Cameron Collins
Mrs. Harris
Advanced American literature
4th block
9 December 2011
Contrasting Cinderella’s
Many varying renditions of the famous fairytale, “Cinderella” exist today. In some cases
there are actually politically correct versions and versions that are close to the most well-known
version of “Cinderella.” In the other interpretations of “Cinderella” there are varying aspects of
the stories, and with these two particular translations of “Cinderella” they are quite evident. In
James Finn Garner’s “politically correct Cinderella” and the Brothers Grimm’s “Cinderella” they
had a corresponding moral; however, had opposing storylines and unique endings.
In the Brothers Grimm’s “Cinderella” and Garner’s “politically correct Cinderella” a
major point of contrast was the storyline. In the Brothers Grimm’s version you saw a closer
interpretation of the most well-known “Cinderella” story, with a few unique twists. In this story,
Cinderella’s father remarried to cruel lady with two haughty daughters, which treated the
beautiful Cinderella horrible. This is evident when the story says, “she had worked till she was
weary she had no bed to go to, but had to sleep by the fireside in the ashes” (Grimm 1) and this
shows how badly she was treated not even to have a bed. You then saw during the ball that she
immediately caught the eye of the prince. This all eventually led to the ending of the story and
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the “happy ever after” that we will go more into detail with later. Then in the “politically correct
Cinderella” the plot was very loosely interpreted from the original story. It focused more on the
“man’s” view on the beauty of women, and not being worried with impressing them. It really
stressed the view of beauty when the god person said, “so, you want to go to the ball, eh? And
bind yourself into the male concept of beauty? Squeeze into some tight fitting dress that will
cut off your circulation? Jam your feet into high-heeled shoes that will ruin your bone structure.
Paint your face with chemicals and make-up that have been tested on nonhuman
animals?”(Garner 1). This quote shows how the storyline of this rendition is pointed more
towards a political statement or message. The Garner storyline is also different from the
Brothers Grimm storyline because Cinderella does not fall in love with the prince and marry
him, while in the Brothers Grimm version that does happen.
In the brothers Grimm’s “Cinderella” and Garner’s “politically correct Cinderella”
Cinderella found happiness in the unique way of finding herself and falling in love. In the
Brothers Grimm version she found her “happily ever after” by falling in love with the prince and
marrying him. This was while the Garner story she gained true happiness when she realized that
she was happier being herself and not worried about beauty. This shows that there is a real
contrast when you look at the true reason why she was happy in both of the stories. In the one
she found true love and then in the other one she was able to become comfortable in her own
skin, as shown when the story says, “Freed from the confinements of her gown and slippers
Cinderella sighed and stretched and scratched her ribs. She smiled closed her eyes and said, ‘kill
me now if you want, sisters but at least I will die in comfort’” (Garner 1-2). It is really interesting
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how the two completely different plots and versions of the story were able to still portray the
same morale of the most well-known “Cinderella”.
In both renditions of “Cinderella” they were able to get across the lesson of finding
yourself, and that good things happen in life. In the Grimm story it shows the more common
way that people believe Cinderella had a good thing happen to her, and that is she fell in love
got married and was able to get out of her bad life with her stepsisters. In the Garner version
she found true happiness by finding herself and not being worried about others opinions of her.
So in the end both of these stories got across the message that if you do not lose who you are
something good can always happen to you, and that there is always a light at the end of the
tunnel.
In the end both of these stories were very well written and can be interpreted in
different ways. The stories teach that you should just keep on trucking through life because you
could get a break at any moment. Never doubt who you are and never let yourself be
oppressed by others. Throughout the stories it helped you to appreciate that and not to
become lost in sorrow for yourself but to always believe.