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Juan Abarca
Professor Haas
Writing 37
11/15/2015
Fitting the Glass Slipper: Analyzing Cinderellas Transformation
When it comes to fitting inside the slipper, fairy tales might have it the toughest. They are
continuously evolving, resulting in a shape that is unique to the changes reflected in the
rhetorical situation. In other words, there is no one size fits all when it comes to fairy tales. In an
interview conducted by Carolyn Cox of The Mary Sue; Maria Tatar, a fairy tale expert and Chair
of the Committee on Degrees in Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University, was asked why
certain fairy tales have an enduring appeal. Her response, Fairy tales are all about the hyperdysfunctional family: wicked stepmothers, fathers who are bent on marrying their daughters,
siblings who viciously gang up on the youngest and weakest, and so on. They are full of excess,
exaggeration, and unforgiving violence, enacting worst-case possible scenarios. We have a
cultural repetition compulsion about fairy tales precisely because they are so outlandish,
mentions some of the archetypes that we associate with the conventional fairy tale. Often times,
the same fairy tale will go through drastic modifications. For example, a variation in cultural
values may deem the former portrayal of female characters inappropriate. A modern female
audience would outright be offended by a work that depicts women who possess no valuable
traits and who are ultimately characterized by their appearance and dependence on men.
Similarly, if the authors purpose changes, their intentions will be displayed in their writing.
What was once a simple, incomplete story is now a literary masterpiece (comparatively
speaking) simply because the writer desired it.

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The fairy tale genre has endured the test of time because the basic stories and
conventions can be constantly reimagined in a way that makes them relevant again. Perraults
tale Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper published in 1697 is about a young girl who is
turned into a servant when her father remarries. She is treated horribly by her stepsisters but she
shows them mercy when she marries the prince. Over one hundred years later, the Brothers
Grimm published their version of the tale titled Aschenputtel in 1812. Their tale follows a
similar plot to Perraults in which the a young maiden is made a servant after her mothers death,
but in the end gets her prince. An obvious revision is the exclusion of the moral at the end of the
story in their edition. Between the two tales, there is a change in conventional purpose and
conventional style. Due to the changes in the rhetors purpose and cultural context, the
aforementioned tales received an adjustment in their morality and written style.
Being an aristocrat himself, Perrault wrote Cinderella;or, The Little Glass Slipper, in
an artistic way that appeals to the higher social classes. The online article, Society and Culture:
The Moral of the Story, by Alice Abler describes how Perrault,Took some of the earlier
European peasant tales and massaged them until they were more suited to the aristocratic salon
set of 17th-century France, where storytelling was considered an important social art. He
customized the stories and added new ones, often making a point of showcasing the difficulties
and the challenges of his time. Gone was much of the violence, but added was the subtle sexual
innuendo expected in the popular culture of the period. This led to a shift in stylistic convention
that was the direct result of French culture and history. Cinderella;or, The Little Glass Slipper,
is well suited for the aristocratic audience. It uses complex sentences and vocabulary that is more
advanced. For example, when Cinderellas father remarries, Perrault described the stepmother as
follows, She had, by a former husband, two daughters of her own, who were, indeed, exactly

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like her in all things. By comparison, 1812s Aschenputtel had it plainly as, The stepmother
already had two stepdaughters from her first husband.(Grimms 69) The higher social classes
were more educated than the average person. To appeal to the culture of his time, Perrault used
intricate writing that was commonly associated with the more knowledgeable aristocracy.
At times, a writers choice of audience is influenced by external forces. In Cinderella;or
The Little Glass Slipper, there's a distinct style that displays inspiration derived from the Salon
Era and Madame d'Aulnoy. Perraults work was characterized by typically French actions and
lighthearted humor.(Abler) One such action involves Cinderella purposefully leaving behind
one of her slippers. Her assisting the prince in finding her shows that she desires him as much as
he desires her. To make his writing more attractive to the French, he included the use of a fairy.
This particular character is a conventional helper and a trademark of their tales. Madame
d'Aulnoy, a prominent French author, coined the term fairy tales. His association with her
likely prompted him to include the fairy godmother in his story. It makes sense that Perrault
included details that are inherently French; his audience wouldnt have received Cinderella;or,
The Little Glass Slipper well if it was written in an unfamiliar way.
The audience of Cinderella;or, The Little Glass Slipper wasnt limited to just the
French aristocracy. The tale itself appeals to a universal crowd; however, it places a special
emphasis on children, and of course on the previously mentioned upper class. Perraults intention
was to create a moralistic tale that would teach valuable life lessons. His tale displays the
conventional purpose of teaching morality in two ways. The first and most basic way Perrault
does this is by writing a clear cut moral at the end of the tale: Moral: Beauty in a woman is a
rare treasure that will always be admired. Graciousness, however, is priceless and of even greater
value. This is what Cinderella's godmother gave to her when she taught her to behave like a

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queen. Young women, in the winning of a heart, graciousness is more important than a beautiful
hairdo. It is a true gift of the fairies. Without it nothing is possible; with it, one can do anything.
This leaves little room for interpretation but in essence the first moral states the paramount value
of graciousness and its superiority over beauty. The second moral embodies his undoubted belief
that intelligence, courage, good breeding, and common sense are advantageous talents. He goes
as far as describing these talents as heavenly. To further incorporate his goal of creating a
moralistic tale, Perrault concludes the story by having Cinderella take dignified actions.
Throughout the tale there is a distinguished sibling rivalry between Cinderella and her
stepsisters. Bruno Bettelheim, a distinguished psychologist and educator, believes that No other
fairy tale renders so well as the Cinderella stories the inner experiences of the young child in
the throes of sibling rivalry, when he feels hopelessly outclassed by his brothers and sisters.
This bitter form of sibling rivalry is a timeless feature that constantly emerges in most forms of
the Cinderella story regardless of audience, purpose, or cultural development. Cinderella is
constantly being degraded and put down by her stepmother and stepsisters. No one would blame
Cinderella if she abandoned her family after the way she was treated. Rather than showing
vengeance, Cinderella, gave her two sisters lodgings in the palace, and that very same day
matched them with two great lords of the court. Perrault includes this in his text to teach
nobility and forgiveness. This virtuous ending is unique to Perrault version of the tale because he
was compelled to teach beneficial lessons.
In contrast, the Brothers Grimm took the convention of the tales morality and withhold
the moral altogether. This exclusion of morals is a result of a change in the authors purpose.
Jack Zipes, a retired professor and acclaimed fairy tale scholar, wrote Introduction:
Rediscovering the Original Tales of the Brothers Grimm. In it he describes how the Brothers

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endeavored to keep their hands off the tales, so to speak, and reproduce them more or less as
they heard them or received them.(Zipes 2) Evidently, the source the Brothers collected
Aschenputtel from didnt conclude with a moral in their telling or else it wouldnt have been
omitted. Instead, the moral of the story was interpreted within the text. The moral in
Aschenputtel is seen when the prince took Cinderella as his bride and, the stepmother and the
two haughty sisters were horrified and became pale.(76) The story is showing that the
stepsisters got what they deserved by losing the prince and being left bloodied and injured. In
effect, it teaches the reader to be kind and just or else they to will receive their comeuppance.
The lack of written ethics to conclude the story resulted in a more simplistic tale that Zipes
believed to be more fabulous and baffling than those refined versions in the final edition, for
they retain the pungent and naive flavor of the oral tradition.(2) The Grimms also refrained
from including archetypal characters in their tale as they were not present in the tales they
recorded. Aschenputtel lacks the fairy godmother who played a significant role in Perraults
Cinderella; or, the Little Glass Slipper.
The conventional helper is another role that is modified in the Grimms tale. A revision in
the conventional helper is shown when the fairy godmother is instead replaced by a magical tree
that emerged from the grave of Cinderellas birth mother. Fairy tales in nineteenth century
Germany placed a more significant value on mothers. Its the reason why the mother is the helper
in Cinderella and its also why the Grimms would change the antagonists to stepmothers in their
later works. The oral tales being told at the time of the Brothers collection rarely included fairies.
This gave the Grimms no reason to add fairies in the 1812 edition of their tales. The result was a
noticeably Germanic Cinderella.

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The Grimms purpose was to capture the basis of the verbal tale. They also wrote the tale
to interest the average man. Their audience consisted of the common adult a switch from Perrault
who wrote for children and the upper bourgeoisie. Its the combination of the authors purpose
and intended audience that led to an adaptation in the convention of written style in
Aschenputtel. The Grimms version of the tale is more natural and truer to the oral form.
Traditionally, these verbal tales were told to a group of adults and consequently had limited
censorship in violence and sexual references. In an interview with The Guardian, Jack Zipes told
Alison Flood that, The original edition was not published for children or general readers. Nor
were these tales told primarily for children. In Aschenputtel, the stepsisters butcher their feet
in hopes of fitting the slipper. Getting her foot to fit the slipper proved difficult for the eldest
sister so she took the knife and cut off a part of her heel until she could force her foot into the
slipper.(75) This grisly act appealed to the adult crowd who most likely was already
familiarized with violent acts that were frequent in their cultures tales. By comparison,
Aschenputtels stylistic conventions were modified from Cinderella; or, The Little Glass
Slipper. The Grimms style wasn't as elaborate as Perraults. Zipes claims that The
descriptions are bare; the dialogues, curt; and the action, swift.(18) One of these swift actions is
exemplified in Aschenputtel when Cinderella says shake and wobble little tree! Let beautiful
clothes fall down to me.(72) In the Grimms tale, she simply asks for something and then she
suddenly receives it. Its a noticeable transformation from the more complex sequence in
Perrault's tale where Cinderella has to scurry around the house to retrieve a pumpkin, mice, and a
rat. This is due to the fact that the Grimms wrote Aschenputtel for the general public in a way
the typical 19th century German would have spoken it.

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Time possesses the unique ability of sparking innovation. As time passes, a development
in the rhetorical situation wakes the slumbering fairy tale and makes it relevant again. A new
situation brings forth diversification and by doing so, a conventional tale is re-imagined in a way
that holds its own. The Grimms Aschenputtel is adaptation of Perraults Cinderella; or, The
Little Glass Slipper. Aschenputtel received an adjustment in its morality and written style.
The adjustments in convention are a direct outcome of the variation in audience and purpose.
Revisions continue to be made to both these tales. Regardless, they hold significant value in a
way that only classics can.

Works Cited

Abler, Alice. "The Moral of the Story." Society and Culture:. N.p., 2008. Web. 05 Nov.
2015.

Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. New York: Vintage Books, 1975. Print.

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Cox, Carolyn. "The Mary Sue Interview: Fairy Tale Expert and The Turnip Princess
Translator Maria Tatar." The Mary Sue The Mary Sue Interview Fairy Tale Expert and
The Turnip Princess Translator Maria Tatar Comments. N.p., 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 03
Nov. 2015.

Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. "Aschenputtel (Cinderella)." The Original Folk and
Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Trans. Jack Zipes. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2014.
Print.

Flood, Alison. "Grimm Brothers Fairytales Have Blood and Horror Restored in New
Translation." Theguardian.com. 12 Nov. 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

Zipes, Jack. "Introduction: Rediscovering the Original Tales of the Brothers Grimm." The
Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Trans. Jack Zipes. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton UP, 2014. Print.

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