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Cinderella literary criticism
Cinderella the characters
Cinderella the characters
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There once lived a beautiful girl whose father married a mean step mother with two daughters. With the help from her fairy god mother she was able to marry a prince and live happily ever after. That summary of Cinderella was the one I used to watch as a kid made by Disney but that’s not the only. There are a lot of other versions of this story made in Germany, Egypt, and China. But the two that really stick out are the France version written by Charles Perrault and the Iraqi. The French and Iraqi versions of Cinderella have many similarities and differences because they have similarities like god mother figures, mean step mothers, and magical transformations. First reason why the France and Iraqi version of Cinderella are alike, is because they both had god mother figures. Both Cinderella’s have godmother figures to help them at their most. Like in the Iraqi version the little red fish was the god mother figure because in the text he said “Your kindness is not in vain a new mother do you again. Come to me when you are sad, and I shall help you to make you glad” (Iraqi). The French Cinderella god mother which was the one Disney based theirs off of “Touched her with her wand, …show more content…
Like in the France version the god mother said “Go into the garden, and you will find six lizards behind the watering pot. Bring them to me. She had no sooner done so but her grandmother turned them into six footmen” (Perrault). Then in the Iraqi version “Just when the queen arrived with the golden clog but a cock flew into the yard crowing Cock-doodle-dow Let the king’s wife know They put the ugly one on show and hide the beauty down below” (Iraqi). The reason why these magical transformations happed is because of the god mother figures and the animals blessing Cinderella for her kindness. Now that I have told you all the similarities of both stories it’s time for me to sum it
Cinderella is a childhood fairytale created through Disney that highlights fairy godmother magic, animated nature with talking animals, and happily ever after ending. While the latent meaning we grow
It all begins with “Once upon a time” and ends with “and they lived happily ever after”. “Cinderella” is a very widely known story that many children around the world look up to and admire through their entire life. The history of this story, how scholars interpret this tale, and how the authors have retold the story are all key points to keeping this story fresh and popular. Most of the time when people hear the story of “Cinderella”, they think about the Disney version and maybe it is time that changes. All in all, the story brings light to everyone’s life even if they only know the original “Cinderella”.
A young girl is forced to live with her step-mother and step-sisters after her father and mother die. She becomes the maid of the family, tending to their every need. Eventually there is a ball; she acquires a fairy Godmother, goes to the ball, falls in love with the prince, blah blah blah. All you really need to know is that she has a happy ending. A happy ending. No matter how much suffering she went through in her early years, at the end, it all came together and she had no more worries. And this is the problem. Cinderella is not realistic. It never was and never will be. Watching this movie when I was young made me believe there was a prince waiting for me somewhere. I grew up thinking that life was simple and uncomplicated, that I did not need to worry about the future because there was a man that would provide everything I wanted and needed. But as I got older, I realized this was not the case. I saw many of my friend’s parents divorce, people die, and the world fight with each other. My fantasy died off, and I realized I had to work hard for myself, and not others. The poem Cinderella by Anne Sexton made fun of the ending of Cinderella. She states, “Cinderella and the prince / lived … happily ever after … / their darling smiles pasted on for eternity. / Regular Bobbsey Twins. / That story.” (Sexton 11). Notice who she referenced and how she has a sarcastic tone. Cinderella and the prince smiled for others, trying to convince
Cinderella is known all around the world. Cultures are never exactly the same but yet they have some things in common. The main thing they have in common is fairy tales. The story of Cinderella is told all around the world. It is told in many different languages and in many different versions. Some cultures have other names for their Princess. In some versions the Cinderella of the story is not a girl it is a boy. Cultures have some of the same fairytales but their versions are a little different from the ones known today. One of the most common fairy tales known around the world is Cinderella. Cinderella is usually a pretty girl with evil stepsisters and a stepmother that treat her poorly.
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.
You can see from the tales themselves though, that the amount of similarities is what brings them together, and represents the way that the tale of Cinderella itself has traveled, and evolved, orally through generations, all over the world.
When most people think of the movie, "Cinderella';, they think of the animated Disney version with the little mice and the happy ending where Cinderella marries the prince and they live happily ever after. While the movie "Ever After'; is based on "Cinderella';, it is not animated, but still has many of the same characteristics as the Disney version. Of course it is not exactly the same, and since it is not animated there are many differences.
In both stories, Cinderella and Zozella are basically rescued by man from their hard, sad life, who then marries them and makes them his queen. This is sending a strong message to not only females but males also that women cannot save themselves and that they need to be “rescued” by a rich man who will marry them and provide them with a luxurious life. However, in Perrault’s “Cinderella” there is a theme which is not present in Basile’s “The Cat Cinderella”, this theme is the idea that beauty equals kindness of character. Cinderella is shown to be good of heart and also incredibly beautiful, unlike her less beautiful, mean spirited sisters, Perrault describes her as “a hundred times handsomer than her sisters, though they were always dressed very richly” (Perrault, 16). This sends the message that if you’re kind you are beautiful and if you are not beautiful then you do not have a good character. This theme is even seen in today’s society where women are judged and judge others based on appearance. This theme is not present in “The Cat Cinderella”, Zozella is beautiful as well but her beauty doesn’t make a good hearted person and this is evident when she commits murder to get what she wants. Creating the stereotypical view of women being cunning and sly in order to get what they want, and sending a message to young girls that women are heartless selfish
On the other hand, Cinderella’s perspective of what is going on around her is different in both films. In the older film she has the perspective of her being a maid as a punishment. She believes that her stepmother and stepsisters do not like her and she feels mistreated. While in the new film she has a bigger perspective of her role in the household. When her stepmother and stepsisters first arrive she has a vulnerable and open heart towards them. She goes out her way to make them feel welcomed and loved no matter how much they mistreat
It is more obvious in this tale than others, but some of these aspects are the nickname of Cinderella, the evil stepfamily, the three balls, and the beautiful slipper. However, Perrault and the brothers Grimm made some parts of the story very different. In the Grimm’s version, Cinderella’s mother was very important to her and she was very important to her father, while in Perrault’s her mother is not even mentioned and her father is more attached to his new wife than he is to his daughter. Perrault described the stepsister’s as less beautiful than Cinderella, while the brothers Grimm described them as just as beautiful but with bad personalities. Another major difference was Cinderella’s magic helper. In Perrault’s story Cinderella had a fairy godmother that gave her horses, a carriage, footmen to escort her, and new beautiful clothes, and in Grimm’s story her magic helper was birds that only provided clothes. A main difference that a lot of people would notice is the fact that in the Grimm’s tale Cinderella’s slipper was made of gold, and in Perrault’s it was glass which is what most people are familiar with. The endings of the stories also differed. The Grimm’s version ended in a much darker way. Both stepsisters got their eyes pecked out and were doomed to live a life of blindness, which was clearly not a very child friendly way to end a story. In
There are many things one has learned from the experience, although the twelve versions of Cinderella are similar to each other but yet in some way they are different, which make it unique. Similar plot and similar circumstances however, different author with different minds. They are portraying with similar knowledge but the way the story may be told is different such as the characters names, locations, and the time it was created. No matter what it is I’ve learn that Cinderella will be Cinderella regardless of the different author, different time or different title. These creations of different versions is precisely similar to when one tells another person a story and is passed on to another person than the story will be shorten with less details and added with a few other exaggerations, in which will cause the stories to be different from each other.
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.
Even though the two versions are extremely similar, they contain slightly different morals. When the Grimm Brothers wrote their story, the world was a different place and children did not need to be babied. That is why they chose to write such a cruel ending to their version. In the modern-day Cinderella, there is a profusion of magic and there is no violence, which is a change from the original story. By changing this and the ending, children receive a different message from the story. However, both stories give kids hope that they will live happily ever after.
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
Many people know her as a princess who is sitting in house where her step-mother and her two step-sisters abused her. One day, she went to the ball from the help of her fairy godmother. The prince fell in love with her of her talents. In reality, she was mostly not have survived. In reality, this is Cinderella’s story.