Cinderella Research Paper

21 July 2011
Cinderella’s Story - A Different Transformation
If you think that the only Cinderella story is the animated tale of your youth, think again. Worldwide and throughout the ages, accounts of the popular Cinderella story have educated and enchanted both children and adults. In 1950, Walt Disney Animation Studios released its animated version of this classic tale which many Americans consider the Cinderella story. However, there is a Cinderella-like story for almost every race and culture. They are all timeless fables of transformation. The subjugated girl who obtains a better life is the most often thought of transformation. Just as Disney’s Cinderella is often considered to be the only Cinderella story, the happily ever after transformation
This pivotal transformation shows up in varying degrees in the different Cinderella stories. For example, in Perrault’s Cinderella, upon realizing that Cinderella was actually the beautiful princess from the ball and the love of the prince’s life, the step-sisters humbly begged Cinderella for forgiveness. Cinderella not only forgave her step-sisters, she went so far as to secure a prosperous future for them (628). In Grimm’s version, the punishment was ghastly; both step-sisters became blind by having their eyes pecked out by doves on Cinderella’s wedding day (633). The lesson in Oochigeashw’s story is more subtle; one could even say that it was an implied lesson. When Oochigeashw became the bride of the Invisible One, there was no more mention of the sisters at all (640). What could be worse for the older sisters, who had tried to become the wife of the Invisible One and failed, than knowing that the sister who they considered inferior was victorious? How horrible for any bully to be ignored. Failure and lack of acknowledgement was their punishment. Their humility came when their sister became beautiful. Whether obvious or subtle, the punishment and consequent humbling of these characters is common. All three examples clearly show that whatever the means or measure, punishment and humility are transformative factors in the
Left between the lines, however, is the reason that these very distinct transformations are equally valuable to the Cinderella tale. The fact is that both transformations teach us important lessons. It is easy to see the moral that the Cinderella character personifies. The lesson from Cinderella is as clear as a glass slipper: patience, kindness, and inner strength have their rewards. But, it is equally important to remember the lesson from the characters void of Cinderella’s good qualities: the reward for haughtiness, spitefulness, and viciousness is punishment and humility. The transformations of the haughty are as vital to the Cinderella stories as the tragic heroes of Aristotle’s ancient Greece. It is in the flaws of the haughty and by their transformations into the humble that we can learn what not to do in our own