Post by Anna Fargo from ,,The Curse''

Promp #5: Cinderella

In class today, we discussed what makes up a typical Cinderella story. I chose the following illustrations to talk about because I really like how it takes so many aspects of the story and puts them into one picture. Also, the placement of all these aspects seems important. First, towards the back is the fireplace, which represents the servant life that she leaves behind. Front and center is the glass slipper surrounded by horns which, as far as we know, is the most recent part in Cinderella's life. Also, Cinderella's animal helpers, the pumpkin that turns into her carriage, and the element of time are all included at the top of the image. This shows how these are parts of the story, but they are not the most important seeing as they are outside of the stage. The fairy godmother is placed across from Cinderella to show how her character is key in the happy ending for Cinderella. Cinderella is depicted as pretty, but by the way she's sitting she seems rather shy. On the stage border, there are three faces, I think that the bottom and top faces represent the stepmother and stepsisters who make fun of Cinderella and make her life difficult. Meanwhile, the middle one represents the Prince and father who are the dreamy male figures in Cinderellas life.

Posted by Anna Fargo

Post by Caitlin Humphreys from ,,The Mean Giant''

Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother

This illustration of Cinderella by Margaret Evans Price is from the 1921 book Once Upon a Time: A Book of Old-Time Fairy Tales. One of the more striking elements of this illustration is how young Cinderella appears; she looks younger than the Cinderella portrayed in most of the other illustrations which could be a result of the later date of this publication. Perhaps as the story moved into more modern times Cinderella became younger (similar to what happened with Little Red Riding Hood in illustrations). Another striking element of the illustration is the portrayal of Cinderella's fairy godmother. Compared to earlier illustrations, the fairy godmother looks more like a sweet grandmother than the angel-like representation illustrations in earlier publications of the tale. Additionally, the combination of the fairy godmother's wand and the sort of magical orb above the pumpkin make the godmother's magic seem more fantastic and cartoon-like than in other illustrations. Thus, the magic portrayed appears to be more similar to that of the Perrault version of the tale, than to the sort of natural, pagan magic of the Grimms' version. This depiction of the fairy godmother is also interesting because her pointed hat and clothing would be more typical of that of an evil witch in modern culture. However, the kind expression on her face assures the viewer that she is indeed a kind fairy godmother as we have come to expect in Cinderella stories.

This illustration is from: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/illustrations/cinderella/pricecindy2.html

Posted by Caitlin Humphreys

Post by Lydia Ohl from ,,The Mean Giant''

The Wicked Stepmother

I read a version of the cinderella story that comes from India. What immediately struck me was that the mother did not die, instead she is turned into a goat because she broke a promise to her husband of never eating out of his presence. This prompts the father to remarry. The wicked stepmother treats the children badly and doesn't feed them, so the goat mother uses magic to give the children food (the children have to tap her horns with a stick, and food will fall out). The wicked stepmother sends her daughter to spy on the children, and finds out that the goat has been helping them. She pretends to be sick, bribes the doctor to prescribe goats meat and forces the father to kill the goat. Before she dies, the goat mother tells the children to bury her bones in a secret place, and whenever they need food, they should visit the bones, and they would be given food. The story then takes a sudden and odd turn into the more traditional cinderella story, where one of the sisters is washing her face, and her nose ring comes off. It is then swallowed by a fish that is caught and sold to the king's cook. The cook bring the nose ring to the king, who sends out a proclamation requesting that the owner come before him. When he sees the young girl, he was "so fascinated by her pretty face and nice manner that he married her, and provided amply for the support of her family", and that's the end. I found this story closer to the grimms cinderella and the story of the black cow because the mother lives on after death to provide food for her children. The black cow also has the element of withholding food from the children. This story is meant to span across many years, as the children grow up.

Posted by lydiaohl@me.com

Post by Alexandria Lovelace from ,,The Cruel Witch''

Ella Enchanted

The version on Cinderella I have enjoyed the most over the years is Ella Enchanted. Before visiting the Sur La Lune sight I did not even realize that Ella Enchanted was a version of the classic Cinderella tale, however the more I thought about it the more they related.

Ella Enchanted approaches CInderella in a new way then most of the versions we have read in class. Although, the female main in the story is beautiful and gracious, her graciousness is a curse given to her by her fairy godmother when she is born. Ella cannot say no to anyone, or refuse a command. The graciousness that is so focused on the other versions of Cinderella as a blessing and what all women should be, is portrayed as the thing Ella struggles most with in the book.

Ella Enchanted still entails the main points of focus of other versions as well. Ella is locked away as a servant, has evil step sisters and an evil stepmother and in the end is saved by prince charming, when the cure is broken by her "one true love".

I am amazed that I did not realize the similarities in stories before now. The slight alteration of graciousness as a curse instead of a blessing is one I find truly interesting. It address how at a point a woman's graciousness becomes subservient.

Posted by amlovelace

Post by Alex Howard from ,,The Cruel Witch''

Cinderella Rabbit




I chose the "Cinderella Rabbit" illustration because it reminded me of my favorite childhood story book: Angelina Ballerina. Angelina was a mouse, and this is clearly not a mouse... but the animals dressed in courtly clothes sparked something in my memory. I like this illustration because it clearly places magic back into the notion of the fairy tale. Joosen argues that many tales are being disenchanted because of society's stress on realism. In choosing to portray Cinderella and her Prince as enchanted rabbits, the illustrator makes the story very unreal, pulling magic to the forefront.
Even the landscape and the colors of the illustration portray a sense of magic. The "man in the moon" looks down on Cinderella and the Prince as they race from the ball. In looking at the other illustrations, not all of them evoke happiness or enchantment. My favorite aspect of fairy tales (at least contemporary-ish ones) is their happy endings. In a world of chaos and disappointment, fairy tales allow children (and apparently college students, such as myself) to escape into a magical world where anything is impossible and the characters always live "happily ever after."
Posted by Alex!

Post by Benton Payne from ,,The Nasty Stepmother''

Baba Yaga
This story intrigued me because it was so different from other Cinderellas. There were no sisters, no prince, no kingdom even, just a family. After reading it I had to question why it was even included in the Cinderella category as it was so dissimilar from many of the other ones. The evil stepmother was the one thing that gave the story a connection to any of the other tales. Baba Yaga's character was also very strange, the idea that this woman sat here and trained her magical minions for ensnaring girls or something was weird to me. However, the story itself does mirror the Cinderellas in its triumph over the evil thanks to the magical helper being related to the main character, or, the "Fairy Godmother," here the good aunt. The helper advises the protagonist who, using that help, can defeat evil and return to her happy life. So while initially it seems to have little to do with the popular versions of Cindarella, it is pretty similar in its core elements.

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0510a.html#babayaga

Posted by Sir Bentonius

Assignment 5- 24.Feb 2009

Look through the websites suggested below and find a version of Cinderella or even an illustration of her, that has not been talked about in class as yet.

1. D. L. Ashliman's folktale site:
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0510a.html

2. the Sur La Lune fairy tale site:
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/

3. the Cinderella Project at the Univ. of Mississippi:
http://www.usm.edu/english/fairytales/cinderella/cinderella.html

Having selected the story/illustration, you are to elaborate on the reason you picked that particular story/illustration.

You could talk about how the story is different from what you have read so far and how these differences could be interesting in the light of our current discussions in class.

If you have selected an illustration, mention what about it grabbed you, what about it is different from other illustrations known to you and whether it contradicts or proves any of what we have discussed in class so far.

Posts are to be sent in by Midnight on Tuesday and comments to a minimum of two other posts are to be in by Midnight on Wednesday.

Interesting Website

This website has versions of Cinderella from many different cultures. The summaries here make it easier to understand the key differences. Take a look..

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/marianroalfecox/cinderellatales.html