Ruth Panttaja Cinderella Sparknotes

Elisabeth Panttaja, author of “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior” and former professor at Tufts University, expounded on many details of the story of Cinderella such as the similarities between the biological mother and stepmother of Cinderella and other factors that influenced Cinderella (658-659). One of the most encompassing themes of the story is that of parental abandonment, an issue that affects Cinderella and the real-world. Although Panttaja focussed on the mother-daughter dynamic in the story, she may have neglected to analyze the lack of a father figure in the story and how it affects Cinderella.
Panttaja begins by reviewing the role that Cinderella’s biological mother plays in the story and in her daughter’s life (659). She claims

that Cinderella’s mother plays a crucial role in the outcome of her daughter. In real life, this typically comes from the form of direct and constant contact between mother and daughter. But how can this involvement occur if she is not physically present? Someone may turn to the other parent, her father, to fill this role of parental-intercession. However, Panttaja may neglect to mention and analyze the father’s presence, or the lack thereof, in the story. This could lead the reader to believe that Panttaja may not have considered the parental influences that affected Cinderella and her outcome.
The next claim that Panttaja asserts is that another creature took the place of Cinderella’s mother.

Panttaja credits the tree that Cinderella planted on her mother’s grave and the birds that inhabit it with the spirit, direction, and wishes of Cinderella’s mother in the original Cinderella story (659). Although this is a valid idea that shows one way that her mother still influenced her life beyond the grave, there are a multitude of other factors, such as a father figure and other family members, that could be just as valid. Giving all of the credit that she did to the other creatures, Panttaja seems to be stretching a little bit on her reasoning and may not credit the human characters with what they deserve. The reason why the belief that other creatures replaced Cinderella’s mother could be flawed is that these replacement beings do not have plainly visible signs that show their

effectiveness.
Another component of Panttaja’s critique was a comparison of the morals and actions of both the biological mother and the stepmother of Cinderella (660-661).

Throughout the article, Panttaja proved that both mothers were working towards the same goal, to “[get] her married to the ‘right man’ (660).” However, history can verify that the father of a girl can be quite stringent on who he allows his daughter to marry. In this sense, Cinderella’s father could have had just as much of an influence on who she married as her mother had. This also demonstrates that Cinderella’s father may not have been given sufficient thought in order to be attributed with some of her major successes.
Panttaja continues by implying that Cinderella acquired her prince because she was pretty and that her prince was enchanted by her (661). Nonetheless, there could have been other factors in this matchmaking process that Cinderella was not made aware of; for instance, the intentions of her father could have influenced this situation. Cinderella’s father could have also wanted the best husband for his daughter, just as Cinderella’s mother had (660). Again, Panttaja may not have spent enough time contemplating the hidden actions of Cinderella’s

father.
Overall, Panttaja has many valid and refined claims as to the hidden presence of Cinderella’s late mother. However, because there seems to be a lack of consideration of the presence of Cinderella’s father on Panttaja’s part, it leaves readers with an incomplete picture of all of the factors in Cinderella’s outcome. Panttaja’s key points can be substantiated but some of her points could be elaborated and therefore she may not have all of the components of the story featured in her critique. Panttaja could have given more thought to Cinderella’s father and then her critique could have informed the reader that much more. To conclude, by focussing on the complex mother-daughter dynamic of Cinderella and her biological mother, Panttaja may have overlooked the role that Cinderella’s father plays in her life.