Preview

Cinderella Marxist Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
897 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cinderella Marxist Essay
Cinderella Essay
Mr. Macpherson
October 25, 14
By: Emily David

Cinderella is one of the most known fairy tales of all time. The main character of this fairy tale is named Cinderella. This fairy tail has proven to be a perfect reflection on Marxist Criticism. Marxism comes out in this story when Cinderella’s father re-married a mean woman who forced her to be the house slave, and cannot go to the royal ball because of her lower social status. This story brings out the power that comes with being in a high social class. The main objective of Marxist Criticism is to look at power relationships, and the power that comes with different social classes. Cinderella shows many different examples of Marxist Criticism throughout the entire story. Throughout Cinderella, the theme of power relationships is very apparent. Cinderella was born into a rich family, but when her father re-married she was to become the household slave. This is where the power of different social classes comes into play. Cinderella’s step mom was jealous of her good looks and she felt the only way she could gain power would be by giving Cinderella harsh treatment, “She could not bear the good qualities of this pretty girl, and the less because they made her own daughters appear the more odious”. (Perrault, Cinderella). Cinderella’s stepfamily abuses their power by forcing Cinderella to cook and clean, and do every household chore. She is only given rags to wear and is forced to sleep in a straw bed while her stepsisters sleep in big rooms, “She slept in a sorry garret, on a wretched straw bed, while her sisters slept in fine rooms” (Perrault, Cinderella). All of this shows the struggles that come with having more power in a society than someone else. Despite all of the harsh treatment that Cinderella is given, she is still considered to be far more beautiful and kinder than her stepsisters, which only maddened her stepmother more because it made her own daughters look bad. Being in the higher

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Throughout Elizabeth Panttaja’s article, the audience is provided with impressive mental illustrations in which portray the Cinderella society recognizes today as deceptive. The idea Pantajja is presenting to her intended audience comes from the foundation of the original Cinderella titled “Ashputtle.” Panttaja discloses that “Cinderella….has little to do with her being a standup citizen and more to do with her intense loyalty to her dead mother and a string of subversive acts; she disobeys the stepmother, enlists in forbidden helpers, uses magical powers, lies, hides, dissembles, disguises herself and evades pursuit”(Panttaja #60). The superior statement may be directly interpreted as Pantajja believes firmly that Cinderella is horribly misbehaved, disrespectful alongside deceitful.…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin with Cinderella has always been that girl mistreated very poorly but has never give up. Her stepmother begins to show her true colors after her and her father got married. “She employed her in the meanest work of the house” (Perraultt). Cinderella step mother was very mean and only cared about her real daughters in the French story. But in the Chinese story Yeh-Shen real mother died. And her father married someone else and her stepmother did not like Yeh-Shen so she mistreated her and killed Yeh-Shen’s fish which was her only friend she had. “She would also scoured the dishes, tables, etc.…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The essay Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior by Elisabeth Panttaja, the author analyzes the classic fairy tale that most of us have grown up knowing of Cinderella. The author’s analysis is a bit abrupt and right to the point, but also cleverly stated. The authors essay is about Cinderella being crafty, and not the normal perception of Cinderella being a princess who is virtuous and patient. It is also described in the essay that Cinderella may not be as motherless as it seems in the classic fairy tale. We think to assume that because she has magical powers looking over her that she is also of hierarchy morally. It is an example of the complexity in what is portrayed as a simple story. A story about good Vs. Evil, and good always overcomes.…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cinderella, the main character of the world’s most famous children’s tale, exhibits traits that, if looked at carefully, show she is a morally compromised character with sadistic tendencies. This is what Elisabeth Panttaja, an ex-professor at Tufts University, argues in “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior”. Panttaja uses the role of Cinderella’s mother to highlight the heroine's unsavory actions. Cinderella and her mother constantly employ treacherous tactics to manipulate people in the name of riches and power instead of love, as readers have been led to believe. Panttaja’s article, “Cinderella: Not…

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cinderella Man Essay

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Cinderella Man is a movie about a boxer over coming poverty. The boxer was said to give the American people hope. He gave the people hope by putting up a stand against the rich, and fighting. He fought for what was right and overcame what he had to. The boxers name was James J. Braddock. Braddock overcame poverty, with a fight of his life where he helped the whole United States with fighting courage.…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In contrast, there is Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and their tale of "Ashputtle". The German version, with its pagan magic, spell casting, and self mutilation is much more violent and aggressive. This style was obviously written for lower class citizens, peasants. Peasants would have a wedding celebration as opposed to a ball, and gold slippers were considered precious and invaluable to the audience, the idea of glass slippers would have been incomprehensible to them. The punishment of the stepsisters would leave a modern audience wondering, what happened to "happily ever after?" How can Cinderella possibly enjoy her happiness while carrying partial guilt for her step-sisters blindness? However, in the German culture of that era, the punishment was viewed as just and Cinderella would have her happiness without guilt.…

    • 563 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cinderella Man Essay

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages

    ‘Choose two or more of the central characters and describe them. How has Ron Howard directed your response to them? Do these characters change during the course of the film?’…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The life of people during the Great Depression was poverty stricken, jobless, and too many it was hopeless. Life during this time was portrayed very well in the movie “Cinderella Man.” James Braddock is a perfect example of life during this time. He was as poor as the movie displayed him to be and he did have to go receive relief money from the government to heat his house and keep his children. “His Irish-Catholic back round played a major role in the values he held onto, specifically the one of family.” He repaid the relief money as soon as he was able to afford to, in both the movie and real life. James Braddock also fought and worked with a broken hand, just like the movie displayed. “Jim gets an out-of-the-blue, last ditch shot to fight in Madison Square Garden- and more importantly, a chance to put food on the table for those he loves. (The Movie 1)” The two days notice about the fight Braddock received in the movie was accurate to reality. James went back into fighting to feed and keep his family together.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Snow White Gender Analysis

    • 1334 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The princesses are all fair in nature in terms of their skin color and beauty. While they are capable of doing more, they all want to get married and be the housewife that cooks and cleans all day. These girls all live their lives, unaware of the privileges they have due to their beauty, race, and social status. While Cinderella is forced to be a maid, she still lives in a castle and receives help from her fairy godmother. Privilege is not something usually thought about, and judging from the actions (or lack thereof) by the princesses in these films, they seem to be unaware of the privileges that surround them from their fairness (McIntosh…

    • 1334 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In cinderella this young teenage girl wants to live up to her dream, but never get's because of her stepmom and stepsisters. Always in the end she ends up achieving what she was trying to work so hard for in the beginning. In all conclusion the story of cinderella shows the theme in literature to be sometimes predictable and other times unrecognizable.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While Cinderella’s mother and the Fairy Godmother are not named, her stepmother and stepsisters are and hold many conversation with Cinderella and each other that revolve around numerous things like clothing, chores, nature and kindness. But, people still tend to have a problem with the story, thinking it feminist. In the film, the stepmother and step sisters obsess over their own looks and constantly put down Cinderella, even her name is a mockery. Then there is also the fact that the Prince ‘saves’ her from her life of misfortune and misery. But I don’t think that this is the case. Kenneth Branagh, the director of the film, balances the old with the new. He keeps aspects of the original Walt Disney film while modernising the character of Cinderella. The film focuses on the message that you should be kind to others, even if they are not kind themselves instead of beauty. Cinderella is also shown to be kind, courageous and brave with a unique personality which the Prince fall in love with. Yes, she is beautiful, but the Prince does not fall for her beauty but rather is charm. Also, though the Prince does ’save’ her in a sense, she didn’t really ‘need’ saving and Cinderella does a lot of the ‘saving’…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Princess Culture

    • 1199 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The princess culture can have a phenomenal effect on how little girl’s mature, perceive themselves, and even how they see their roll as a woman today. One of the biggest impacts on the princess culture is the tale of Cinderella, which we are going to dive into. Cinderella unmasks some of the questions that go along with this issue. We will look at how it shows how girls look at themselves, where the industry of the princess culture has steered us, and how different cultures use their values in the versions of folk tales and versions of Cinderella. This leaves us with one question asked in the article by Tomchin an author for Jewish Woman International ask, “How would you define the potential harm in the princess culture?”…

    • 1199 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many versions to the famous fairy tale Cinderella. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s German version of Cinderella, “Aschenputtel,” is a household story of a young girl named Cinderella who eventually marries a prince. This specific version of Cinderella gave birth to the Walt Disney version of Cinderella that most Americans know today. However the stories are very different. The Grimm brothers’ version is much darker and gory then the classic American version. Small differences like this shed a different light on Cinderella and her journey to a “happy” ending.…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States is said to be and has the properties of a democracy. A democracy is defined as a government in which the people decide matters directly through town hall meetings or voting on a ballot box. There have been a few major laws passed that have been passed by Supreme Court in which the people didn’t have a vote or consent on the law. Two examples of this are legalizing gay marriage and gun laws. The United States has also in a way turned into an oligarchy. It has come to where the rich are starting to rule the country. If the U.S was truly a democracy the government would look to all of the people for their vote and consent on a law, and their should be equality between the first, middle, and lower class people.…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The movie is still keeping the gender stereotype alive and thriving even in people’s homes. In today’s America, where women are in the vanguard of dignified treatment, respect and equality for women, the gender role in fairy tales especially Cinderella is still the same. As Silima Nanda points out, “Ambitious women in fairy tales are always portrayed as evil from within, ugly and scheming, wielding over other women and men” (Portrayal of Women 246-250). While there has been efforts to rewrite fairy tale like Sleeping Beauty for the screen, Cinderella remains the passive girl with an evil stepfamily. The stepmother is typecast as wicked, cannibalistic and self-conceited because she wants a better life for…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics