Introduction
The Cinderella Tales are one of the most popular types of fairy tales known today. The most popular ones seem to be Charles Perrault’s Cinderella and Aschenputtel by the Brothers Grimm, although both versions are essentially different. For example, the Grimm story is known for its cruelty, while Perrault’s version is completely bloodless. As for the motive of magic, the fairy tales are also not entirely similar: one Cinderella is helped by her late mother, while the fairy godmother supports the other. Even such a significant event in the fate of a girl as a ball appears from different perspectives. All similarities and differences have a different effect on the reader. Apparently, Cinderella achieves her happiness in different ways despite one plot.
The Levels of Violence
In both versions of the tale, a reader encounters a hostile attitude towards Cinderella. Cinderella’s new stepmother has two daughters, as evil as their mother, who subjugate their stepsister from the very beginning. They take beautiful dresses from the rich man’s daughter and drive her out to live in the kitchen. In addition, the girl now does the darkest and most challenging work from morning to evening and sleeps in ash. Stepsisters scoff at Cinderella, for example, they pour peas and lentils into the ashes.
The Brothers Grimm are known for their completely non-childish stories. The story about Cinderella is no exception, filled with various inhuman moments. For example, the authors do not leave without cruelty in perhaps the most famous fairy tale scene, when the prince finds his princess. Stepsisters are the first to try on the shoe: one of the stepsisters cuts off her big toe, and the other cuts off her heel (Grimm and Grimm 21). But the call of the doves warns the prince in time about the impostors, and he still finds his real Cinderella.
The Brothers Grimm also reveals what punishment awaits the evil sisters. At the wedding of Cinderella and the prince, her helpful pigeons peck out the sisters’ eyes. For some people, preserving the object of their love in their lives can completely calm the rationality in a person (Bulletin 2). Although, the only thing that remains a mystery is whether she does it out of fear of losing her acquired love or a thirst for revenge.
Charles Perrault does not build the narrative with as much brutality as the Brothers Grimm do. According to his version, after Cinderella, in a hurry, lost her shoe, the prince found it and went to look for his beloved throughout the country. The Cinderella sisters also try it on, but the glass slippers just do not fit anyone. In the end, the main character forgives her stepsisters because, as the author wrote, she is good-looking and kind (Perrault 27). Moreover, she allocates apartments in the palace for her two sisters and marries them to two high-ranking nobles on the same day.
The Presence of Cinderella’s Dead Mother
During the whole story, someone always helps the main character. At the Brothers Grimm, the princess is supported by her mother, of course, through an intermediary. Cinderella three times a day comes to the tree, which she plants on her mother’s grave, cries and prays, and a white bird flies into the tree every time. And when Cinderella expresses some desire, the bird drops to her what she wants.
As a result, the girl still gets to the ball, again with the help of her mother, who sends her an outfit with birds. And when the moment of truth comes, where the prince comes to the house of Cinderella and her stepsisters, the girl’s dead mother again sends her attendants to the dove. They hum that the shoe is covered in blood, and the prince should pay attention to this to continue his search for the real Cinderella.
Unlike the Brothers Grimm version of the fairy tale, in Charles Perrault’s plot, Cinderella’s mother is already dead at the beginning of the story. That is, in this version, there is no helping mother, but there is a godmother. Cinderella also gets the opportunity to get to the royal ball with the help of her fairy godmother’s magic. She exchanges Cinderella’s old clothes for a luxurious dress and gives her beautiful shoes, one of which Cinderella loses in a hurry on the second day.
Cinderella’s Relationship with the Prince
The royal ball is a crucial stage of the fairy tale. The brothers Grimm explain the motive of Cinderella’s escape from the ball much more logically. The beauty here is frightened not by the clock’s striking but by the prince’s attempts to find out whose daughter she is. With Perrault, he falls in love with a masquerade, but with Grimm to some extent, too, but he is interested in who Cinderella is. The Brothers Grimm do not say anything about the feelings between the prince and the princess. The prince only calls Cinderella his partner and only dances with her for three days (Grimm and Grimm 15). The Brothers Grimm, in the 1819 version, expands on the tale to include Cinderella’s wedding to a prince.
According to Perrault, the girl is met by the prince, who is told about the arrival of a charming princess, whom no one knows about. It is an archetypal tale of how the oppressed and resentful rise above their oppressors, driven by kindness and the power of love (Crompton 1). Thus, in this situation, Cinderella’s masquerade allows her to conquer the prince’s heart, not her moral or mental qualities.
Significance of The Differences and Similarities
The Brothers Grimm include many different themes in their tales, which, in their opinion, are German in nature. The most pressing topics are hostility towards outsiders, the need for order, and the possibility of self-determination (Tatar 58). Hostility towards the outsider is especially evident in the description, portrayal, and treatment of Cinderella’s stepsisters. The Brothers also display hostility towards the outsider through the sisters’ attempts to blend in a position not created for them, literally chopping off parts of their legs (Tatar 58). Perrault emphasizes position, property, and peacekeeping throughout the whole story. He first maintained the situation at the beginning of the tale by making Cinderella the gentleman’s daughter. Even if someone manages to rise in society, Cinderella’s personality has proven that she is still expected to live up to the ideals of the royal family and the nobility. Perrault ascribes positive qualities to Cinderella, in particular beauty, kindness, and charm. Throughout the story, Cinderella consistently shows good manners towards everyone, even when it means significant potential losses for her. Cinderella also always treats her stepsisters incredibly well, even though they constantly mistreat her.
Conclusion
The high popularity of this story is explained by the fact that the problems described in the fairy tale have a place to be in any historical reality. There is disrespect for work, injustice to individuals, infringement of rights, cruelty, and much more in both versions. In both versions, in Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, the main character finds happiness with her lover. However, the story told by Perrault is devoid of violent scenes and looks more magical and romantic compared to the version of Jacob and William Grimm. Despite some significant differences, the basic idea of the tale does not change. Support from her mother or godmother eventually helped Cinderella make the prince fall in love with her, but whether she fell in love, the authors leave without explanation.
Works Cited
Bulletin, Townsville. “Addicted to Love in Professional Circles It’s Called the Cinderella Complex. Love Addiction Means Being so in Love with Love That Little Else Matters.” Newspaper Source Plus, 2006.
Crompton, Sarah. “Cinderella Is Still Weaving Her Spell.” 2010.
Grimm, Jakob, and Wilhelm Grimm. Cinderella. Purnell, 1984.
Perrault, Charles. Cinderella. Allan, 1996.
Tatar, Maria. The Hard Facts of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Princeton University Press, 2019.