Cinderella as One of the Most Read Folktales - Coursework Example

Cinderella as one of the most read folktales Cinderella is perhaps one of the most read folktales in the genre of English Literature. The story of a poor, miserable girl who finds happiness as the wife of a rich and handsome prince rings a chord of empathy deep in our heart. This is a story of hardship suffered by a sweet natured and simple girl who gets transformed into a bewitching beauty with the help of a fairy godmother. This beautiful girl catches the eyes of the prince, who ultimately marries her and in the process secures ever lasting happiness for her. The girl’s cruel step mother and her two step sisters are punished in the end. However, with changing times people’s values and expectations are changing. Young children demand a more logical explanation and are not satisfied by the stories of fairies and elves. Hence, to maintain the charm and spirit of Cinderella yet make it more realistic, the director, Andy Tennant portrayed a newer version of the story in his movie, “Ever After”. Here, the fairy godmother is replaced by a live human being who helps her in her search of happiness with the Prince of France. Similarly, the writer, James Finn Garner has also given a comic twist to the original version of this children’s short story putting in a bit of didactic tone. Now let us get a closer look at all the three texts on the basis of different critical approaches. Feminist Reading of the Three Texts Grimm Brothers’ Cinderella is a creation of patriarchal society that has some fixed norms and expectations for the fairer sex. It is totally anti-feminist. This story clearly shows that the qualities such as beauty, selflessness, modesty, wealth and piousness are some of the desired traits looked for in a Christian woman. A woman in possession of these virtues is rewarded by being wedded to the most eligible bachelor. Cinderella is appreciated only when she appears in all her refinements. She has to depend on external factors (here the prince) for her happiness. This book shows that men have power over women and can grant them happiness or punish them as suits their specific character. On the other hand, Garner’s Cinderella is a purely feminist story. This book shows that women do not have to depend on men for their happiness. All they need is to get rid a good bearing of themselves and explore the path of joy. They have to shed off their foolishness in the guise of tight clothes and chemically made cosmetics and feel comfortable in sensible clothes and bearings. This story shows the death of all the eligible bachelors at the end while the ladies take a sigh of relief in comfortable cotton clothes. Here, it implies that women only dress up to ensnare the stronger sex. Even though Cinderella ends us in rags, still she is happy for she is comfortable in them. For her comfort is more important than looking attractive to the opposite sex. Andy Tennant’s Cinderella also has traces of feminist in it. The hero, Henry is attracted to the heroine, Danielle because of her intelligence and wit and not because of her outward appearance. Here, though the heroine is happily married off to the prince at the end, yet she is show to have individuality and strength as she frees herself from the grasps of Le Pieu on her own ability and before the hero could come and rescue her. Thus, Danielle does not depend on Henry for her protection. Again, here it is the queen who is shown as giving out the punishment and not the king. Thus, we can say that unlike the original Cinderella, both the modern versions show women in a brighter light. Marxist Reading of the Three Texts Cinderella represents the repressed class. Her predicament is similar to an unskilled bondage labor that has to struggle for his freedom. This struggle to overcome her miserable state is representative of class struggle depicted through out the history. The rich have always oppressed the poor. Similarly, people in position of power have misused it to serve their own purposes. This has led to revolts wherein the exploited people have looked for ways of escape. In the children’s book Cinderella finds her escape in a happy marriage, while in the “Politically Correct Bedtime Stories”, Cinderella starts her own “clothing co-op”. Here she succeeds in life with her good marketing skills. Thus, Finn Garner shows that a person can find her own liberation by her own efforts and by taking the advantage of all the inbuilt resources. In the movie “Ever After”, the Marxist reading is again very much visible. The members of the royal family have the right to punish the people before them. The step mother is an authority figure who misuses her position by exploiting Cinderella. She even sells her off simply to get back the household goods that she had pawned. Archetype Approach There are two archetype figures in the original Cinderella; One the protagonist herself while the other is her step mother. Cinderella, like the archetype heroine is a sweet, loving, docile, subservient, simple country gal who does all the work uncomplainingly. She befriends the animals and birds of the farms and finds happiness in their company. Her step mother is of wicked nature just as all the other step mothers in a majority of stories (such as “Snow White”, etc). Though Cinderella loses her archetype personality in the other two modern versions of the story, but the step mother sustains her archetype characterization. She remains the same cruel, arrogant and selfish lady who does everything to serve her own ends. Even the step sisters lose their archetype role, for in the movie the younger sister is shown to be sensitive to Cinderella’s pains. Cinderella moves out of the stereotype character when she stands up to her step mother in “Ever After”. She is shown as a stupid lady in James Garner’s book when she goes in for tight clothes and cosmetics. But, she realizes her folly at the end when she delights in her old loose clothes and do not care for others’ opinions. Structuralism Reading The structures of all the three books are different yet bound by a common thread. The story line remains the same yet there is a subtle alteration that presents three totally different stories, each delightful to read in its own rights. The original story is sentimental; James Finn Garner’s alternation is hilarious in nature, while the movie has a serious tone immersed with comic elements. All three stories follow the same structure. There is an orphaned girl who lives with her evil step mother and two step sisters. But, all three stories have been evolved differently. The children’s book follows the standard fairy tale ending where the prince falls in love with the heroine and makes her his princess. Garner’s version has the heroine liberated from the bondage of superficiality and she lives happily ever after in economic freedom in her own rights wearing sensible comfortable clothes. The heroine in the film version has more to her character than simple docility and prettiness. She is witty, intelligent and courageous lady who knows her own mind. In the original and film version the protagonist finds happiness with the prince, while the James Garner version has the protagonist living along amicably with the members of her sex with no need of the opposite sex. Reader Response Reading The three different versions of Cinderella as depicted in the three texts evoke different types of emotions in the readers. The original fairytale Cinderella evoke a feeing of wonder and empathy for the protagonist. The various descriptions of magic and fairy tale elements give fuel to our imagination and we are transformed to a whole new world filled with limitless possibilities. In this magic land anything and everything is possible. This world is equally distributed in black and white shades with no elements of grey in between. James Garner’s Cinderella has us laughing at the comic descriptions. This book is read for fun alone. It is seeped with light humor and is basically meant for young ladies. It advocates that ladies should act more sensibly and use their own resources and powers to get economic freedom. The story propagates that if a woman let go of her foolishness in dressing up and start looking inward instead of outwards for her happiness then she will be truly and fully happy. Andy Tennant’s Cinderella has both the elements of seriousness and comedy. It has the elements of fairy tale romance seeped in reality. Hence, this romance in more realistic in nature yet has the advantage of having a sentimental quality. Work Cited James Finn Garner. “Politically Correct Bedtime Stories: Modern Tales for our Life and Times”. Print. April, 1994. Bierhorst John. “The Glass Slipper: Charles Perrault’s Tales from Time Past”. Print. 1981. Andy Tennant. “Ever After: A Cinderella Story”. Movie. 1998. Read More