The Fundamentals of Society and Human Relationships in Cinderella Fairytale - Essay Example

?Cinderella Cinderella is one of the most popular fairy tales of all times. It is hard to spot a child that has not read Cinderella at some point in the early childhood, whether that is a boy or a girl. The story grabs the heart of the little children with the mesmerizing sparkling dresses of Cinderella. There are numerous noticeable elements in the story that include but are not limited to the definition of gender roles as assigned to them by the society, the definition of beauty, and the inherent power assumed by men over women. In terms of these elements, Cinderella provides children with a fair depiction of some of the fundamentals of society and human relationships. An important theme of Cinderella is male superiority. All men discussed in the story are in dominating and controlling positions and accordingly, the women are shown in submissive positions to the men. There are two men performing main roles in the story i.e. Cinderella’s father and the king’s son. While Cinderella’s father is shown to be a rich man, her mother is said to be old and sick. Death of Cinderella’s mother is an important event in the story as it changes Cinderella’s life. It does not take Cinderella’s father long to get married to another woman, and there is no mention of memories or love of Cinderella’s mother in her father’s mind or heart in the story that follows. This is suggestive of the notion that it is very easy for a man to forget a woman and that a man never falls short of women ready to be his wife, irrespective of his age. While her father happens to be a rich man, this hardly helps Cinderella in any way. Her father does not intervene anywhere as Cinderella’s step-mother and step-sisters make her their servant. This is suggestive of the ignorance of men toward women even in the position of their children, thus again mentioning the superiority of men over women in a way. Finally, when the king organizes the festival, its main purpose is to provide the prince with an opportunity to have all the beautiful girls in the town right in front of him and select anyone he wants to marry among them as his future wife. Not just this, but also the element that all girls in the town are so eager to be there at the festival, knowing the purpose for which it has been arranged suggests that men are far advanced in terms of power and superiority in comparison to women. It is understood that any girl the prince would pick up would sure be his wife, there is no question of the girl’s readiness for this. Even Cinderella, the main character of the story with whom, children sympathize and whom they love finds a way to attend the festival. All these elements imprint this fact in the minds of the children that men assume a strange and obvious sort of superiority over the women. Rapunzel Rapunzel is another fairytale that never fails to get admiration from the little readers. There are many elements in the story that spark interest for it in the children. Some of these elements include the long and beautiful hair of Rapunzel, the garden that accommodates all sorts of beautiful flowers, not to mention, the magical rampions in it, use of the long hair of Rapunzel as a rope, and most importantly, her pitiful life. For a fact, a common element between many fairytales is that the main character of girl in the story is always pretty but is in pitiful circumstances, waiting for a prince to come to her rescue. Rapunzel is no different in this sense. Marriage is an important theme of Rapunzel. All couples talked about in the story are married couples. When children read such stories in their childhood, they are raised with the assumption that marriage is the only way two people can live together and procreate in the society. Such stories lay the foundation of the fundamental status of marriage as the building block of the society and the criticism toward cohabitation and same sex marriage observed in everyday life. The story starts with the depiction of a couple of man and woman that are husband and wife to each other and have a deep longing for a child. The man is very caring and considerate as a husband as it reflects from this thought of his when his wife asks him to bring her some rampions from the forbidden garden, “Sooner than let your wife die, bring her some of the rampion yourself, let it cost what it will” (“Brothers Grimm”). When Rapunzel grows up into a beautiful girl, she is married to the king’s son understandably for how beautiful she is and expectedly as it so happens in most fairytales. It is understood that she would be married to a man. There is no question or thought whatsoever of same sex marriage or even cohabitation. Although it is not mentioned when the two exactly get married, yet near the end of the story when the king’s son is desperately looking for Rapunzel and is remembering her, he remembers her as his wife rather than girlfriend or lover, “He wandered quite blind about the forest, ate nothing but roots and berries, and did naught but lament and weep over the loss of his dearest wife” (“Brothers Grimm”). The enchantress is the only main character in the story without a husband and her character is evil. Likewise, without her husband, Rapunzel is shown to be living a life of misery and wretchedness in the desert. After all the hardships he goes through, it is nothing but the tears of his own wife Rapunzel that have the healing power to cure his eyes and return him his vision. The story clearly draws upon the factor of love in marriage between a man and a woman and its powers. The story suggests that marriage completes a man and a woman. Works Cited: “Brothers Grimm: Rapunzel.” N.d. 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