The Seven Variants of Charles Perrault's Cinderella - Book Report/Review Example

8. Cinderella In the recent past, there lived a man whose wife had recently passed away. This man had only one daughter who was very beautiful, kind and intelligent. This young girl was called Cinderella (Perrault 602). Cinderella had inherited her good looks, brains and personality after her mother whose kindness was known by all the neighbors. She also took after her father who was a humble man. It is this humble nature that drove Cinderella’s father to remain passive and quite around his second wife and Cinderella’s step sisters. Cinderella’s father had married a mature woman who had two daughters who took after her in everything. The woman’s daughters were as mean, rude and ugly as their mother and they disliked Cinderella with a passion especially the mother. The reason why the woman hated Cinderella is because everybody used to praise Cinderella and not her daughters. This happened in school and at home, in exams, at parties and every other place. Boys always came home to visit Cinderella or were seen escorting her home and parties. Every cool kid in school invited Cinderella to their cool parties but did not invite her sisters. The wicked step mom never allowed Cinderella to attend any of the parties. Instead she was to remain at home and clean the house, do laundry, prepare meals for the family, help her sisters get ready to attend family events that the family had been invited to and many other household chores. Cinderella did all this work patiently and did not complain to her father because her step mom was harsh and even her father was afraid of her. Cinderella did not have any good or comfortable things in the house even though it was her house before her dad remarried. She slept in the attic on a lumpy mattress full of mice and bedbugs. She had the cheapest and most worn out clothes than another person in that house. This happened to her while her sisters both slept in their own spacious rooms, with neat and good quality mattresses. They had all kin of clothes from the latest designer wears to the latest trends on e bay and on the internet. Cinderella had a dark place in the attic that she would frequently sit and cry for hours on end asking God why he took her mother away from her and letting her suffer alone. Event though Cinderella had the worst of everything she was by far the most beautiful girl in the house hold and this not only mad her step mom jealous but the step sisters even more jealous. Cinderella was not allowed visitors in the house or even time to play or attend school functions. She was always indoors working while the sisters attended this parties. She would open the door for them when they came late from these parties. They would talk endlessly about the parties and Cinderella was very unhappy as she also wished to attend the parties. The sisters were mean and would deliberately tell these stories so that Cinderella could hear and become sad to their amusement. They also bragged to her about the parties giving out exquisite details of how the parties were, but Cinderella never said anything. She continued to excel in school and her beauty grew day by day to the envy of her step mom and step sisters. The time came when the sisters had finished their exams and were waiting for their results to join college. Cinderella had passed her exams and was given full scholarship by the government. The step mom obviously did not agree because her daughters could go but only with parental assistance in terms of school fees. The all went to college and chose the same course which was fashion and design. It was obvious to the class that Cinderella had a talent in fashion and design. Her sisters would make her do their homework but the teachers always found out that they had cheated and were mad to do it under supervision, therefore they failed miserably. Cinderella’s step mom had issued Cinderella with a stern warning never to attend any parties at school and if she did the sisters were to report her. She was also not to have relationships with any boy in school or else her education would be terminated immediately. Cinderella did not want to leave school as it was her only hope for a brighter future and a source of freedom from her evil step mother; therefore she tried hard not to do anything that she had been warned about. They finally graduated from college started to look for employment from fashion houses, stores and clothes departments. It is widely known that the fashion world is very tricky and challenging before one gets a footing as the competition is very high. Then one day an announcement was made by a leading fashion house called Gianni Versace. The fashion house wanted a fresh young designer to join their team. It was like a dream come true for the sisters. The announcement was made via a television advertisement while Cinderella’s step mother and sisters were watching prime time TV and Cinderella was making dinner. Gianni Versace wanted the young aspiring designers to come in their own designs and one person would be chosen to join them. The head of Gianni was a handsome man who the ladies really admired and wanted to have for themselves. She had screams form the living room and rushed only to find the sisters talking about what they would design and wear at the auditions. Cinderella knew she did not stand a chance as she was quickly forbidden from attending the auditions. Instead she was to design clothes for her sisters since she was more talented than them. Cinderella designed their clothes and helped them choose the accessories. They knew they would win or at least one of them would, since the clothes were designed by Cinderella the talented one. They even joked with her that she should come to the auditions, but she pretended not hear. Cinderella did not hate her sisters even though they were mean to her; she always forgave them in her heart. The day finally came and the sisters put their clothes and accessories after which their mother escorted them to the auditions. Cinderella was left in the house alone and she immediately started crying as they quickly disappeared in the dark. From nowhere Cinderella had a sweet grandmotherly voice calling out to her, “dear child why are you crying, is it because you ant to go to the auditions but you can not?”( Perrault 604). Cinderella was shocked and afraid but after seeing the harmless woman she silently nodded. “Come”, said the woman, “today you shall attend the auditions”. The woman then told Cinderella to get her certain things in the house to enable her go to the auditions. She was asked to bring a pumpkin, six mice, a rat and six lizards. Cinderella wondered how these weird instructions would enable her to get to the auditions, furthermore she wondered if she would make it in time as it was getting late. The woman was a mythical creature called a fairy, she used her magical wand and turned the pumpkin into a beautiful golden coach, the mice turned into six beautiful, healthy white horses she had ever seen, the rat turned into a chauffer and the lizards turned into escorts (Perrault 600). Finally Cinderella’s fairy god mother asked her to go and bring her best clothes and with the tap of the wand they turned into the most amazing design she had ever imagined, plus a pair of glass slippers to match. The woman gave her a final warning, “child, the magic can only last till midnight so come home soon or else your clothes and everything would go back to their normal state” (Perrault 602). Cinderella quickly agreed left. When she arrived she was the most beautiful woman with the most unique and amazing outfit that the other contestants had ever seen. They confessed to her, even her sisters who did not recognize her. The head of Gianni quickly noticed Cinderella and asked for a dance which she agreed to but before long the clock struck midnight and Cinderella ran away before the announcement could be made. The head of Gianni chased her but did not catch up with her; he only managed to grab one of her glass slipper. At the announcement, the head of Gianni who had fallen in l9ove with Cinderella announced that the winner was the owner of the glass slipper and that the following day every lady was to fit it and produce the other pair. When the messenger, the next day, tried to fit the slipper to the ladies in town they did not fit any of them. Finally, Cinderella’s house was last to tried and the sisters tried fitting the slipper until their feet bled but to no avail. When the messenger was almost giving up, he saw Cinderella and asked her to fit the shoe. The wicked step mother refused but the messenger insisted and when Cinderella fitted the shoe it fit her perfectly to the shock of everybody around, she also removed the other pair. The messenger was given orders to bring the lady back to the fashion house where, the head of Gianni proposed to her and of course gave her the job. Cinderella forgave her sisters and step mother and asked them to come and share her wealth and success at Gianni. They all asked for forgiveness which she promptly did and hugged them crying. Work Cited Perrault Charles (1628-1703)"Seven Variants of Cinderella" Fairy Tales: A closer Look at Cinderell. Print Read More