Evil stepmothers. Fairy godmothers. Glass slippers. Prince Charming. Happily ever after. What more could a fairy tale want? 

It is little wonder Cinderella is among the most popular fairy tales ever told, let alone one of the most reinvented. It has the archetypical “rags to riches” storyline, which has made for many a modern day Blockbuster hit. Whether you prefer Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts or something a little more classical like Ever After with Drew Barrymore, there’s a version to suit everyone.

Even sports fans get in on the action when their teams make it “to the dance,” a.k.a. the NCAA Tournament. There’s nothing like watching a real-life “dream come true.” Watch a 16 seed beat a 1 seed, and the pundits are buzzing with Cinderella metaphors, whether they realize it or not.

The one catch with such a timeless story is that it has been imbued with layers upon layers of imagery over the years. This post is going back to the beginning, so to speak, and looking at the version recorded by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.  First, here is a breakdown of the plot.

PLOT SUMMARY

Exposition – The Background

Everything begins with an emotional scene wherein a dying mother tells her young daughter, “Dear child, be good and pious, and then the good God will always protect thee, and I will look down on thee from heaven and be near thee.” The daughter, who will end up being Cinderella, obeys her mother’s wish and visits her grave daily.

Inciting Incident – The Problem

By the following Spring (a rather short amount of time if you ask me), the girl’s father has taken a new wife who has two daughters of her own. Cinderella is not only displaced by her stepfamily, but turns into a servant for them, including for her father. Indeed, even he takes to calling her “Cinderella,” which is an insulting reference to her disheveled appearance. So often does she fall asleep by the fire that she is constantly covered in cinders and ashes.

Rising Action – The Build-up

Nevertheless, her father is not completely devoid of love for Cinderella. When he goes to a festival, he offers to get her something special. She asks him for “the first branch which knocks against your hat on your way home.” Never mind that her stepsisters ask for and receive all sorts of expensive finery.

Cinderella plants the branch by her mother’s grave and it blossoms into a type of wishing tree upon which sits a little white bird, presumably representing her mother. Only there does Cinderella find solace and comfort.

Against this backdrop, the royal prince throws a ball to find a wife, and Cinderella begs permission to go. Her stepmother feigns to allow her—if she can complete a series of seemingly impossible tasks. Through the help of various birds, likely led by the one from the wishing tree, Cinderella completes each task only to learn that her stepmother still refuses her permission. The trials were but a cruel trick.

Climax – The Breaking Point

Struck with grief, Cinderella goes to her mother’s grave and pours out her heart, wishing most deeply to go to the ball. The bird, in turn, gives her an exquisite gown and silk shoes. Cinderella dresses and goes to the ball. So beautiful is she that none recognize her, not even her stepmother and stepsisters.

The prince falls head over heels for Cinderella. He dances with her alone and eventually tries to escort her home, only to have Cinderella run away and hide in her family’s chicken coop where she escapes.

Falling Action – The Unraveling

The ball continues two more days. Each time, the bird at the wishing tree gives her a new gown and pair of shoes, made of gold and more beautiful than the last. So, too, does the prince try to escort her home, only to have her run away. On the third day, however, he has pitch spread all over the steps of the castle. While she still manages to get away, she loses one of her slippers.

Thus begins the prince’s famous quest to find the owner of the shoe. One after another, the stepsisters try it on. Lucky for them, they do so in a private room. So when the slipper proves too small for the first sister, the stepmother says, “Cut the toe off; when thou art Queen thou wilt have no more need to go on foot.” If it were not for two pigeons who “outed” the stepsister, the prince would have married her.

Pretty much the exact same thing happens with second stepsister. The two pigeons once again “out” the imposter and tell the prince his true bride still awaits.

When the prince asks the father if he has another daughter, he replies, “There is still a little stunted kitchen-wench which my late wife left behind her, but she cannot possibly be the bride.” Despite this cold remark, the prince insists on seeing the maiden.

Resolution – Happily Ever After

Cinderella tries on the slipper at last and proves herself the prince’s true love. They live happily ever after. Meanwhile, the stepsisters get their eyes plucked out by the two pigeons.

MOTIFS

You no doubt noticed many differences in the Brothers Grimm version compared to the other “typical” versions out there. Here is a profile of a few significant changes and what they tell us about the culture of the Middle Ages.

Daddy’s Home

This version includes Cinderella’s father, making him not only a willing bystander in the stepmother’s and stepsister’s treachery but even a type of accomplice. His character typifies the sad reality of family life in the Middle Ages. Many women died in childbirth, and their husbands were quick to take a new wife. This, we can infer, was born largely out of necessity as a father needed a spouse to manage the household.

It was only a matter of time before the husband had more children with his new wife, and his first wife’s children were displaced. In fairy tales, we tend to imagine that being so simply out of hatred. Stepmothers are naturally wicked and vengeful, or so the archetype goes. Of course they want to wipe away all memory of their husband’s first wife, even her resemblance in a child. That may have been so, but historically it had more to do with the finances of family survival.

Families were generally so poor in the Middle Ages, there was not much to go around. The mother was in charge of feeding the children, and few would have thought twice about shortchanging stepchildren. Such was their lot in life. It sounds cruel and heartless, especially when taken to extremes as in the story of Cinderella. In reality, children never got as much as they wanted because there was so little in the first place.

Saint Germaine was one such real-life displaced stepchild whose story bears remarkable similarities to Cinderella’s.  

Magical Bird

The magical bird in Cinderella at first seems somewhat random and not just because the Fairy Godmother is so much more typical these days. When we unpack the symbolism behind the bird, though, it makes a lot more sense.

Birds have always been powerful Christian symbols. For example, it was a bird that let Noah know the flood waters were receding. Symbolically, the bird was a heavenly messenger that brought hope and comfort. And let’s not forget that the Holy Spirit is most commonly represented as a white dove. One role the Holy Spirit has is that of a mediator between us and God. As such, the Holy Spirit guides us on earth and advocates on our behalf.

The magical bird in Cinderella does all those things. She brings hope and comfort. She sends messages, both figuratively from Cinderella’s mother and literally to the prince. In doing so, she mediates Cinderella’s earthly relationships as well as her heavenly ones. 

For people of the Middle Ages, it made perfect sense to have the “spirit” of Cinderella’s mother represented in the bird. Such was the appropriate motif.  

The Fairy Godmother, which carries her own brand of Christian symbolism, did not emerge until Charles Perrault’s version, written in 1697.

Gold Slippers

Cinderella’s slippers are meant to be exquisite beyond our imaginings and no doubt more beautiful than those worn by all the other damsels. This shows us just how much her fortunes have changed thanks to her goodness and piety.

We can extend the imagery further, though, when we consider how important feet are in the Gospel. Christ Himself washes his Apostles’ feet at the Last Supper. In doing so, He figuratively tells the Apostles they must have clean souls in order to follow in His footsteps.

Cinderella’s feet are “cleaner” than those of other women because she has carried her own cross for so long and done so with such virtue. Her stepsisters, on the other, have ugly, disproportionate feet because they have not walked with Christ.

Charles Perrault replaces the gold slipper with a glass one. I happen to like this change better because it evokes a sense that Cinderella is light on her feet. What makes her so? Her lack of sin, of course! She is not weighed down by vice. Rather, she is lifted through virtues.

CONCLUSION

No matter which version of Cinderella you like best, we have the Brothers Grimm to thank for it. Without their determined efforts to record the tale, we would not have the multitude of spin-offs that exist today. Nor would we be able to glean so much insight into the mindsets and realities of everyday people of the Middle Ages.