Tale Of The Shoe: Quote And Response
“The Tale of the Shoe” Quote and Response essay
In the story “The Tale of the Shoe”, Donoghue discusses both the original story of Cinderella and the many stereotypical aspects it has throughout. Donoghue puts emphasis on how marriage is necessary in order to achieve the “happy ending” that everyone expects and how people assume that the characters in the story are heterosexual; the portrayal of characters who are presented as good always winning the characters who are bad. Donoghue gets rid of the stereotypes with key themes such as, “Lesbian” and “Female” which have been ignored and avoided in the original story of Cinderella. One quotation that stands out from this text is, “Nobody made me do the things I did, nobody scolded me, nobody
punished me but me” (Donoghue 2).
This quote grabs the reader’s attention as Donoghue depicts Cinderella as a woman who is free willed and isn’t forced to do household chores. This supports feminism as it shows that women aren’t subjected to patriarchy and oppression. This is a twist compared to the original telling of Cinderella as she is not punished by her step-mother or stepsisters for disobedience; instead Donoghue reverses the roles of the characters slightly, presenting step-mother and stepsisters to be “good” and Cinderella being in a way “bad.” Also this quote presents to the readers that Cinderella is more of an independent woman who can do as she pleases; the fact that she forces herself to perform the chores shows how she is causing a burden upon herself due to her complexities “the shrill voices were all inside” (Donoghue 2). Donoghue purposely made the characters in “The Tale of the Shoe” vague and keeping their identities ambiguous. Donoghue plays on the ambiguity of the characters in attempts to show that there is no specific sexual identity; which plays with the stereotypical notions of gender and sexuality of the characters.
Work Cited
Donoghue, Emma. “The Tale of the Shoe”. New York: Joanna Cotler Books (1997): 1-8. Web. 5 October 2014.
In the story “The Tale of the Shoe”, Donoghue discusses both the original story of Cinderella and the many stereotypical aspects it has throughout. Donoghue puts emphasis on how marriage is necessary in order to achieve the “happy ending” that everyone expects and how people assume that the characters in the story are heterosexual; the portrayal of characters who are presented as good always winning the characters who are bad. Donoghue gets rid of the stereotypes with key themes such as, “Lesbian” and “Female” which have been ignored and avoided in the original story of Cinderella. One quotation that stands out from this text is, “Nobody made me do the things I did, nobody scolded me, nobody
punished me but me” (Donoghue 2).
This quote grabs the reader’s attention as Donoghue depicts Cinderella as a woman who is free willed and isn’t forced to do household chores. This supports feminism as it shows that women aren’t subjected to patriarchy and oppression. This is a twist compared to the original telling of Cinderella as she is not punished by her step-mother or stepsisters for disobedience; instead Donoghue reverses the roles of the characters slightly, presenting step-mother and stepsisters to be “good” and Cinderella being in a way “bad.” Also this quote presents to the readers that Cinderella is more of an independent woman who can do as she pleases; the fact that she forces herself to perform the chores shows how she is causing a burden upon herself due to her complexities “the shrill voices were all inside” (Donoghue 2). Donoghue purposely made the characters in “The Tale of the Shoe” vague and keeping their identities ambiguous. Donoghue plays on the ambiguity of the characters in attempts to show that there is no specific sexual identity; which plays with the stereotypical notions of gender and sexuality of the characters.
Work Cited
Donoghue, Emma. “The Tale of the Shoe”. New York: Joanna Cotler Books (1997): 1-8. Web. 5 October 2014.