only able to, “succeed because of their excessive kindness and patience” (Stone 3).  In the end of the story, when she is getting married to the prince, “Cinderella, who was as goodnatured as she was beautiful, arranged for her two sisters to live in the palace, and married them on the same day to two great lords at the Court” (Perrault 189). In this version, Cinderella goes as far as to marrying off her step sisters. In other adaptations of the story we see the step sisters getting punished in all sorts of ways. Even though they mistreated her, we must not forget that Cinderella is kind enough to forgive them and give her step sisters their own happily ever after.

            “Gender Stereotypes in Cinderella (ATU 510A) and The Princess on the Glass Mountain (ATU 530)” is an article that comes from the Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics by Kärri Toomeos-Orglaan. “Obedience, humility, friendliness, helpfulness and, for practical reasons, the ability to manage with housework, are characteristics expected from a good woman. (Apo 1990: 24–27)” (Toomeos-Orglaan 50-51). The character of Cinderella is used to convey what is wanted from a woman. Cinderella never objects to her orders and was the only one doing the household chores. She is so friendly that she even helps her step sisters in getting dolled up, as if the way they treated her never happened. One must also still keep in mind how gorgeous she is, because even, “Cinderella has to do no more than put on dirty rags to conceal herself completely. She is a heroine only when properly cleaned and dressed.” (Stone 4). Even with the good qualities, Cinderella would be nothing if it wasn’t for her beauty. Although beauty itself also doesn’t mean everything. In the story we see the step sisters also being described as beautiful, yet we don’t see them with any of the characteristics listed previously. It isn’t until these inner qualities and beauty come hand in hand that we get Cinderella, which makes her a prime example of what is considered a “perfect” woman.

            In more recent times, we still see the occasional adaption of a classic fairy tale. Cinderella is just one of these fairy tales to have an abundance of versions. Yet, they still seem revolve around having a passive female lead. Most seem to base the story off Charles Perrault’s version, which has an excessively kind Cinderella. For the most part we continue to see Cinderella portrayed as beautiful, obedient and kind.

 

Works Cited

Perrault, Charles. “Cinderella, or The Little Slipper Made of Glass.” Complete Fairy Tales, translated by Christopher Betts, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 182–191.

Stone, Kay. “Things Walt Disney Never Told Us.” Journal of American Folklore, vol. 88, no. 347, 1975, p. 42., doi:10.2307/539184.

Sundmark, Björn. “Female Heroes in Myths and Fairy Tales.” (2007). Web.

Toomeos-Orglaan, Kärri. “Gender Stereotypes in Cinderella (ATU 510A) and The Princess on the Glass Mountain (ATU 530).” Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics, vol. 7, no. 2, 2013, pp. 49–64.