CINDERELLA

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Hey there Earthlings, Alternatives and Trollers. Put down that mouse and lend an ear. Welcome to The Bandersnatch blog where we talk weird, wacky and wondrous. I'm Mama Ogre and I have no idea what I'm doing.

As you should know Tuesdays is book blog day were we talk about one particular book and pretty much run with it. Today's blog is on the well known fairytale Cinderella.

Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper is a folk tale with a twist of myth element based on unjust oppression and triumphant reward. Whilst thousands of variants are known throughout the world the common variant is the Protagonist is a young woman living in forsaken circumstances that are radically changed to remarkable fortune.

The oldest known oral version of Cinderella is an Ancient Greek story of Rhodopis which was recounted by Greek Geographer Strabo. A Greek courtesan named rosey-cheeks had one of her sandals stolen by an eagle which was then deposited into the lap of the king of Menphis, both the odd occurrence and the beauty of the sandal has the king order his mean to search for the owner. When rosey-cheeks was found she was taken to the king and she became his wife. The same story was later reported by the Roman orator Aelian but adds the name of the king as Psammetichus.

Aspasia of Phocaea is the secondary predecessor for the Cinderella character hailing from late antiquity. In this version Aspasia is raised by her father and dreams of meeting a nobleman, as she dreams one day she sees a woman transformed from a Dove and tells her how to remove a physical imperfection and regain her beauty. Later on she attends a banquet hosted by Persian Regent Cyrus the younger. The Persian king sets his sight on Aspasia herself and ignores the other women during the banquet.

Le Fresne is a 12^th century variant of the story in which a wealthy noblewoman gives up one of her twin daughters at the base of an ash tree alongside a ring and a brocade having been feared of being accused of infidelity (considering the belief at the time twins were considered to have two different fathers). The infant discovered is called Fresne (meaning Ash Tree) and is raised by nuns. Fresne and a nobleman fall in love but due to a betrothal cant get married. The bride is Fresne's long lost twin and Fresne is only recognised by their mother after placing her own brocade on their marriage bed. As a result of revealing her noble birth, Fresne and her beloved are married.

Ye Xian is the oldest known Asian version of Cinderella and appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang written by Duan Chengshi around 860. in this story Ye Xian is the daughter of a local tribe leader who like her mother has passed away and she is under the care of her fathers second wife who is abusive. Ye Xian befriends a fish who is a reincarnate of her mother but it doesn't last as the stepmother and stepsister kills the fish. Ye Xian saves the bones which are magical and they help her dress appropriately for a local festival including a pair of very light golden shoes. Her stepfamily recognise her there causing her to flee leaving behind one of her shoes. A neighbouring king there for the festival finds the shoe and goes to look for her. When he eventually sees her he falls in love and takes her away. Both Ye Xian's stepmother and Stepsister are later killed by flying fish.

In 1697 French author Charles Perrault wrote Cendrillion ou la petite pantoufle de verre, the popularity of this version was due to Perrault including the pumpkin, fairy-godmother and the introduction of glass slippers.

A wealthy widower has a beautiful young daughter; a girl of unparalleled kindness and sweet temper. The gentleman marries a proud and haughty woman as his second wife. She has two daughters, who are equally vain and selfish. The girl is forced into servitude by her stepmother, where she is made to work day and night doing menial chores. After the girl's chores are done for the day, she curls up near the fireplace in an effort to stay warm. She often arises covered in cinders, giving rise to the mocking nickname "Cinderella" by her stepsisters. Cinderella bears the abuse patiently and does not tell her father, who would have scolded her.

One day, the Prince invites all the young ladies in the land to a royal ball, planning to choose a wife. The two stepsisters gleefully plan their wardrobes for the ball, and taunt Cinderella by telling her that maids are not invited to the ball.

As the sisters depart to the ball, Cinderella cries in despair. Her Fairy Godmother magically appears and immediately begins to transform Cinderella from house servant to the young lady she was by birth, all in the effort to get Cinderella to the ball. She turns a pumpkin into a golden carriage, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman, and lizards into footmen. She then turns Cinderella's rags into a beautiful jewelled gown, complete with a delicate pair of glass slippers. The Godmother tells her to enjoy the ball, but warns her that she must return before midnight, when the spells will be broken.

At the ball, the entire court is entranced by Cinderella, especially the Prince. At this first ball, Cinderella remembers to leave before midnight. Back home, Cinderella graciously thanks her Godmother. She then innocently greets the stepsisters, who had not recognized her earlier, and talk of nothing but the beautiful girl at the ball.

Another ball is held the next evening, and Cinderella again attends with her Godmother's help. The Prince has become even more infatuated with the mysterious woman at the ball, and Cinderella in turn becomes so enchanted by him she loses track of time and leaves only at the final stroke of midnight, losing one of her glass slippers on the steps of the palace in her haste. The Prince chases her, but outside the palace, the guards see only a simple country girl leave. The Prince pockets the slipper and vows to find and marry the girl to whom it belongs. Meanwhile, Cinderella keeps the other slipper, which does not disappear when the spell is broken.

The Prince tries the slipper on all the women in the kingdom. When the Prince arrives at Cinderella's home, the stepsisters try in vain to win him over. Cinderella asks if she may try, but the stepsisters taunt her. Naturally, the slipper fits perfectly, and Cinderella produces the other slipper for good measure. Cinderella's stepfamily pleads for forgiveness, and Cinderella agrees. Cinderella had hoped her step-family would love her always.

Cinderella married the Prince as her stepsisters are married to two handsome gentlemen of the royal court.

• Cinderella Wiki

there's said to be two morals to this version of the Cinderella story. The first being that whilst beauty is a treasure, graciousness is priceless. The second rather migates the first and reveals the criticism Perrault was aiming at that “Without advantage to have intelligence, courage, good breeding and common sense. These and similar talents only come form heaven, and it is good to have them. However, even these may fail to bring you success, without the blessing of a godfather or a godmother”.

The Brothers Grimm wrote their own version of Cinderella called Aschenputtel in the 19^th century.

A plague infests a village, and a wealthy gentleman's wife lies on her deathbed. She calls for her only daughter, and tells her to remain good and kind, as God would protect her. She then dies and is buried. The child visits her mother's grave every day to grieve and a year goes by. The gentleman marries another woman with two older daughters from a previous marriage. They have beautiful faces and fair skin, but their hearts are cruel and wicked. The stepsisters steal the girl's fine clothes and jewels and force her to wear rags. They banish her into the kitchen, and give her the nickname "Aschenputtel" ("Ashfool"). She is forced to do all kinds of hard work from dawn to dusk for the sisters. The cruel sisters do nothing but mock her and make her chores harder by creating messes. However, despite all of it, the girl remains good and kind, and will always go to her mother's grave to cry and pray to God that she will see her circumstances improve.

One day the gentleman visits a fair, promising his stepdaughters gifts of luxury. The eldest asks for beautiful dresses, while the younger for pearls and diamonds. His own daughter merely begs for the first twig to knock his hat off on the way. The gentleman goes on his way, and acquires presents for his stepdaughters. While passing a forest he gets a hazel twig, and gives it to his daughter. She plants the twig over her mother's grave, waters it with her tears and over the years, it grows into a glowing hazel tree. The girl prays under it three times a day, and a white bird always comes to her as she prays. She tells her wishes to the bird, and every time the bird throws down to her what she has wished for.

The king decides to ordain a festival that will last for three days and invites all the beautiful maidens in the land to attend so that the prince can select one of them for his bride. The two sisters are also invited, but when Aschenputtel begs them to allow her to go with them into the celebration, the stepmother refuses because she has no decent dress nor shoes to wear. When the girl insists, the woman throws a dish of lentils into the ashes for her to pick up, guaranteeing her permission to attend the festival, if she can clean up the lentils in two hours. When the girl accomplished the task in less than an hour with the help of a flock of white doves that came when she sang a certain chant, the stepmother only redoubles the task and throws down even a greater quantity of lentils. When Aschenputtel is able to accomplish it in a greater speed, not wanting to spoil her daughters' chances, the stepmother hastens away with her husband and daughters to the celebration and leaves the crying stepdaughter behind.

The girl retreats to the graveyard and asks to be clothed in silver and gold. The white bird drops a gold and silver gown and silk shoes. She goes to the feast. The prince dances with her all the time, and when sunset comes she asks to leave. The prince escorts her home, but she eludes him and jumps inside a pigeon coop. The father came home ahead of time and the prince asks him to chop the pigeon coop down, but Aschenputtel has already escaped. The next day, the girl appears in grander apparel. The prince falls in love with her and dances with her for the whole day, and when sunset comes, the prince tries to accompany her home again. However, she climbs a pear tree to escape him. The Prince calls her father who chops down the tree, wondering if it could be Aschenputtel, but Aschenputtel has disappeared. The third day, she appears dressed in grand finery, with slippers of gold. Now the prince is determined to keep her, and has the entire stairway smeared with pitch. Aschenputtel loses track of time, and when she runs away one of her golden slippers sticks on that pitch. The prince proclaims that he will marry the maiden whose foot fits the golden slipper.

The next morning, the prince goes to Aschenputtel's house and tries the slipper on the eldest stepsister. The sister was advised by her mother to cut off her toes in order to fit the slipper. While riding with the stepsister, the two doves from Heaven tell the Prince that blood drips from her foot. Appalled by her treachery, he goes back again and tries the slipper on the other stepsister. She cut off part of her heel in order to get her foot in the slipper, and again the prince is fooled. While riding with her to the king's castle, the doves alert him again about the blood on her foot. He comes back to inquire about another girl. The gentleman tells him that they keep a kitchen-maid in the house– omitting to mention that she is his own daughter– and the prince asks him to let her try on the slipper. Aschenputtel appears after washing herself, and when she puts on the slipper, the prince recognizes her as the stranger with whom he has danced at the ball.

In a coda added in the second edition of 1819, during Aschenputtel's wedding, as she walks down the aisle with her stepsisters as her bridesmaids, (they had hoped to worm their way into her favour), the doves fly down and strike the two stepsisters' eyes, one in the left and the other in the right. When the wedding comes to an end, and Aschenputtel and her prince march out of the church, the doves fly again, striking the remaining eyes of the two evil sisters blind, a punishment they had to endure for the rest of their lives.

• Cinderella Wiki

In this version Aschenputtels relationship with her father is rather ambiguous. Unlike Perrault's version where the father is both absent and dominated by his second wife this version shows the father in many scenes and often shows him being unfatherly to Aschenputtel.

There have been many adaptions of Cinderella both on stage and on screen. The most well known adaptions for the stage include Roger's and Hammerstein's 1957 musical of the same name. The musical went onto have two movie adaptions one in 1965 and 1997 and a re-adaption for the stage. Ever after in 1998 was another well known adaption which included Angelica Hudson and Drew Barrymore in the cast. Disney made two versions of Cinderella the 1950 animation and the 2015 live action. In 2021 Cinderella will be getting another live action musical adaption featuring Idina Menzel as the stepmother.

Like everyone in the world I'd grown up knowing the Cinderella story in some form or another and had seen many of the numerous versions on Cinderella in the cinema, on stage and on screen. I was even aware of the Perrault, Brothers Grim and Ye Xian versions of the story by the time I was a teenager. I believe the true moral of the story is that being both kind and true to yourself in adversity often would give you what you want instead of what many say the moral of the story is being rewarded for being over obedient. I give the story of Cinderella a 9/10.

WEBSITE BIBLIOGRAPHY:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella

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And there you have it a decent book for those who love to read So we'll be leaving this here for today please leave a comment, share with others if you want or not, Don't forget We HAVE PATREON! please consider becoming a Patreon today. Friday is random blog day and remember keep it sensible in the comments all abuse will be tracked and reported to the appropriate people.

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