Contrasting Feelings in Perrault's Cinderella and Grimms' Aschenputtle

692 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Comparing the perrault cinderella with the grimm cinderella? essay

Charles Perrault's "Cinderella" and Wilhelm and Jacob Grimms' "Aschenputtel" both feature a mistreated, yet kind heroine who, despite overwhelming obstacles, attends a ball and marries a prince. However, the similarities between these two versions of the fairy tale end here. While Perrault's version emphasizes the moral and materialistic concerns of his middle-class audience, Grimms' focus is on the harsh realities of life associated with the peasant culture.

Perrault immediately connects with the materialistic values of his middle-class audience as he describes in detail the pampered lifestyle of Cinderella's step-sisters who "lay in rooms with inlaid floors upon beds of the newest fashion" (Classics, 17). Once invited to the ball, the step-sisters contemplate what they will wear. One decides on her "red velvet suit with French trimmings", while the other chooses to accentuate her look with a "diamond stomacher" (Classics, 18). While Perrault describes in detail the pampered lifestyle of this bourgeoisie family, he says much less about the appearance of the misfortunate Cinderella.

While Cinderella's clothing is of little interest to Perrault's audience, her "rare goodness and sweetness of temper" (Classics, 17) are esteemed values desired by all the middle-class. When called upon to arrange the hair of her unkind step-sisters for the ball, we are told that "anyone but Cinderella would have dressed their hair awry, but she was good-natured, and arranged it perfectly well" (Classics, 18). After arriving at the ball with the help of a fairy godmother, and winning the affection of the desirable prince, Cinderella "sat down with her sisters showing them a thousand civilities"(Classics, 20). Her rare goodness ...

... middle of paper ...

...igeons pluck out her step-sisters' eyes to repay them for all the evil they brought upon her.

Although the heroines in "Aschenputtle" and "Cinderella" both manage to attend the ball and marry the prince despite mistreatment and unreasonable demands, the two versions of the popular fairy tale leave the reader with contrasting feelings. These contrasts can be understood when considering the writers' audiences. The violence and references to nature found in "Aschenputtle" are commonplace in the peasant culture of which the Grimms were fascinated, while the focus on the pampered lifestyle of the bourgeoisie family, and the kindness of Cinderella are aspects Perrault's middle-class audience desires.

REFERENCE

Griffith, John W and Charles H. Frey. The Custom Edition of Classics of Children's Literature: Fourth Edition. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River, 1996.

Show More
Related

  • Grimm's Cinderella Story

    1894 Words  | 4 Pages

    Instead, she takes her burdens as they come. Clare R. Ferrer noted in her article, “heroines are not allowed any defects, nor are they required to develop, since they are already perfect.” At the beginning of the story, Cinderella is described as “remaining pious and good” in-spite of the loss she endured. Cinderella is such a good person, that she takes the abuse from her step-sisters with grace and never asks for anything, nor does she reveal to her father or the Prince the type of life she has succumbed to living. Beauty goes hand-in-hand with being a good woman. According to Parsons, “a high premium is placed on feminine beauty…Women are positioned as the object of men’s gaze, and beauty determines a woman’s ...

    Read More

  • A Girl A Shoe, A Prince: The Endlessly Evolving Cinderella

    1585 Words  | 4 Pages

    It all begins with “Once upon a time” and ends with “and they lived happily ever after”. “Cinderella” is a very widely known story that many children around the world look up to and admire through their entire life. The history of this story, how scholars interpret this tale, and how the authors have retold the story are all key points to keeping this story fresh and popular. Most of the time when people hear the story of “Cinderella”, they think about the Disney version and maybe it is time that changes. All in all, the story brings light to everyone’s life even if they only know the original “Cinderella”.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Perrault's Cinderella

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is a plethora of fairy tales that have survived into the modern age, familiar stories such as; Jack and the Bean Stock, the Little Mermaid, The Tin Soldier, Little Red Riding Hood, and many others have all been used in modern films and literature. However, there is one storied classic that has been captivating children and adults alike for centuries, Cinderella. Charles Perrault wrote the familiar tale over three hundred years ago, yet modern adaptations of the story continue to be used. One example of a modern rendition of Perrault’s tale is the 1998 major motion picture titled Ever After (IMDb.com). Walt Disney’s cartoon version titled Cinderella is by in large the most popular and wide spread cinema rendition of the fabled story, however

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Catherine Orenstein's 'Cinderell Not So Morally Superior'

    1243 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the article, “Fairy Tales and a Dose of Reality,” Catherine Orenstein attempts to show the contrast between the modern romanticism of marriage and the classic fairy tale’s presentation of them (285). She looks at the aristocratic motivations for marriage and the way these motivations are prominent in Cinderella. She then looks at the 20th century to highlight the innate difference of our mentalities, showing a much more optimistic and glorified relationship. In the article, “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior,” Elisabeth Panttaja claims that Cinderella’s success can be attributed to her craftiness (288). She shows her and her mother as an equal to the stepfamily, analyzing each family’s goals and values. She attempts to show their similarities,

    Read More

  • Comparing Two Versions of Cinderella

    446 Words  | 1 Pages

    Over centuries of children have been enjoying the classic fairy tales of the Grimm Brothers and Charles Perrault. The fanciful plots and the vivid details allow children to be entranced by characters and adventures that can only be found in these stories. One of the most beloved fairy tales, which both the Perrault and the Grimms have their own separate versions of, is Cinderella. Cinderella is able to show how both versions are able to feed off the same plots while personifying the century and social economic situation in which they have lived.

    Read More

  • Cinderella : A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts, by Bruno Bettelheim

    1475 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bettelheim, Bruno. ""Cinderella" A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipial Conflicts." Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. 1976. 279-282.

    Read More

  • Comparison of Two Versions of Cinderella: Grimm vs. Perrault

    967 Words  | 2 Pages

    A lot of the fairy tale stories that we have seen as young adults and even as adults are original folk tale stories that have been modified and rewritten to accommodate our new cultures. Cinderella happens to be one of these stories that have been changed over the years. There are many different versions of Cinderella, an African Cinderella, a Hungarian Cinderella and even a Chinese version. All of the Cinderella’s are similar in plot, but the author dictates the story’s theme based on the people whom he is writing for which completely changes the story’s tone, mood and other elements. While Perrault's version stresses the values and materialistic worries of his middle-class audience, Grimm’s' focus is on the harsh realities of life associated with the peasant culture. Perrault’s and Grimm’s Cinderella’s have the same plot, but their writing style is different which completely modifies the tale.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Cinderella By Charles Perrault And Giambattista Basile

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Cinderella” the tale of a suffering young girl who finds her prince charming, and lives happily ever after in a big beautiful castle. Truly, the dream of many young female readers. This story is well known all around the world and has many different versions. This paper will specifically focus on the versions by Charles Perrault and Giambattista Basile. One cannot argue that while writing their individual version of Cinderella both Charles Perrault and Giambattista Basile were strongly influenced by the many other tales of Cinderella, and this can be seen by the repetitive plot line, character and morals in both their stories. Giambattista Basile story was called “The Cat Cinderella” and Charles Perrault named his “Cinderella” or “Little Glass

    Read More

  • Feminism and Fairy Tales

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    A prolific exemplification of the ideal female virtues portrayed in fairy tales is Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper”. Perrault presents the ideal female fairy tale character through his portrayal of Cinderella. Cinderella is a tame and forgiving individual who subjects herself to the will of her father, stepmother and s...

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Anne Sexton And The Brothers Grimm's Cinderella

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the world has transformed and progressed throughout history, so have its stories and legends, namely the infamous tale of Cinderella. With countless versions and adaptations, numerous authors from around the world have written this beauty’s tale with their own twists and additions to it. And while many may have a unique or interesting way of telling her story, Anne Sexton and The Brother’s Grimm’s Cinderellas show the effects cultures from different time periods can have on a timeless tale, effects such as changing the story’s moral. While Sexton chooses to keep some elements of her version, such as the story, the same as the Brothers Grimm version, she changes the format and context, and adds her own commentary to transform the story’s

    Read More

  • A Two Tale Comparison

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    of the Cinderella story are psychologically harmful to women.” (p648). The fact that Cinderella is a limited character may give the girl an impression that she should be happy with what she has and not have any or aspirations in her life. That is, until her Prince comes to rescue her. Since these comments were made, the Cinderella story has been modified and changed. In order to see how gender roles have changed in fairy tales from the old to the new, let’s compare the classic version of Cinderella by Charles Perrault to a recent version which is a movie that was released in 1998 called “Ever After”which was directed by Andy Tennant.

    Read More

  • Differences Between the Grimm Brother's and Disney's Cinderella

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fairytales, the short stories that most children heard as they went to bed, are actually folktales from previous decades. The fairytales today are primarily adaptations of older versions recreated by Disney— the pioneers of this generation. With that said, the modern versions consistently display good triumphing over evil, a prince charming that constantly came to the rescue, and a happily ever after ending. However, the original folktale version didn’t always come with fortunate events, but often were more violent and gruesome. With the fairytale Cinderella, Disney maintains a similar theme as its Grimm version; however, the conflicts, events, and characters that support this idea are rather different.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Brothers Grimm And Perrault

    2265 Words  | 5 Pages

    It is more obvious in this tale than others, but some of these aspects are the nickname of Cinderella, the evil stepfamily, the three balls, and the beautiful slipper. However, Perrault and the brothers Grimm made some parts of the story very different. In the Grimm’s version, Cinderella’s mother was very important to her and she was very important to her father, while in Perrault’s her mother is not even mentioned and her father is more attached to his new wife than he is to his daughter. Perrault described the stepsister’s as less beautiful than Cinderella, while the brothers Grimm described them as just as beautiful but with bad personalities. Another major difference was Cinderella’s magic helper. In Perrault’s story Cinderella had a fairy godmother that gave her horses, a carriage, footmen to escort her, and new beautiful clothes, and in Grimm’s story her magic helper was birds that only provided clothes. A main difference that a lot of people would notice is the fact that in the Grimm’s tale Cinderella’s slipper was made of gold, and in Perrault’s it was glass which is what most people are familiar with. The endings of the stories also differed. The Grimm’s version ended in a much darker way. Both stepsisters got their eyes pecked out and were doomed to live a life of blindness, which was clearly not a very child friendly way to end a story. In

    Read More

  • The Many Versions of Cinderella

    928 Words  | 2 Pages

    Each person in the world has heard of Cinderella, no matter what kind of version it may be. Cinderella is the one fairy tale story that has been popular and will always be the one tale that has to be told to children. Words and story lines might be twist and turn, but in the end the knowledge of the story will be learned in similar ways. As we all know when one story is told another is created, when one is at its best then another is at its worse. One version will always be better than another, but no matter what version it might be the story will be told.

    Read More

  • Cinderella Character Analysis

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cinderella’s mother passed away and her father remarried a woman who had two daughters from a previous marriage. A few weeks passed and a prince is holding a three day festival and all the beautiful young girls in the town were invited. Cinderella wanted to go but her evil stepmother gave her two impossible tasks to complete before she could attend the festival. Cinderella completes the two tasks with the help of her bird friends and her mother’s grave. Cinderella goes to the festival and she dances with the prince all three days. Finally, the prince has fallen in love with her and eventually they get married. Fairytales and Disney productions threaten gender politics and women’s role by portraying women in certain areas like domestic behaviors

    Read More

More about Contrasting Feelings in Perrault's Cinderella and Grimms' Aschenputtle

Open Document