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The Case of The Many Faces of Cinderella
Jamie Jennings
SLIS 5440
Summer II 2002
Description and Purpose:
This is a PowerPoint presentation which will examine
ten different Cinderella stories from different
cultures in the form of a F.T.A. (Fairy Tale Agency)
case profile. The purpose of this project is to show
that Cinderella is a familiar figure in many cultures.
She or he in some cases, is a common thread we all
share. I scoured the public library for these stories as
well as my own personal collection.
Bibliographic Citations
Climo, Shirley (1989). The Egyptian Cinderella. New York: Harper Collins.
Story Synopsis:
Rhodopis is stolen from Greece by pirates and sold as a slave in Egypt. Her master is very kind
but old. He doesn’t see the cruel things the other servant girls do to her out of their jealousy.
Rhodopis takes it in stride and is kind to everyone, including her animal friends. She is given a
gift of red slippers by her master for her beautiful dancing. This makes the others more
jealous. Rhodopis is uninvited to go with the rest of the servants to see the Pharoah. She was
sad but she tried dancing to make herself feel better. A falcon sweeps down and takes one of
her slippers and drops it into Pharoah’s lap. He decides he wants to marry the woman who
wears this slippers and sets out to find her. Eventually, he comes to the house where Rhodopis
is a servant, finds that it only fits her and makes her his queen.
Climo, Shirley. (1990). The Persian Cinderella. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Story Synopsis:
Settareh lived with her step-mother, two stepsisters, three aunts and four female cousins. She hardly saw her
father and everybody else ignored her. She had a star birthmark on her cheek that the sisters teased her about.
She lived off of left-overs and cast-offs from her step-sisters. The girls are invited to the Prince’s palace. They are
given money to buy cloth for the occasion. Settareh ends up buying food for herself and giving some away to a
poor beggar. With what she has left, she buys a blue jug, which ends up being magical. Because she didn’t buy
new cloth, she is unable to go to the celebration at the palace. In the end, the pot magically produces clothes and
she is able to go. She enchants everyone but as she runs to escape, she drops an ankle bracelet. The Prince looks
for her but her sisters have found out what happened and they broke the jar and made Settareh turn into a
pigeon. In the end, the Prince is able to rescue Settareh from her sisters by recognizing her and taking out the
magical pins that turned her into a pigeon.
Coburn, Jewell Reinhart and Tzexa Cherta Lee (1996). Jouanah: A Hmong Cinderella. Arcadia, CA:
Shen’s Books.
Story Synopsis:
Jounanah is the daughter of a farmer whose mother is turned into a cow to help out the family. When the father
takes a second wife, she tricks him into killing his first wife. The step-mother is jealous of Jounanah’s beauty and
is cruel to her, making her do all the lowly chores. Jounanah is conforted by her mother’s spirit who gives her
daughter beautiful clothes and slippers for a big festival. Everybody is astounded by her beauty. The Village’s
Elder Son falls serenades her. Jounanah lives quickly when she realizes she needs to get home before her stepmother and step-sisters, but loses a shoe. The young man searches from village to village and finally finds
Jounanah and they marry and move away.
Compton, Joanne (1994). Ashpet: An Appalachian Tale. New York: Holiday House.
Story Synopsis:
Ashpet lived in Eagle’s Nest Mountain was was hired out to help the Widow Hooper and her two daughters. She
was beautiful and she worked very hard doing the mending, cleaning, cooking and washing. The Widow and
her daughters were very snobby and thought that they were better than Ashpet. When the fire in the fireplace
goes out, they send Ashpet to get fire from Granny, who scared most people. Ashpet went and got the fire. She
made friends with Granny. When Ashpet couldn’t go to the big church meeting, Granny came by the cabin and it
shook itself clean and produced a new calico dress for Ashpet. Ashpet went and got the attention of the doctor’s
son. They had a picnic but Ashpet had to leave so she could be home before midnight. She lost one of her new
shoes in the process of leaving. The doctor’s son came to the cabin to have the females try on the shoe, but a
crow took off it with and he chased it running into Ashpet who was wearing the other shoe. He paid the Widow
for the rest of Ashpet’s service time and married Ashpet.
Daly, Jude (2000). Fair, Brown and Trembling: An Irish Cinderella Story. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Story Synopsis:
Trembling lives with her father and two sisters in a castle in Erin. Her sisters wear new dresses to church every
Sunday but won’t allow Trembling to go for fear that she will marry before them because she is so beautiful. One
day, a henwoman visits trembling and insists she go to church. She magically produces a beautiful dress and
horse with the warning that she must never set foot into the church and ride as fast as the wind at the moment the
services finish. Everybody in the church is awed by the woman in the doorway and they don’t know who she is.
Trembling gets the attention of a Prince who waits outside and grabs a slipper as she rides off for home. The
Prince has all the women in the area trying on the shoe and finally he goes to Trembling’s house. The Prince
discovers Trembling hiding in a closet and he recognizes her as the mystery woman. After he wins battles with
other princes for her hand, he marries her and has fourteen children. Her sisters are put out to sea.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson (1999). Just Ella. New York: Scholastic Inc.
Story Synopsis:
Ella goes to live in the castle in preparation for her wedding to the Prince. While she is there, she is given lessons
on how to be a proper princess. She just wants to be Ella but she is not allowed to. When she is permitted to see
the prince, she finds that they have nothing to talk about and that he loves her for her beauty. She becomes
miserable at the palace until her tutor gets sick and his son takes over her lessons.. Ella and Jed become close
friends and she reveals to him how she came to the ball that night. She finds herself falling in love with Jed. She
refuses to marry the prince and she’s put in a dungeon. Eventually she escapes and runs away from the castle to
avoid marrying the prince. In the end, one of her step-sisters ends up marrying the prince. Jed stays to help end
the war but promises to come to Ella soon to be with her. Ella enjoys living on her own. She is studying medicine
and is going to wait for Jed. She is happy being just Ella.
Louie, Ai-Ling (1982).. Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China. New York: Philomel Books.
Story Synopsis:
Yeh-Shen’s father had two wives. Each wife gave him a daughter. Shortly after giving birth to Yeh-Shen, her
mother dies and soon after her father. Her step-mother raises her and doesn’t like her because she is so kind and
beautiful.. She gives her the hardest chores and feeds her little. Yeh-shen finds a friend in a fish by the pond. She
feeds him and he grows enormous. Her step-mother finds out what has happened and she tricks the fish and
kills him. Yeh-shen is devastated that her fish is gone. An old man tells her that the bones of the fish are magical
and she should dig them up and tells them what her heart desires. Yeh-shen digs them up and tells the bones
things such as she’s hungry and a meal appears. The time for a marriage festival comes around, but Yeh-Shen is
not allowed to go because her step-mother is jealous of Yeh-Shen’s beauty. She tells the bones she would like to
go and a beautiful outfit with gold slippers appears on Yeh-Shen. Everybody is astounded by her beauty. She
leaves when her step-sister thinks she recognizes Yeh-Shen and in the process, she loses one of her slippers and
her clothes become rags again. The slipper is found by a villager who sells it to the king. He decides to look
everywhere for the owner of the slipper. All women, except Yeh-Shen go there to try it on. At night, Yeh-Shen
goes to the pavilion to get it back. The king watches and realizes this is the beauty at the festival. His men follow
her home and she puts on the slippers and she is once again transformed. The king marries her and her stepmother and step-sister were killed by a shower of stones.
Martin, Rafe (1992). The Rough-Face Girl. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
Story Synopsis:
Everybody in the village wanted to marry the Invisible Being who was rich, powerful and supposedly very
handsome. But, the only person who could marry him was one who could see him. In this same village was a
poor man and his three daughters. The two older daughters were mean and cruel to the youngest and made her
tend to the fire, which scarred her face. One day, the two elder daughters demanded that their father give them
new beads and clothes because they were going to go marry the Invisible Being. The father complied and the two
girls went. The sister of the Invisible Being asked them what the Invisible Being’s bow was made of and the two
sisters didn’t know and made it up. Because they didn’t know, the sister made the two sisters leave in disgrace
for lying. The youngest sister, the Rough-faced girl, asked her father for beads and clothes, but he said all he had
was his clothes from last year. She said whatever was fine and she left for the wigwam of the Invisible Being.
People laughed and made fun of her. When she arrived, the sister asked her the same question but the Roughfaced girl answered it correctly. The sister knew she had seen him and she took her to the waters to bathe and the
Rough-faced girl’s scars vanished and her hair became healthy again. She was then placed in the wife’s seat and
she and the Invisible Being were married.
Perrault, Charles (1989). Cinderella and Other Tales from Perrault. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Story Synopsis:
Cinderella’s father married a mean and nasty wife with her own daughters. The step-mother didn’t like how
sweet and beautiful Cinderella was so she made her do all of the menial jobs in the house. Cinderella never
complained and liked to spend her time sitting down in the chimney corner. When the King’s son gave a ball,
everybody went but Cinderella. She helped her sisters prepare and then cried because she wanted to go. Her
fairy godmother helped her out by magically producing a carriage complete with horse and driver, dress and
glass slippers. She set off to the ball and the King’s son fell in love with her beauty. They ate together but when
the clock struck, she left. The next day, her sisters left to the ball again, as did Cinderella. This time she forgot the
warning, and left when the clock was striking midnight. She fled the palace leaving her glass slipper. The Prince
declared that whoever fit that shoe would be his princess. All tried it on, but it didn’t fit. Finally, Cinderella tried
it on and put on the one she had. She married the Prince and forgave her sisters.
Silverman, Erica (1999). Raisel’s Riddle. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Story Synopsis:
Raisel lives in Poland with her grandfather who is a scholar. When he gets sick an dies suddenly, Raisel sets out
to find work. She stops at every house and is turned down. Finally, she comes to a big house and asks for work.
At first, the manager of the household turns her down, but the Rabbi who lives there convinces the housekeeper
to give Raisel a job. The housekeeper is mean to her and makes her do things over and over again. Raisel doesn’t
say anything but keeps working hard and trying. The Purim feast begins and Raisel wishes she could go, but she
is not allowed. As she carried her leftovers to eat that evening, a beggar woman sat down next to Raisel and
Raisel gave her the plate of food. The woman told her that she would grant her three wishes for her kind heart.
Raisel wished for a Purim costume and a horse-drawn wagon, and her wishes were granted. She went to the hall
for the feast and everybody wondered who she was. The Rabbi’s son approached her and told her how beautiful
she was. He asked where she lived but she told him a riddle instead. As the clock bonged, Raisel knew she had
to leave to get back to clean the house. When she arrived she wished the kitchen spotless and it was. The next
morning, the talk was of the girl and the riddle. The Rabbi’s son wanted to marry the girl who told him the
riddle. Many women approached the son with the wrong riddle. Raisel wasn’t allowed to approach the son by
the housekeeper. Finally, she banged on the door and told the Rabbi that she had told her son the riddle. She
was allowed to come out and tell him the riddle and the Rabbi’s son and Raisel got married and lived happily
ever after.
F.T.A. Files:
Case # 333 – The Many Faces of
Cinderella
Case Status: Solved
Lead Agent: Mr. Grimm
The Fairy Tale Agency (F.T.A) has been
overwhelmed by the large number of Cinderella
stories it has received from around the world.
Lead Agent Grimm has carefully investigated and
analyzed ten of these stories. The findings are
documented within this file. You will find
information about each “Cinderella”, her story,
as well as a cultural analysis on each story. A
summary follows the presentation of the the
information. It is our intent to show that
while each story shares similarities with the
other stories, each one has its unique
characteristics with its culture helping make it
distinctly different. Cinderella, is an
important figure in many cultures. We hope to
educate you in the many faces of Cinderella.
*This information has been made public by FTA Mandate #7*
Who is “Cinderella”?
The F.T.A. has thoroughly investigated ten
“Cinderella”s. The following ten slides will
provide you with profiles of each girl.
Interestingly enough, the F.T.A. found the following
common strands:
-Each one performed menial labor tasks (cooking,
cleaning, sewing, etc.)
-Each one endured cruel punishments by jealous women
and it caused isolation and loneliness
-Each one was kind-hearted and sweet to all people
-Each girl had a transformation
-Every girl’s mother was either absent or dead
-Each girl got her “prince”
Cinderella
From: France (from Cinderella)
Description: She was young and beautiful. She was sweet and
kind. She didn’t complain. She did nice things for her
sisters such as fixing their hair and picking out gowns
even though they were mean to her and made jokes about her.
She scrubs floors, cooks and cleans in her own home.
Unique Characteristics: She liked to sit in the chimney among
the cinders.
Goals: To go to the ball
Transformation: She is transformed by her fairy godmother
into a beautiful princess.
She’s a flat character in that “kind and beautiful” sum her
up. She’s almost too kind and beautiful to be human.
Ella
From: England (from Just Ella)
Description: She is beautiful and young teenager (about 17). She’s clever, smart and
resourceful (she made her own dress and had a glassblower make the glass shoes).
She is kind to other people. She speaks her mind and stands up for herself. She is
very independent and strong-willed. She was a servant in her own house until she
came to the Palace where she was tutored in being a proper princess
Unique Characteristics: She doesn’t want to marry the Prince
Goals: To be herself and to leave the Palace and become a doctor
Transformation: She changes herself into the beautiful mysterious woman at the ball
Ella is a dynamic character. She says what she feels and she fights for what she believes
in. She is a modern day, independent woman in medieval times. She doesn’t
believe she’s beautiful and she feels isolated because she doesn’t feel like she’s truly
princess material.
Rhodopis
From: Greece originally but was kidnapped by pirates and sold into
slavery in Egypt. (From The Egyptian Cinderella)
Description: She’s young, with blonde hair and green eyes. She’s
kind to all people. She does things to try to make people happy.
She wants to fit and be liked. She is cheerful and gets easily
embarrassed when she is teased by the other servants. She is very
obedient. She’s a slave and does all menial labor.
Unique Characteristics: She likes to dance and she talks with animals
whom she keeps company with
Goals: To go with other servants to see Pharoah
Transformation: Her master gives her rose-red slippers which made her
carefree
Rhodopis is a more dynamic Cinderella in that she’s believable because
she wants to just fit in. She knows she’s different and she is
isolated because of this. She has human feelings of anger when her
slippers are dirtied and are taken away by falcon.
Settareh
From: Persia (from The Persian Cinderella)
Description: She’s young with ebony hair and dark eyes. She has a
heart-shaped mark on her left cheek that her sisters make fun of.
She wants to please her sisters all of the time and does what they
want her to do, even when they make fun of her. She is giving to
everyone, even when she needs it herself. She is very shy and
lonely because she is ignored. She is very obedient to men and to
her sisters.
Unique Characteristics: She is changed into a dove by magical pins
that were put into her hair by her sisters.
Goals: To go to the festival at the palace
Transformation: She transforms her tattered rags into beautiful
clothes by wishing on a little blue jug
Settareh is a very shy girl who wants the love and attention of her
family. She lives as a pauper in her own house and doesn’t
complain. She is a stereotypical “kind, gentle, and beautiful”
girl, but she doesn’t have much personality other than that.
Trembling
From: Ireland (from Fair, Brown, and Trembling)
Description: She’s young and very beautiful and is kind to other
people. She is lonely because she is isolated by her sisters. She
obeys them even though they make her do all of the hard work and
keep her dressed and fed poorly.
Unique Characteristics: She rides a horse. She is the mysterioous
woman who won’t go inside of the church. Several princes fight for
her hand in marriage because she’s so beautiful.
Goals: To go to church
Transformation: She is magically transformed into the well-dress woman
who stands in the doorway of the church by a henwoman.
Trembling is also a flat character. She does as she’s told and doesn’t
question her sisters’ authority over her. She beautiful and kind
and is the epitome of goodness. Like Cinderella, she’s too good to
be true.
Ashpet
From: Appalachia (from Ashpet)
Description: She was young, “fresh-faced and regular-featured.” She
is a hard worker and does what she’s told. She is kind to people,
especially older people. She’s also very clever and tries hard to
make the people she works for happy. She is a serving girl in a
household with a jealous widow and her two ugly daughters.
Unique Characteristics: She has a hillbilly accent
Goals: To go to the church meeting
Transformation: Granny magically cleans the house and creates a red
calico dress and shoes which make Ashpet look pretty.
Ashpet is a little less shallow than some of the other Cinderellas.
She has some spunk when she figures out a way to get home before
midnight. She’s real in that she’s not described as beautiful and
kind. She is nice but not overly, sicky-sweet nice. She is more
believable.
Yeh-Shen
From: China (from Yeh-Shen)
Description: She’s a young, beautiful girl who is very lonely and sad.
She’s lived a tragic life. Her parents have died and her step-mother
is cruel to her. She works almost as a slave in her own home. She
has little food or clothes. She is kind to people and animals. She
is timid and obedient.
Unique characteristics: Her only friend is a fish
Goals: To go to the festival
Transformation: Yeh-Shen wishes on the fish’s bones and he transforms
her outfit into a splendid gown with beautiful slippers
Yeh-Shen is the stereotypical “Cinderella” who has gentle heart and is
beautiful. However, she is much more sad than the other
“Cinderellas”. Her sadness gives her an aura of melancholy that
makes her less like the others, who seem to be more happy-go-lucky.
Jouanah
From: Hmong (from Juuanah: A Hmong Cinderella)
Description: She’s young, kind and beautiful. She is devastated when
her step-mother kills her mother, who had been turned into a cow.
She tries to be a peacekeeper and not make her family angry with
her. She does all the hard labor in her household without
complaint. She is very obedient because she doesn’t want to make
waves.
Unique Characteristics: The spirit of her mother guides her
Goals: To go to the New Year festivities in the village
Transformation: Jouanah opens her mother’s sewing basket to find a
beautiful outfit for the festival. Her mother’s spirit in the
sewing basket helps transform her.
Jouanah is sweet and kind, but the one word that describes her most is
that she is a pacifist. I think she does it out of respect. She
represents good, but because she is so good and without faults,
she’s basically unreal. She’s had a tragic life, but is not as sad
as Yeh-Shen.
Raisel
From: Poland (from Raisel’s Riddle)
Description: She is a young orphan girl who is pretty and extremely
bright. She values education and learning. She doesn’t want to
take advantage of people so she works hard cleaning and cooking for
room and board. She’s proud, yet she hold her tongue when the head
housekeeper is mean to her. She does what is asked of her without
complaining. She puts others first.
Unique Characteristics: She’s Jewish and raised by her grandfather
Goals: To go to the Purim play and celebration
Transformation: She is magically transformed by a old beggar woman
into a Queen Esther costume, complete with a horse and buggy.
Raisel is a very dynamic character. She’s not shy and she knows what
she needs to do in order to survive and is willing to sacrifice her
self-pride. She is also respected more for her knowledge and
education than her looks. She could be one of us because she was
upset when the housekeeper made her do something again, just to be
cruel. She’s most like Ella.
The Rough-Faced Girl
From: Lake Ontario, Algonquin Indian Tribe (from The Rough-Faced Girl)
Description: She’s young and poor. Her face is scarred from tending
the fire. She does all the chores. Even though her sisters and
others mock and insult her she is kind to them and keeps her head
held high. But, she is isolated and lonely. She knows deep down in
her heart that she’s beautiful and good. She is humble and accepts
what little her father can offer her. She’s strong-willed and has
great faith in herself.
Unique Characteristics: She has a scarred-face
Goals: To marry the Invisible Being
Transformation: After it has been decided that she is going to marry
the Invisible Being, his sister bathes her in waters that remove the
scars from her face and makes her hair healthy again. Her outer
beauty is finally revealed
The Rough-Faced Girl is not the typical “Cinderella”. She is a girl
who has true grit. She’s unique in that she’s not beautiful on the
outside, but yet it’s the beauty of her inside the wins her the
Invisible Being. She is the most unique of all Cinderellas.
The plots of these ten
Cinderella stories were more
diverse than the main
characters themselves. Each
story had vastly different
supporting characters and
the each story unfolded in a
unique way. Surprisingly
not all stories had a
magical element as most
fairy tales do. Despite
this fact, these stories had
some similar elements/events
in their storylines.
These similarities were:
-A young girl was the main
character
-A jealous woman was the
antagonist
-Conflict of Man Vs. Man
-The good girl (main
character) triumphs over the
bad, jealous woman
(antagonist)
-The girl wins her “prince”
in the end
-A happy ending
The following ten slides
gives plot details of each
story.
Cinderella
Protagonist: Cinderella
Antagonist: Step-mother and step-sisters
Conflict: Cinderella is not allowed to go to the ball because
she’s so beautiful and her step-mother and step-sisters are
afraid she would get the attention of the Prince that they
wanted for themselves.
Helping Being: Fairy godmother
Climax: Cinderella loses her glass slipper when leaving the
ball.
Resolution: The Prince tries the slipper on every girl, until
Cinderella tries it on and it fits. He marries her and she
forgives her sisters for being mean to her.
Just Ella
Protagonist: Ella
Antagonist: Madame Bisset
Conflict: Ella doesn’t want marry the Prince or become a
princess anymore. She wants to leave the castle and be
independent.
Helping Being: A little girl named Mary helps her to escape
the castle.
Climax: She realizes she is in love with her tutor, Jed and
finally tells Madame Bisset that she doesn’t want to marry
the Prince and she wants to leave the castle.
Resolution: She is put into the dungeon, where she finally
escapes to a war camp and starts learning how to nurse.
Her sister marries the Prince and she happily waits for Jed
to leave the castle to be with her.
The Egyptian Cinderella
Protagonist: Rhodopis
Antagonists: The Egyptian Servant Girls
Conflict: Rhodopis wanted to go with the other servants to
see Pharaoh, but they didn’t allow her to go because they
were jealous and didn’t like her because she was different.
Helping Being: A falcon who takes her slipper to Pharaoh and
her Master who gives her the slippers.
Climax: Her slippers are stolen by falcon and given to
Pharaoh Amasis.
Resolution: Amasis has every woman try it on. Finally, he
tries it on Rhodopis and it fits her and her marries her.
The Persian Cinderella
Protagonist: Settareh
Antagonists: Her two step-sisters and step-mother
Conflict: Settareh is not able to go to the festival at the
palace because she was unable to buy fine clothes for the
occasion.
Helping Being: A small blue jug that grants wishes
Climax: Settareh loses her diamond ankle bangle when fleeing
from the palace to get home before her step-mother and
sisters.
Resolution: The Prince finds the bangle and has every girl
try it on. Finally, Settareh tries it on and it fits and
they are set to get married until her sisters, using the
magic jug turn her into a turtledove. Eventually, the
Prince turns her back into a human and marries her and her
sisters’ hearts burst and they died.
Fair, Brown, and Trembling: An
Irish Cinderella Story
Protagonist: Trembling
Antagonists: Fair and Brown, her sisters
Conflict: Trembling wants to go to church, but her sisters will not let her go because they
are afraid that she’ll find a husband before they do.
Helping Being: A henwoman who magically transforms Trembling
Climax: The Prince of Emania pulled off Trembling’s slipper as she rode away from church.
Resolution: The Prince tries it on all females and finally tries it on Trembling. Before he
can marry her though, he fights for her hand with other princes from the world. He
defeats them all and marries Trembling. Her sisters are put off in a boat in the ocean.
Ashpet: An
Appalachian Tale
Protagonist: Ashpet
Antagonist: Widow Hooper and her daughters, Myrtle and Ethel
Conflict: Widow Hooper will not let Ashpet go to the church
meeting because they feel she shouldn’t go because she’s
just a serving girl and she has chores to do instead.
Helping Being: Granny who magically cleans the house and
produces a dress and shoes for Ashpet
Climax: She kicks one of her shoes into the bushes to
distract the doctor’s son during their picnic, so she can
get home before midnight.
Resolution: The doctor’s son goes to every house looking for
the owner of the shoe. Eventually, he finds Ashpet wearing
the other shoe and he marries her and buys out her contract
to the Widow Hooper. The Widow and her daughter are
shunned by the way they treated Ashpet and they move to
another town.
Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella
Story from China
Protagonist: Yeh-Shen
Antagonist: Her step-mother
Conflict: Yeh-Shen is not allowed to go to the festival
because her step-mother is afraid that Yeh-Shen will get a
marriage proposal and her own daughter will not.
Helping Being: The bones of the fish magically grant Yeh-Shen
anything her heart desires.
Climax: She loses her slipper when she runs away fearing that
she has been spotted at the festival by her step-mother and
step-sister.
Resolution: The Prince decides to marry the girl who owns this
slipper. Many try it on but it doesn’t fit. Yeh-Shen goes
to the pavilion, late at night, where the slipper in order
to get it back. When she puts it on, she is transformed
back into beautiful clothes. The Prince marries her and
her mother and step-sister are crushed to death by a shower
of flying stones.
Jouanah: A Hmong
Cinderella
Protagonist: Jouanah
Antagonist: Her step-mother
Conflict: Jouanah’s step-mother doesn’t like Jouanah and has made her
life miserable by killing her mother who had been turned into a cow
and not letting her go to the festival because she was afraid
Jouanah would overshadow her own daughter because of Jouanah’s
beauty.
Helping Being: The spirit of her mother who is in the sewing basket
Climax: The handsome son of the chief, Shee-Nang, plays music for
Jouanah, but she has to leave when she sees her step-mother and
sister leaving. In the process, she loses her shoe.
Resolution: Shee-Nang goes from village to village to find the owner
of the shoe. Eventually, he comes to Jouanah’s house and recognizes
her when she refuses to try on the shoe rather than suffer her stepmother’s anger. He marries her and they live happily ever after.
Raisel’s Riddle
Protagonist: Raisel
Antagonist: Head Housekeeper
Conflict: Raisel wants to go to the Purin play but cannot
because she is a lowly servant and the housekeeper gave her
a lot of work to complete during that time.
Helping Being: A beggar woman gives Raisel three wishes
Climax: Raisel tells the Rabbi’s son her riddle and rushes
out to get home before midnight before telling him the
answer.
Resolution: The Rabbi’s son decides he wants to marry the
girl who told him the riddle. All women come up to him and
tell him the wrong riddle. After pushing the Head
Housekeeper away, she tells him the riddle and he marries
her.
The Rough-Faced Girl
Protagonist: The Rough-Faced Girl
Antagonist: Her two sisters
Conflict: All three sisters want to marry the Invisible
Being. In order to marry him though, you have to have been
able to have seen him.
Helping Being: There is none. The Rough-Faced girl does it
all on her own. The only help she gets is when the
Invisible Being’s sister bathes her in waters that makes
her beautiful.
Climax: The Rough-Faced Girl announces that she is going to
go and marry the Invisible Being
Resolution: The sister of the Invisible Being asks the girl
questions to see if she has truly seen them. She answers
correctly and is married to the Invisible Being. She
becomes beautiful by taking a bath in a special river. Her
two sisters are shamed in the tribe because they failed in
their attempts to marry the Invisible Being
The Culture:
The culture played a
large role in shaping
these Cinderella
stories. Each story
has clearly distinct
cultural elements
that set them apart
from the others. The
next ten slides will
explain how each
particular culture
helped shape each
story.
Cinderella
Perrault’s Cinderella is from the medieval French culture.
One cultural element that is critical to the story is the
noble social/hierarchal structure. Cinderella represents
the lowest level, being a servant in her own home and she
wins the heart of a Prince, who is at the highest level.
Another cultural element is the value of beauty in women.
Cinderella is the epitome of beauty.
Just Ella
The culture represented in this story is medieval English.
The castle and the Prince (royalty) are extremely important
cultural figures. The ways that women and men interact such
as following behind, not being in the same room together are
also part of this culture. One of the most crucial cultural
elements are the way that women are supposed to behave.
They are not to speak up or do things for themselves. They
embroider and learn musical instruments.
The Egyptian
Cinderella
This story represents the Ancient Egyptian culture.
Slavery is an important cultural elements because slavery was
practiced in Ancient Egypt. Another cultural element is the
falcon who represents one of the Egyptian gods. It was a
sign from the god to find the girl who wore this slipper.
Pharaoh is also a critical cultural element because he was
the leader, a god to the people.
The Persian Cinderella
This story comes from the Persian culture.
One of the main cultural elements is that the women lived
in a separate area from men and kept their heads covered
when they were around men. Another cultural element is
that the thing she loses is a an ankle bangle which women
in that culture wear.
Fair, Brown, and
Trembling
This story comes from the Irish culture.
The main cultural element is the emphasis of attending
church (that is where Trembling wants to go). The other
cultural element that is important is that it takes place
in Erin which is a well-known Irish town.
Ashpet
This stories represents the Appalachian culture.
The most critical cultural element is the language they
use towards each other . For example, “firewood that
wants bustin’”. Granny is also important, culture-wise
because she represents the wisdom and tradition of the
community. Another important cultural element is the
clothing. Ashpet magically receives a red calico dress
and shoes (she didn’t have any before)
Yeh-Shen
This story comes from the Chinese culture.
Respecting and bowing down to authority is perhaps the
most important cultural element. The festival also
represents another crucial cultural element because these
were the places were matchmaking took place.
Jouanah: A Hmong
Cinderella
This tale comes from the Hmong culture in Thailand.
This culture centered on agriculture This story takes
place on a rice farm. Respect for elders are also an
important element and it is showed by Jouanah when she
doesn’t want to upset her step-mother. Another critical
cultural element is the village festival which is the
place to find a husband. The way a man shows he likes a
girl at such a festival is by playing music to her to
show her he’s interested.
Raisel’s Riddle
This story comes from the Polish Jewish culture.
The main cultural element in this story is the celebration
of the Jewish holiday of Purin. When Raisel is
transformed to go to the Purin play, she is transformed
into Queen Esther, an important biblical figure for this
faith. Also culturally important is that the Rabbi and
his son are held in high esteem, almost like royalty. The
studying and the knowledge of the scriptures is another
cultural element that is important in this story.
The Rough-Faced Girl
This story comes from the Algonquin culture
One of the main cultural elements is the setting.
It takes place in an Algonquin village where they
live in a wigwam which is decorated. The clothing
is also an important cultural element. In this
story, they were buckskin clothing with beaded
moccasins. The Invisible Being also shows the
Algonquin culture in that is is actually part of the
sky. He is nature and he is valued for being rich
and generous. Also, the unmarried sister living
with her brother is part of the culture. She is the
one who screens potential wives.
Summary
When I started this project, I hadn’t realized just how many “Cinderella”-type
stories were available. I was actually overwhelmed by the amount of Cinderella
sources that I found. I brought a whole crate full home from the library and then I
raided my own personal collection. The main challenge was to go through all the
story and find the ones that I liked. This was difficult because they are started
sounding exactly alike. I had to go through them several times to get the ten that
I wanted. It was exhausting, both physically and mentally. Many times I had to
just stop and do something else for fear that I’d go Cinderella crazy.
One of the most interesting and disappointing things that I learned was that most
Cinderella characters were flat and didn’t have much of a personality. I really
started not to like them as much as I did before I started the project. I wanted
her to have some sort of personality instead of being “beautiful” and “kind”. She
was NOT human! I guess I would have to describe her as the beautiful girl who you’d
really like to hate, but can’t because she’s so nice. This realization frustrated
me. I really wanted to like them, but I only liked a few.
The hardest thing for me was to do the cultural analysis. I was so exhausted by the
other two analysis that I don’t think I did justice to this aspect. If I could do
it over again, I would choose to analyze that part first and do a lot more research
on those cultures than I was able to. Or, I think I would like to focus more on the
setting.
I think that if I were to continue this work, I would study “Cinderella”s
that break the stereotypical Cinderella mold because I learned the most out of the
character analysis and I really liked the “Cinderellas” who were closer to being
human.
The End
Or, she lived happily
ever after because she
finally completed this
project.