Thursday, April 3, 2014

C is for Cinderella

Cinderella is perhaps one of the most popular fairy tales in the history of the genre. Though there are many different version, the most well known was recorded by Charles Perrault in 1697, and later by the Grimm Brothers.

Now normally I would talk about how tragic it is that poor, "persecuted" Cinderella pines away for a man who can't recognize her without a glass slipper and waits for a fairy godmother to make things happen for her instead of doing them for herself. But I already did that in this post, so today I'm going to talk about something a little different.

Today I want to talk about two of my favorite Cinderella adaptations . . . stories that re-imagine the passive princess as a real-life heroine. One who fights for what she wants. The first is Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. [To be clear I'm talking about the book and not the movie.] It's the story of Ella, a young girl cursed with the gift of obedience by her errant fairy godmother. But rather than knuckling under and letting her curse get the better of her like your typical Cinderella, Ella decides to fight back. When she goes on a quest and learns that her fairy godmother cannot take back her "gift", she has to find a way to break it herself in order to have the life -- and love -- that she dreams of. Levine imagines a heroine that little girls can look up to, a heroine who pushes the boundaries of traditional female roles in fairy tales to get her happily ever after, despite her limitations . It's no wonder this story is a Newbery Medal recipient.


The other adaptation I'd like to spotlight is the 1998 film Ever After, perhaps one of the more interesting fairy tale adaptation ever made. Danielle de Barbarac is a servant grossly mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters in the home where she once lived happily with her father. After falling in love with a self-centered prince, she teaches him responsibility and to be a caring and wise leader. It's a story that challenges traditional notions of nobility and pushes for modernization. Modernization for sixteenth century France, the setting of the tale, and in essence, modernization for fairy tale princesses, for the heroines little girls idealize and often emulate. Danielle doesn't long for riches or wait for fairy godmothers. She works hard to keep her family home from being sold. She cares for the servants and shows kindness to everyone, regardless of their station. And best of all, she holds a sword to the throat of a man claiming to "own" her.  Danielle is definitely a princess worthy of praise. 
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This post is part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme (in case you didn't already guess) is Fairy Tales. Stay tuned for the rest of the alphabet, and if you'd like to check out the other participants, simply click here.

21 comments:

  1. Ooooh what an interesting theme! I did like the movie Ever After, though I haven't read the book you mentioned. Walt Disney's Cinderella is my most favourite movie ever!
    http://effervescencia.blogspot.in/2014/04/c-is-for-critical-analysis.html#.Uz0sbvmSw8w

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  2. So it's not a Disney original then?

    In kidding.

    Good stuff. I've bit read or seen those two adaptations. If the missus does. I may get a book report. Or a movie report.

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  3. These two adaptations are excellent. Ella the book much better overall.
    Thanks for giving this timeless story some recognition
    Happy A to Zing
    Cold Shadow

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  4. These sound like great adaptations, I'll have to check them out.

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  5. I think that young women who suffer from what I call "The Cinderella Complex" need to read these adaptations and learn something about taking care of themselves.

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  6. I haven't read the book Ella Enchanted, but I did see the movie Ever After. I actually enjoyed it.

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  7. Cinderella is one of my favorite fairy tales. Isn't there a tv series called Cinderella now? I may be thinking of something else.

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  8. I LOVE the Ever After version of Cinderella. I'll admit that I like that her name is Danielle, and I'm a huge Drew Barrymore fan, and I just love the tougher, stronger version of Cinderella.

    I haven't read Ella Enchanted, but I may have to check that one out now.

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  9. I loved BOTH versions. There were so many wonderful actors in Ever After-- one of my fav movies!

    BTW: In my day job I was working on a presentation and was searching some via slideshare and came across this one on the walking dead and ammo. LOL! Hilarious presentation and of course I knew you would appreciate it. See here: http://www.slideshare.net/9mmAmmo/walking-dead-weapons-ammo-breakdown

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  10. You picked my two most favorite versions of Cinderella. Kudos for that! :)

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  11. i love love love ever after! anjelica houston was so awesome in it!

    i liked ella enchanted the book, but i liked how the movie climax was stronger. i liked how there was a greater need to break the curse.

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  12. I recently watched Ever After again after finding it in a bargain bin while out of town on a girls weekend. It was so fun to watch with friends. I didn't realize Ella Enchanted was a book first!

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  13. These are two of my favourite adaptations of the Cinderella story, well chosen. Great post.

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  14. I love Ella Enchanted. I've only seen Ever After once, and that was a while ago, but this seems like a good one to revisit.

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  15. I loved Ella Enchanted, book and movie. There are so many Cinderella themed stories from so many different countries and cultures. It isn't my favorite fairy tale, but I find it interesting to explore them through the different cultures. :)

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  16. I loved Ever After. Haven't seen it in ages, though. Probably because I own it on VHS and haven't owned a VCR in about a decade.

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  17. Oh I love this post! Yes!!! Let's see some more adaptations that take the role of victim out of the princesses! I saw Ever After. Good movie. Thanks for your review of Ella Enchanted. I'm definitely going to check it out. Great post.

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  18. Ever After is my absolute favorite! I love that movie. I'm just making the rounds and catching up on posts!

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  19. Ever After is one of my favorite movies! So glad you shared! :)

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  20. Cinderella has always been my favorite princess and probably my favorite Disney movie. Ever After was a fantastic take on the Cinderella story. As different as the two stories were, the root of the story was the same.

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  21. Oh, I like Ella Enchanted! I thought it was a very creative take on the Cinderella story. It's a fun read!

    Random Musings from the KristenHead — C is for 'Copper' and Cats (and More Cats)

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