One of the most well known and oldest of our fairy tale Princesses is Cinderella. I have always found her story enchanting, I think many girls might have day-dreamed at some point of meeting their Fairy Godmother and having their wishes granted. Cinderella is really inspiring though, in her attitude to life. In most versions of the tale, while she is so poorly treated by her step-family, she still remains a kind, sweet natured soul and is in the end, very forgiving of their flaws. To meet such bitter treatment and cruelty with forgiveness and kindness (In the Perrault version she even finds her sisters rich husbands!) is truly admirable.
Fairy tales have a habit of travelling, and the earliest written version of Cinderella is Chinese, dated to the middle of the ninth century A.D. In this version there is no Fairy Godmother but instead a magical fish, and her slipper is not glass but gold. The heroine’s name is Yeh-shen.
From then there are references, and most likely an oral tradition of the tale until the appearance of what it probably the most well known (and my favourite) version, published in 1697 by Charles Perrault. Many of the motifs we now associate with Cinderella such as a pumpkin carriage and midnight deadline come from this version. It is also rather more of a moral tale then some others, emphasizing Cinderella’s good nature and kind behaviour. In typical Perrault style it is very descriptive with lovely references to the clothing and decor of the period.
Aschenputtel is the German name for the tale, recorded by the Grimm Brothers in their collection. Interestingly, in this version the Stepsisters are also beautiful and it is their inner qualities that set them apart from the heroine. My favourite part of the Grimm version is that Cinderella recieves help from birds throughout the tale, both with the tasks set for her by her Stepmother and in recieving the gifts needed to attend the ball. A white bird perched in the tree over her Mother’s grave serves the purpose of ‘Fairy Godmother’ when she calles out “Shiver and quiver, little tree. Silver and gold throw down over me.” In a less forgiving ending to the story the two Stepsisters are punished for their cruelty with blindness, perhaps a reference to their vanity.
The main themes of Cinderella seem to be popular in many cultures and different versions of the story appear all over the world.
