The Challenges Of Cinderella

1083 Words3 Pages

As a child, we watch many Disney movies and read about different stories. However, many, if not all of us have, at some point, watched or read the story of Cinderella. It’s a story of a young girl who is thrown into adversity, but perseveres through these challenges with a positive outlook and the assistance of some “magical” entity, and lives “happily ever after.” There have been many deviations of Cinderella in order to diversify the story and make it applicable to all of today’s youth. Despite the differences in character names or story titles, the original theme of perseverance is maintained throughout the numerous tales. In spite of numerous adaptations of Cinderella the story still shows a character who loses a mother and is neglected …show more content…

Cinderella’s father remarries after her mother dies, and when her father dies, the stepmother becomes wicked and nasty, forcing Cinderella to do all the dirty chores, such as cleaning out the cinders.This is congruent to the stories of Pear Blossom and Cindy Ellie, other than the father dying. In these stories, the father is oblivious to the evilness of the stepmother and sister. In “The Korean Cinderella,” Omoni, the stepmother, and Peony, the stepsister, force Pear Blossom to do impossible tasks. Like filling up a jar with a hole in it, polishing an entire rice field, and removing weeds throughout that field. They call her “Little Pig,”and repeatedly say, “someday Little Pig will get what she deserves.” In “Cindy Ellie, a Modern Fairy Tale,” Cindy Elle has to make clothes for her stepsisters, so they can go to the ball and try to dance with the “prince.” The congruence in all of these stories is that Cinderella is forced to do all these dirty and impossible tasks before she can go to the ball, but with her perseverance and the assistance of a “fairy Godmother,” she completes all these tasks, which enables her to go to the …show more content…

However, “Cinderella” needs assistance when she is left with nothing. The “Godmother” uses magic to guide “Cinderella” in order to gain access to the desired “ball.” In the original story of Cinderella, she is transformed by her fairy godmother, along with some friendly, furry friends, to make her a dress, chariot, and horsemen. This idea also happens in the story of Cindy Ellie. Cindy Ellie is transformed by her godmother but, by “voodoo and hoodoo” instead of magic. The story of Cindy Ellie is also more modern, altering the chariot into sport-limousines and horsemen into chauffeurs. The story of Pear Blossom does not have a “Godmother” but has three creatures that guide her and allow her to go to the “ball.” Along with this transformation comes the famed shoe. In the story of Cinderella, the shoe is a glass slipper made from magic. The same incident of magic transformation happens in the story of Cindy Ellie, but the famed shoe is a golden sandal. The story of Pear Blossom is the only story that does not involve a magical transformation of the shoe and includes a common straw sandal. After the magic the “Godmother” induces on “Cinderella,” she then arrives at the “ball.” The “ball” in the story of Cinderella takes place at the Prince’s castle. While the “ball” in the story of Pear Blossom takes place at the village festival and in the story of Cindy Ellie at

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