Don't Think I Want the Cinderella Story Anymore

Leeann Barrett
“Cinderella in her most ‘perverted’ form- the patient, submissive, defenseless young woman, whose happiness depends on a man who actually defines her life.”(11, “Don’t Bet on the Prince”, Jack Zipes). Jack’s statement when I first read it I thought no this cannot be true but especially in our version of the Cinderella story, this is true.
The Cinderella story fits all the guideline of what it is to be a fairy tale according to the list given in Jack’s other article “The Changing Function of the Fairy Tale”. These rules in reference to Cinderella apply as such:

1) Cinderella is under the ruling of her step mother and step sisters
2) Cinderella’s name comes from the fact that her stepmother assigns her chores like to clean the soot from the chimney and because the soot would get all over her they began to call her Cinder-ella.
3) Cinderella (in the English version) has three villains who are her step mother and step sister but mainly her eldest stepsister. Her savior, which is her fairy godmother, appears from thin air and grants her wish by giving her clothing and transportation to the ball. The animals that Cinderella encounters are the rats and the rats that are then turned into horses and her trenchmen. And after all of this Cinderella promises to come back before twelve.
4) She has been tested of her good heartedness and through toils since her step family came into the picture. The battle that Cinderella faces is that she is being oppressed by her step family and the battle that they fight takes place at the ball where Cinderella takes way all of the prince’s attention.
5) Cinderella being the “bell of the ball’s” good luck suddenly fails when she sees that I is almost midnight and remembers what her godmother warned her about what will happen to her suddenly gained riches. She then rushes home and acts as though nothing happened
6) The Cinderella stories do not break a magical spell but she does get freed from her stepmothers rule. In other versions of the Cinderella story Cinderella gets the chance to meet the prince two time and the last encounter is when she forgets and cuts close with the time leaving the ball at the last minute.
7) The villains are punished by not getting what they wanted. Cinderella won the princes heart and is allowed to move into the palace away from her stepfamily while they have to stay in their home and do all of their housework by themselves.
8) In the end Cinderella marries that prince and lives in the palace where she owns all the rices of the land.

Even though all these pointers focus on Cinderella and he trial and triumphs, Cinderella really does not have an identity before the prince comes into the picture. It’s funny how the prince says nothing but he governs the whole outcome of the story. He is the character that is most in the background.
I see him more as an after though then a main event. The prince is the center of thee story and why this story is worthy to be told. If the prince had a wife already, the ball would have never taken place. Cinderella would still be a maid for her stepfamily, her father still has no say in what goes on in the house (even though the father character is only necessary in the beginning , which is the background of the story),and Cinderella godmother would never have existed. Cinderella would have just been a good girl who got the bad end of the stick.
Women do not hold a high place. The stepmother, one can argue, is a strong female figure. She has money, a husband who she tricked into marrying her and a step daughter who she makes a slave. That all seems like a woman with power, but, how did she get this money? All the money she has is obtained through previous marriages. The reason why she marries Cinderella’s father is because she thought that he had money. He fall is that he tricked her. She had money but was money hungry and Cinderella’s father needed the money as well as a mother for Cinderella. The only reason why the stepmother has this power over the father is because he is weak, financially and probably mental unstable from the death of his wife. The story never shows the stepmother working to make a profit. She is always home to tell Cinderella what to do and to supervise.
The Cinderella story is one of the most popular fairy tales of them all. However this story is what is embedded in my young girls and boys. Bruno Bettelhem in his article "The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales" by Bruno Bettelhem, he says "when children are young, it is literature that carries such information best" (4). Though the undertones of this story are not noticed but they are understood. Woman, if they are submissive, obedient and loyal, will go far in life and if they veer away from this then they will only succeed if they feed off of weak and widowed men. I once heard that the original lesson of this story (other than that your good ways and deeds will get you far) is that it, as well as other fairy tales like Snow White, are used to talk people what will happen if they remarry. Woman will come and abuse you and your children then use up all of your money and leave.
Before i read these articles i was looking to have the Cinderella story of true love and the "happilly ever after". The way i was taught to view this story is totally different than what it actually is. What is the Cinderella story any ways. It is really nothing and has no true substance but to embed lies into young children. This story is here to carry on the myth that they prince charming is always to come and save the damsel in distress. The prince never even knew Cinderella existed before the ball. Much less any of the other girls. The only reason why he came for her is because she looked "bad" at the ball. Come to think of it, he didn't even go out to look for her, he sent his loyal servant to go house to house having girls try on a shoe. Something that is material and that can he reproduced. How can some one find true love out of just a few glances. For all he know she could have had a disease or could have just been out for his money like all the other women. Why does he love her? Because she toggled his mind a little? Mesmerized him with her good looks? I mean come on that is SO not a happily ever after. It's funny to see what we have based true love on.