A Cinderella Story

A Cinderella Story

When examining adaptations of fairytales you must look at the original source. This can be a very difficult task because with fairytales we never really know where the original came from. I will base my paper on the theory that the original tale of Cinderella comes from the Grimm Brothers version of Ashputtle. In comparison we will examine two movies. First there is the Disney version Cinderella. Secondly we will look at the movie 'Ever After'.

Characterization is an important aspect of any story or film, because it sets what the entire film will be about, and how the audience will absorb it. In the story of "Ashputtle". The characters include Ashputtle = Cinderella, The Stepmother, and the stepdaughters, the prince, and who I think are two of the most important characters the father and the spirit of Ashputtle's mother. The character of Cinderella is portrayed as a good little angel that always does what she is told. She is also very weak, because she doesn?t stand up to her family. The characters of the stepfamily are portrayed as evil and vindictive. They treat her rotten, and they make her sleep in the ashes. But in the end all of the parties get their just desert. The stepfamily gets what they deserve. The mother was sent away, and the stepsisters who on her wedding day tried to integrate themselves with her, ended up being punished with blindness. The interesting thing about the character of the father was that in the story he remains alive whereas in the two films he dies, but in this one even though he is alive he still is very mean to Ashputtle, and treats her as a servant after her mother dies.

In the first film "Ever After", the characters include, Danielle Debbarberack= Cinderella, the stepmother, and stepsisters (both good and bad), the prince, king and queen, the evil servant who betrays the king and queen, and the father. The character of Danielle was portrayed as a "modern" women of the 16th century, who is as independent as she was beautiful. But even with all her trials and tribulations she manages to fulfill all of her dreams. The prince is an important character in this film also. He plays the role of a spoiled prince, who does not desire the life or the marriage that he was destined for, and when he finds Danielle he falls in love, then rejects her and then ends up with her in the end.

In t...

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...k and maybe get a little insight into their souls? "With his new wife were brought two stepdaughters? Their faces were beautiful and lily white, but their hearts were ugly and black as coal?"

Some of the exact differences between the different versions include, the fact that in the story we see that after the mother dies the father is still alive but he stays alive throughout the story and does not love his daughter the same as the other two girls. Whereas in the Disney version the father dies and that is when the stepmother and the two stepdaughters start to treat (Cinderella/ashputtle) differently. In the movie ?Ever After? we see that the father also dies and again that is when the evilness in the family comes out. A few other differences that were discussed include the differences in the prince's portrayal, in one version he was outgoing and honest, and in another he was very shy, and reserved but very dedicated.

I found that all of the versions were interesting in their own manner and I wish that I could have discussed the hundred or so more tales from different areas of the world. If you enjoy fairytales then this is one that you will be sure and want to check out.