Michaela Bailey
Denton
World Lit-3
Question 1
One folktale that has multiple versions is the story of “Cinderella/Ashenputal”. Each story contrast the two time periods and cultures of France and Germany. The story of Cinderella was written for royalty, while Ashenputal was written for peasants. In Cinderella is a much more gentler take on the story, suggest that it was written for the upper-class. It involves The King’s Ball, a fairy godmother, and all other actions to create a harmonious conclusion. In the end Cinderella also forgives her family for her mistreatment. She also wears glass slippers instead of gold because these would be only something you could get with great wealth.
In the German version the subject matter is much more raw because it was written for more of the lower-class. Pagan magic, spell casting, and self-mutilation are much more violent and aggressive than the fairy dust and glitter found in Cinderella. Peasants would also never go to a ball, but would be able to identify more with a wedding feast. In Ashenputal the slippers are also made of gold because that was a precious metal to its audience, who would not even be able to imagine a glass slipper. Also because it is German, there is no “happily ever after.” It was considered just for the stepsisters’ heels and toes to be cut off and their eyes to be plucked out by birds.
Both stories deal with a young girl who, with the help of a little magic, is able to find her prince and live happily ever after. Needless to say on of these versions is much darker than the other, but the story sends an overall good message.
Question 2
The stories of “Sleeping Beauty” and “Snow White” both share the common theme or motif of being brought back to life with a kiss. ...
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...gers to see how fat they had gotten. Instead Hansel stuck out a bone to make the witch think that they were still skinny in order to by time. Hansel and Gretel eventually escaped from the witch’s house and lived happily ever after.
Both of these stories deals with the motif of the wicked stepmother. Cinderella is probably one of the most famously know stories about a wicked stepmother, while in some versions of Hansel and Gretel, they do not even mention the step mother. In both stories, the stepmothers do not care for their stepchildren one bit. In Cinderella the stepmother forces her to be almost like a slave, and in Hansel and Gretel, the stepmother wants to get rid of them completely. In my opinion, the story of Cinderella demonstrates this motif better because the stepmother is more involved throughout the story and is the main cause of Cinderella’s despair.
Did you know that there are more than 900 different versions of Cinderella? Well there are. In this paper I will only be talking about four, three stories and one poem. The three stories I’m talking about are called “Yeh-Shen”, “Ashenputtle”, and “The Algonquin Cinderella”. The poem is called “Interview”. All of these stories have their own twists and turns to make it their own unique version.
There are many versions of Cinderella, and according to Cinderella History, there are between 350 and 1500 different versions. Each version is different in some way, such as the plot or characters, yet similar too. In the Brothers Grimm version titled “Aschenputtel” and the Perrault version titled “Cinderella,” there are many differences and similarities. The differences have made society’s view of Cinderella different; between “Cinderella” and “Aschenputtel,” the differences are quite obvious, which makes each story unique. The most noticeable differences between Aschenputtel and Cinderella are the characters, the clothing, and the fate of the stepsisters.
As the world has transformed and progressed throughout history, so have its stories and legends, namely the infamous tale of Cinderella. With countless versions and adaptations, numerous authors from around the world have written this beauty’s tale with their own twists and additions to it. And while many may have a unique or interesting way of telling her story, Anne Sexton and The Brother’s Grimm’s Cinderellas show the effects cultures from different time periods can have on a timeless tale, effects such as changing the story’s moral. While Sexton chooses to keep some elements of her version, such as the story, the same as the Brothers Grimm version, she changes the format and context, and adds her own commentary to transform the story’s
The Grimm brothers were motivated to change the stories up a bit as their tales captivated more people. They incorporated a softer side with a primary moral of the story for the readers (GrimmFairytales.com). It is from these original Grimm versions that modern fairytales, such as Cinderella, originated from. The original version, published in 1812 portrays Cinderella as a poor child who lost her beloved mother; she lived a life of misery as a result of this death. Her father remarried and took on a new life, letting the evil stepsister torment Cinderella.
Even though the time periods are very different (by 200 years) the formulas for their fairy tales seems to remain constant. Character development, which is very important in fairy tales is both well done and accurately portrays the living situation for a character in the time period of when it was written. Perrault's version seems to put Cinderella's family in a higher, well-off situation of the Grimm's because she is still abided to obey the rules that her dying mother had set for her. Something that you would see a women do in the late 1600's. Her higher class and the rules of her generation has set her to not have revenge on her step-sisters and helps them marry in the end, making a happy ending to the story for everyone. This also gives off the rules of the time to the young girls who would be listening or reading this story back then. They knew their place in society and tales like Perrault's reinforced it. The Grimm's version, titled Ashenputtle, has key elements in the story line that make it very different from Perrault's Cinderella. The theme becomes very different as the end of the tale results in revenge on the step-sisters from Ashenputtle. This variation in the story line represents the setting in which the Grimm's either lived in themselves, or the living situation of the people who related this tale to the Grimm's.
Even though the overall setting of each story remains the same or very similar, there are smaller settings that have both similarities and differences. Each version of Cinderella takes place in a time long ago where women have no rights and basically had to make a living through marriage. But, the seasons each story takes place is different between each version. For example, the Grimm brothers’ version of “Cinderella” starts in the Autumn. Autumn is an archetype that represents tragedy and death. In the beginning of the story, Cinderella’s mother dies which is tragic for Cinderella and results in her crying at her grave everyday as explained earlier. The “Little Golden Book Cinderella” takes place in summer. Summer is an archetype for marriage which relates to a common topic in the story which is true love. Also, the story ends with a wedding which also relates to the season the story takes place in. One very important setting in the “Little Golden Book Cinderella” is the garden. The garden also prevails in the film Cinderella and they share a very similar purpose in both. A garden is an archetype that means paradise and innocence. This is Cinderella’s place of paradise in both of these stories because she goes here to get away from the horrors and malice she faces inside of the house from her stepsisters and her stepmother. She comes here in both stories to weep and let out her emotion from everything she has gone through. In the “Little Golden Book Cinderella” it states “Cinderella ran into the garden. She wept and wept.”(Little Golden Book CInderella). But in the Grimm brothers’ version, rather than praying at a garden she “went out to her mother’s grave every day and wept, and she remained pious and good” (Grimm). This is completely different than the other two settings and this relates to the darker theme the author attempted to
Cinderella is the story of a girl whose stepmother does not treat her well. Cinderella goes to a ball, with no help from her evil stepmother, and meets her prince charming. Cinderella and her true love get separated from each other and the only way for the prince to find Cinderella was from a single shoe that Cinderella left behind. “Cinderella” by the Brothers Grimm and "Cinderella" by Charles Perrault have many similarities as well as many differences. Cinderella’s sisters in the stories were similar, but their lives played out different. Cinderella’s father also did not treat her that well. Luckily, Cinderella did have someone looking out for her in both versions. The birds and the fairy godmother both looked out for Cinderella and helped her out.
Have you ever wondered how the same story can have so many different versions. Cinderella is a great example. I know it might sound absurd, but the Disney Princess version of Cinderella isn’t the only version. There are hundreds of Cinderella stories. For example, “The Irish Cinderlad” which is the Irish version of Cinderella. Not every Cinderella is the same, but they all follow the basic plot line. “The Irish Cinderlad”, the Irish version, and “Cinderella”, the French version, have similarities, but they also differ from each other. A difference between the two stories is that they originated from different cultures and social necessities. Using the motif, the damsel in distress, I can prove my theory.
Due to the time period gap of 253 years, the story of Cinderella was changed by Disney for the purpose of making it more child friendly and to possibly make more income. Because of this change/greed, there are many psychological elements of the original story that have been lost and in which, it loses the true values and lessons the Cinderella story once had. In both tales, there is a beautiful girl, who is forced to be the slave/maid of the family by her wicked step-mother and step-sisters. The prince announces that he will be having a royal ball and after being denied the permission to attend the ball by her step-family, she disobeys and miraculously eventually does attend the royal ball where she meets Prince Charming and lives happily-ever-after, after passing the shoe fitting test (of course). There are a few ideas in which the original and the adaptation share in common such as the characters, talking animal and the few basic plot points, other than that, there are no other similarities. In the Disney adaptation, Disney puts in singing, music and a mythical fairy-godmother that will grant ones every wish and turn pumpkins into carriages. Disney also puts in the idea that happily-ever-after is accomplishable with the help of magic and disobedience. Unlike the unrealistic Disney adaptation, the original Grimm’s version of the story has a better grasp on
A lot of the fairy tale stories that we have seen as young adults and even as adults are original folk tale stories that have been modified and rewritten to accommodate our new cultures. Cinderella happens to be one of these stories that have been changed over the years. There are many different versions of Cinderella, an African Cinderella, a Hungarian Cinderella and even a Chinese version. All of the Cinderella’s are similar in plot, but the author dictates the story’s theme based on the people whom he is writing for which completely changes the story’s tone, mood and other elements. While Perrault's version stresses the values and materialistic worries of his middle-class audience, Grimm’s' focus is on the harsh realities of life associated with the peasant culture. Perrault’s and Grimm’s Cinderella’s have the same plot, but their writing style is different which completely modifies the tale.
In the story Cinderella there are many versions. Over the years writers think of different ways to write the classic Cinderella. Some of the different versions of Cinderella are from China, Germany, Grimm, and Disney, to name a few. There are so many different views also, but one thing remains the same in the Grimm’s Cinderella and Disney’s Cinderella. She is characterized by being with her new step-sisters and stepmother. Cinderella is also viewed as a maid. Despite bearing some minor similarities, the differences between Disney’s Cinderella and Grimm’s Cinderella are striking.
The origins of the Cinderella story date back around the beginning of the first century, or as far back as oral stories have been told. Many variations
There are two different versions I am going to be writing about, one version is the cinderella movie where a beautiful white woman who is treated poorly by her stepmother and sisters because she is different that doesn't have any friends but animals and how she ends up getting invited to a ball and wishes for a dress and gets clear slipper to wear to the ball but the stepmother tries to ruined her plans but she ends up going and losing her slipper to be found by the prince and he later finds that she fits the shoe and he marries her. And the other version is the egyptian version when a beautiful white women is kidnapped to be taken to Egypt to work as a slave and she really doesn't know everyone one so she didn't have friends so her only
In “Cinderella”, there are several characters, themes, and elements that hide a specific meaning. An archetypal character in the fairy tale is the Fairy Godmother. Throughout the story, she helps Cinderella in many ways. She is a mentor because she helps Cinderella get through her hard times . The Fairy Godmother also acts as a mother figure to Cinderella when no one loved her and she is forced to do all the chores possible. One night as Cinderella dreams of going to the ball where her family was present, her Godmother makes her wish come true. She makes a carriage with horses and finally makes Cinderella a beautiful dress. Perrault’s version of “Cinderella” states, “Her godmother then touched her with her wand, and, at the same instant, her clothes turned into cloth of gold and silver, all beset with jewels” (Lang). When her Godmother does this gesture, she picks the color gold for a reason. Gold is an archetypal element meaning majestic and represents wealth. As Cinderella is dressed in this beautiful gown, she goes to the Prince’s three night ball. The ball acts as an archetypal theme because it is a nightly ceremony in which Cinderella attends and meets the
Cinderella was written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and it is the story of the life of Cinderella who went from being treated like a maid by her family to marrying a prince. The story starts with the death of Cinderella’s mother and the remarriage of her father to a new woman who was vile just like her two daughters unlike Cinderella who is good and pious. Cinderella’s family mistreated her and made her do all the chores and was given only gray smocks to wear and had no proper bed. Her father went to a fair and bought her a twig that grew into a hazelnut tree by her mother’s grave where white bird granted her wishes. The king announces a 3 day festival at the castle, she wanted to go and her stepmother assigned her to finish an impossible task