Within life and literature, people and characters often overcome some type of circumstance that has hindered them in the past. However, fairy tales typically display the outcome of that unfortunate situation as being somewhat of a happily ever after. However, life routinely has moments of bliss as well as misfortune. In Anne Saxton’s “Cinderella” Saxton both highlights the inaccuracies of common fairy tales and challenges the traditional version of Cinderella and questions the aftermath of her encounter with the prince.
The speaker of “Cinderella” makes many assertions using different scenarios of what society now calls Cinderella stories. For example, the speaker first introduces the plumber who surpassed the confines of his economic
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She begins by explaining the transitionary period within Cinderella’s life in which she essentially lost her mother and gained a new one. Her new stepmother was wicked, her stepsisters were entitled and her father had been enticed by all of them and utterly ignored his own daughter. The speaker is sure to explain this dichotomy because it marks the period of her socio economic peril. She heightens this through the use of simile. For example, the speaker states that Cinderella had “walked around looking like Al Jolson”(Sexton 31) in order to provide both comic relief and display the way she had fallen so far from the lavish, wealthy lifestyle she had grown accustomed to while her mother was alive to the bleek and menial confines of servitude that she had been relegated to. She also explains that Cinderella had planted a twig that her father gave her and it grew into an astonishing tree which also contained a magically dove. Following this, the speaker then elaborates on Cinderella’s new …show more content…
After three consecutive nights of being enthralled by Cinderella and then quickly abandon, he had made sure that CInderella could not escape. The prince placed wax on the floor in the hopes of forcing her to stay instead of running away. However the prince only caught the slipper. The differences between the time periods that all the events occurred were all made apparent by the bloc structure of the poem. The speaker of “Cinderella” uses certain structural techniques in order to more effectively display the essence of the story. For example, separating the upbringing of Cinderella and the events that took place on the night of the ball served to remind the reader that these are two dissimilar events that had a causal relationship. The speaker also sought to provide a chronological backing for the moments that occur. The speakers structure throughout the poem allow the reader to analyze and interpret the poem more
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”.
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.
Bettelheim, Bruno. ""Cinderella" A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipial Conflicts." Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. 1976. 279-282.
A young girl is forced to live with her step-mother and step-sisters after her father and mother die. She becomes the maid of the family, tending to their every need. Eventually there is a ball; she acquires a fairy Godmother, goes to the ball, falls in love with the prince, blah blah blah. All you really need to know is that she has a happy ending. A happy ending. No matter how much suffering she went through in her early years, at the end, it all came together and she had no more worries. And this is the problem. Cinderella is not realistic. It never was and never will be. Watching this movie when I was young made me believe there was a prince waiting for me somewhere. I grew up thinking that life was simple and uncomplicated, that I did not need to worry about the future because there was a man that would provide everything I wanted and needed. But as I got older, I realized this was not the case. I saw many of my friend’s parents divorce, people die, and the world fight with each other. My fantasy died off, and I realized I had to work hard for myself, and not others. The poem Cinderella by Anne Sexton made fun of the ending of Cinderella. She states, “Cinderella and the prince / lived … happily ever after … / their darling smiles pasted on for eternity. / Regular Bobbsey Twins. / That story.” (Sexton 11). Notice who she referenced and how she has a sarcastic tone. Cinderella and the prince smiled for others, trying to convince
Anne Sexton’s poem “Cinderella” is filled with literary elements that emphasize her overall purpose and meaning behind this satirical poem. Through the combination of enjambment stanzas, hyperboles, satire, and the overall mocking tone of the poem, Sexton brings to light the impractical nature of the story “Cinderella”. Not only does the author mock every aspect of this fairy tale, Sexton addresses the reader and adds dark, cynical elements throughout. Sexton’s manipulation of the well-known fairy tale “Cinderella” reminds readers that happily ever after’s are meant for storybooks and not real life.
“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
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
...hips. Such being so, we can relate greater and have actual smiles pasted on our faces for a life handed to us was one earned. I find that Sexton has lead this poem of her take on Cinderella to a gratifying point, not without throwing in sarcastic approaches, which many would enjoy, while others are stuck in their disposable fairytale ending. I found this poem to be a breath of fresh air and take a look at what I have, and value it for it is real, and I can write my own storybook ending to be one that is gratifying and reachable at best. One that will leave a smile on my face where I can then declare, “yeah, that is my story.”
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.
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.
It is this element of hope in a true fairytale that creates the support for a protagonist to overcome the opposing force that has been thrust onto them. A genuine fairytale is said to have the element of, “A innocent character [placed against] the evil character who normally loses somehow,” (Gokturk) which is seen as Cinderella is chosen by the prince over the evil step-sisters at the ball. As human beings with a developed moral system, it has been seen that the more deserving, mistreated character is favored to succeed in the story. Cinderella is seen as this “underdog” character in her quest to find love with the prince and overcome her step-sisters’ mistreatment. As Cinderella is mistreated by her new family, sympathy is built for the emerging protagonist and hope of her to conquer her situation follows. The underdog of this story grows in favorability to be picked by the prince due to the societal belief that the more deserving candidate should overcome their opposition. If there was no sense of hope thought the story of Cinderella, this story could not be categorized as a true embodiment of a
The story teaches us that society expects women to be passive. Cinderella’s abuse by her stepsisters and stepmother cause her to live in grief silently without expressing her emotions. She does nothing to fight for her freedom except sing about all the dreams of happiness that she hopes will come true someday. She only wishes for things to change rather than attempt to do anything to change it for herself. Cinderella waits to be rescued by Prince Charming instead of fighting for her own freedom. This teaches women that they should suffer in silence without doing anything for themselves.
Throughout history, fairy tales have grown to captivate the hearts and minds of many. A Cinderella Story is set firmly in reality and in the present day; in fact, it's every bit a fantasy as the original story. This film refrains from any allusions to magic, but instead lets serendipitous occurrences provide the engine on which this fairy tale creates its plot. The impression A Cinderella Story is in place of a well-thought out story and characters that anyone could relate to or believe. Although the target audience of the film are teens, females, and romantics, A Cinderella Story can be praised and savored by all audiences because of its ingenious screenplay, acting, and melodic soundtrack.
The narrator says this to further the idea that the character of Cinderella evolves during the entire tale. She begins being this beautiful girl to this bottom-feeder only bossed around by her own family. This is significant when the stepmother takes “her beautiful clothes away” and dresses Cinderella “in an old gray smock” with “wooden shoes” (Grimm 1). This change makes the character more vulnerable in which it can make the other characters push her around more. The taking away of beauty can also show the true colors of the other characters because it shows that they are insecure. They are scared of Cinderella and by changing a simple look, it can give them the confidence to rule over her. Another personality trait that Cinderella has is the “damsel in distress” princess. This was very common in older princesses like The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel. All of these characters engulf this idea that princesses are passive, naive, innocent, easy targets, and always wanting to be rescued. For example, Cinderella never speaks up to her stepmother. Many older princesses were commonly known for doing nothing and letting stuff happen around them. As a result, the quote illustrates certain personality traits that are common in
...eam but have transformed her in a Cinderella way the place she will take in the world (Berst 100). So the Cinderella success in society has been for the moment (Berst 100-101). But her screams have changed through the education she learned through pronunciation and her felling about the problems she faces can be stated clearly is seen as a Cinderella accomplishment (Berst 101).