Viable and Spirited Views of "cinderella"

Viable and Spirited Views of “Cinderella”

For centuries both children and adults have familiarized themselves with fairytales and fictional stories. Although these stories were created for adolescent entertainment, many believe that these tales convey much more meaning than what meets the eye. In the story “Modern Cinderella” Karol Kelly says “Cinderella shows that women have to be dependent on a man, and teach girls not to create a life of their own.” Were these stories intended to send a message to society about idealism, gender discrimination, and competitiveness? According to Alexandra Robbins and her essay “The Fairy-Tale Faзade: Cinderella’s Anti grotesque Dream,” Cinderella and our everyday fairytaless have done just that. Through her essay she shares various authors’ opinions that will support her argument. On the other hand, Bruno Bettelheim’s essay, “Cinderella: A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts,” depicts how fairytaless have helped our generations adapt and confront issues of sibling rivalry and every child’s preconceived expectations. These authors relate this fictional story with real-life occurrences by illustrating how “Cinderella” gives a sense of competitiveness to children in some form or fashion.

Kelly shows just how the true Cinderella story was transformed into a symbolic message that depicts the nature of power relationships in a given society. She says “In the earlier story Cinderella is a strong, independent woman who rebels against the hard labor forced upon her and uses her wits to help regain her upper class status in society (Kelly 88). Kelly and Robbins share very similar views on the topic. In Robbins’s essay she shows the competitive message “Cinderella” gives to young girls by a way of inferiority and appearance. She feels that “Cinderella” puts every young woman in a position where she feels perfection is the only way possible to live a happy and successful life. Robbins states, “Cinderella encourages little girls, to aspire to become meek and inactive so that they, too, may achieve the utmost wish of someday riding off with the prince of their dreams and thereby escaping the heinous chore of cleaning their rooms” (Robbins 104). In Bettelheim’s essay, he takes a different look on the message that “Cinderella” gives. He believes that the fairytale affects every single child, not just adolescent females. Through his essay, he shows how competition through sibling rivalry, just like with Cinderella and her sisters, is a positive and normal thing. He feels every child has or will go through the sense of competition between brother and sister, other family members, and even friends. “No other fairytale 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,” Bettelheim declares. He shares that all children relate with “Cinderella” on an everyday basis, due to their imperfections and miseries (Bettelheim 589). I think Cinderella was a wonderful story that showed that a good work ethic and dedication will pay off. I do not think Cinderella was intended to degrade or insult any form of society. I have to agree with Bettelheim in that every child goes through a form of rivalry with family members; it is how you handle those struggles that make you the person you are.

The authors identify how children tend to feel a sense of idealism from “Cinderella.” In Kelly’s essay she shows that Cinderella show children that men are a more important aspect to the world. She feels that Cinderella also gives a sign to young girls that their importance in the workforce is not more significant than males. “Leave the sewing to the women; you get to the trimming” (Kelly 89). In Robbins’s essay she talks about how the Cinderella’s flawless features give young girls a feeling of impracticality, thus lowering their self-esteem and self worth. “One was a girl-doll with shiny blond ringlets and blue eyes that were thickly lashed, and almost to round…and whose complexion was a lovely pale.”(104) Robbins describes the story “Cinderella” as degrading to all women who have fought to be independent and self-defining. Bettelheim disagrees totally with Robbins on the topic; he shows how every child sees that Cinderella is not perfect. He believes every child is proud to see Cinderella’s imperfections because this gives them a since of hope and belonging. Bettelheim showcases how sibling rivalry causes children to notice their impracticalities, which in turn make them love Cinderella. “When a story corresponds to how the child feels deep down, it attains an emotional quality of truth for the child” (Bettelheim 590). Every fairytale shows a sense of idealism in some way. I do not think that “Cinderella was