Archetypes
The Cinderella Tales
The story of Cinderella appears in various forms in folklore traditions around the world. Most are oral traditions, passed down from one generation to another. In these tales, a kind and lovely person, usually a young woman, receives magical help that allows her to escape from a bad home life in which she is usually abused or ignored. Her true worth is finally recognized, and she usually ends up marrying royalty and living “happily ever after.”
The version of Cinderella that most of us know was written down in 1697 by the Frenchman Charles Perrault. This is the version that Walt Disney immortalized in the 1950 animated film Cinderella. In this tale, Cinderella is an overworked stepdaughter whose fairy godmother helps her dress up and attend a ball. There she dances with the prince, fascinating him. Dashing away at the stroke of midnight as her clothes revert to rags and her coach to a pumpkin, she loses one of her glass slippers. It is this slipper that leads the prince back to Cinderella, whom he marries.
An early Cinderella tale was recorded by the Greek historian Strabo two thousand years ago. According to this version, a woman in Egypt named Rhodopis was bathing one day when an eagle snatched one of her sandals, flew away with it, and dropped it into the lap of the king. The king deemed the sandal lovely, sent messengers to find its owner, and eventually wed Rhodopis.
A thousand years ago, the tale of a girl who befriended a fish was written down in China. Yeh-hsien was mistreated by her malevolent stepmother and stepsister. The stepmother killed the fish and Yeh-hsien kept its bones, which were magical and made her wishes come true. Wearing golden shoes and a beautiful feathered cloak, Yeh-hsien attended a festival. She feared being recognized by her stepmother and hurried away, losing a shoe. When the delicate shoe came into the king’s possession, he found its owner and married her.
A Japanese tale in which the Cinderella character directly demonstrates her intelligence rather than simply fitting into a shoe is “Benizara and Kakezara.” One night, lost in the woods, Benizara received magical assistance from an old “oni” woman, an ogre with supernatural powers. Some days later, left behind by her stepmother and stepsister to work, Benizara used the magic box provided by the oni to create a splendid kimono to wear to a play. There, she caught the eye of a nobleman, who searched for her the next day. The stepmother insisted that Kakezara was the one the nobleman sought, but he cleared the matter up with a poetry contest. Benizara created a far superior poem, and he took her with him to his palace.
Cinderella tales are relatively rare in African folklore, but one such story is the Zulu tale “Nomi and the Magic Fish.” Nomi was a tall and beautiful girl with an unkind stepmother and a stepsister named Nomsa. Sent out to care for the cattle each day without food, Nomi was thin and cold until she met a magic fish who provided food for her. When the stepmother found out about the fish, Nomi ran to warn it. The fish told Nomi to throw its bones in the chief’s garden after the stepmother had eaten it, and this Nomi did. The chief announced that he would marry the girl who could pick up the bones, which slipped through everyone’s fingers. Nomi picked them up, and the chief married her.
Not all Cinderella characters are female. “How the Cowherder Found a Bride” from India is one tale with a male Cinderella character. Two impoverished brothers saved a cow from a muddy stream at the younger brother’s insistence. The cow soon brought them good fortune. When the older brother married, the younger stayed and cared for the cow. The cow was magical and provided him with food to eat. One day the cowherd helped a snake, who gave him shining golden hair. The cowherd wrapped a golden hair around a leaf and sent it downstream, where a princess found it. She initiated a search for the owner of the hair, which led to their marriage.
The plot in most of these tales consists of five-step sequence. The Cinderella heroine or hero: (1) is persecuted by the family; (2) receives magical help; (3) meets the prince or someone else of a higher status; (4) proves her or his identity; and (5) marries the prince or person of a higher status. When these tales were written down, women around the world had far fewer role options available to them. This was also true of men born into poverty or other limiting circumstances. Due to feelings of powerlessness of their fate, such individuals may have hoped that some magical reprieve would come their way, improving their lot on life. While feminists have tried to create more positive role models in modern versions of fairy tales, it is important to view these tales in their own historical context rather than judge them according to today’s standards and expectations.
Questions for Discussion
1. In paragraph 4, what does the word malevolent means?
A) Greedy
B) Conceited
C) Excitable
D) Evil
2. The author's main purpose in writing this article is to show that —
A) folk tales are enjoyed by both children and adults
B) literary themes differ across countries
C) similar story lines are common among many cultures
D) oral folklore traditions are not very old
3. In paragraph 1, the author puts "happily ever after" within quotation marks to suggest that —
A) these tales have predictable endings
B) this phrase comes from an authority
C) happiness is a matter of opinion
D) most of these tales are part of a series
4. What is a likely reason that the Cinderella tale from France is the most popular version in the United States? Use information from the article to support your explanation.
5. In each of the Cinderella tales, there is a powerful and wealthy character. Using examples from the article, explain the importance of this type of character to these tales.