Where did Cinderella's mother go, and what secret meanings does this mysterious story keep?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

There is hardly a child or an adult who does not know the tale of Cinderella, her suffering, adventures and a happy ending. Cinderella herself has long become the personification of the fact that justice is the highest value, and therefore mercy, kindness and suffering will always be rewarded, and the guilty will be punished. Moreover, mercy on the main character of this plot descends in the form of a rich and successful man - a prince, therefore we can safely say that stories about Cinderella are still being replicated, where does it originate from?

Cinderella and her unthinkable story

Some are sure that Charles Perrault had a hand in the creation of Cinderella, while others believe that the brothers Grimm invented it. And still others think that this is a folk tale. In fact, all three options are correct and wrong at the same time. Rarely is a plot so widespread that it is impossible to reliably find out where it actually originates from.

In addition, in almost any culture there is a similar fairy tale, in which a hardworking but unhappy girl who turns out to be worthy of a prince and at the same time finds happiness. Despite the fact that there is only one plot, the fairy tale, as expected, turns out to be generously seasoned with the traditions and cultural characteristics of a particular people, as a result, a very interesting interpretation appears.

In ancient Egypt, the tale is widespread that an eagle dragged one sandal of a young maiden, who at that time was swimming in the sea, and brought it to the palace. Pharaoh was so touched by the tiny size of the shoe that he immediately imagined what the owner of the whole sandal looks like, and he desired not just to see her, but to marry right away. The search began for a girl with a graceful leg, she was found, the pharaoh is happy. The "Cinderella" of the story lies in the fact that the girl was a representative of an ancient profession. But Pharaoh was not embarrassed.

The Korean version tells about the girl Khonchi - she lived with her stepmother, who every day forced her to sort out her rice, clean the house and take care of the garden, of course, she did not hear a good word in return, she was deeply unhappy and depressed. One fine day, having finished early household chores, with the help of the sorceress, she went to the wedding, but on the way she dropped her shoe into the stream. The head of the province (read - prince) caught a shoe floating by and wanted to marry the mistress of the shoe. You know what happened next.

The Italian Giambattista Basile is 60 years earlier than Charles Perrault, but his version of the tale did not receive such popularity, perhaps the reason is in a somewhat original plot, because Zezolla - that is the name of the main character, did not tolerate the bullying of her stepmother, but slammed her with the lid of the chest, breaking her neck. To do this, she needed the help of a nanny, with whom she had previously entered into an agreement. The payment for complicity was the girl's father, whom she persuaded to marry the nanny. And with the king, who managed to fall in love with her, she also fought, but so desperately that she lost her slipper, and then the plot is standard.

In Perrault's interpretation, the fairy tale became the most acceptable for children, no details about Cinderella's personal life before the prince, cruelties, only love, a happy ending and a crystal shoe, which appeared in the fairy tale for the first time. Usually the shoes were simpler. But the Brothers Grimm presented a very bloody interpretation. Allegedly, Cinderella's sisters - the stepmother's own daughters wanted to marry the prince so badly that they even began to cut off their toes, just to fit into a shoe. One even succeeded, but the prince noticed the blood dripping from the shoe and turned the carriage back.

But this did not seem enough, during the wedding of Cinderella and the prince, the pigeons also pecked out their eyes to the sisters. A very harsh punishment within the framework of a children's fairy tale.

Features of the tale of Cinderella - there are no trifles here

The tale of a beautiful girl who lost a shoe appeared in one form or another in many European countries. They know about it in Rome, Florence, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, Finland. In most of these countries, a story was told about a girl who lost her crystal slipper. Although in various options there are shoes made of other materials, no less strange than crystal. For example, wood or fur.

Despite the differences in plots, it is fairly easy to draw parallels between these narratives. Even the name of the main character is always consonant with ash and ashes - Cinderella, in English Cinderella and so on. And this is not an emphasis on dirt or hard work. On the contrary, it has long been considered the prerogative of a clean and kind girl to approach the fire, to the hearth. It was she who could count on condescension and gifts from the gods (in mythology).

Assistants also differ, but the fact is that they are always there and play a noticeable role. By them, you can also determine in what deities the people who composed this version of the tale believed. For example, a sorceress or fairy personifies a supernatural being, and birds (usually pigeons) represent the spirit of a deceased person, more often a relative.

The fact that such a large role is given to the shoe is also not surprising. For many peoples, women's shoes have a direct connection with wedding ceremonies. Even now, the bride's shoe is one of the symbols at the wedding, they steal it, drink from it for the happiness of the young. If the shoe is lost, then this promised separation for the beloved, which is why it is so persistently returned back.

The mythological basis of the tale

Historians and writers are sure that initially in the plot about Cinderella there is a sacrifice and even eating of their own kind. Where, after all, a fairy tale about good, love and justice? But Perrault and the Brothers Grimm recorded and remade fairy tales already in the 18-19th century - quite recently and with a modern vision of good and evil. It is not surprising that the original mythological and archaic plot was smoothed and rationalized as much as possible. Considering that the plot about Cinderella is one of the most popular in the world and has over a thousand different variations, it is not surprising that different peoples gave it their own color, often not entirely humane or decent.

Despite the fact that Cinderella's mother is not in the fairy tale, her image is present invisibly and plays a very important role. Even if we are not talking about her, the reader has a reasonable question why the woman died, but in most modern plots this is not given any role. But fairy tales, in which the old plot has been preserved, answer these questions.

In the Greek version of the tale, the mother dies at the hands of her own daughters, and from the older two, while Cinderella, of course, is not involved in this. The plot goes something like this: once three sisters were spinning in the evening, then one of them suggested, they say, who's got the spindle to fall first, we'll eat that one. Times were hungry, meat was rare. Here, from such a proposal, the mother dropped the spindle. The girls ignored what happened, but it fell over and over again. Then the older sisters decided to eat her too, Cinderella, the youngest of the sisters, stood up for her mother, offered to eat her herself, but nothing worked out for her and the sisters did their plan. According to the text, it becomes clear that mother purposely drops the spindle in order to save her children from starvation, she also appears in the form of a sorceress to her youngest daughter in order to reward her for her love and kindness.

And it is not only the bloodthirsty Greeks who came up with such a strange fairy tale, there are many examples when one of the family members, most often the mother, is eaten - there are many in various mythologies. Moreover, in milder versions, she first takes the guise of a cow and only then is eaten. In some variations, the mother of the family is transformed into a cow as a punishment. For example, in a Serbian fairy tale, an old man warns the girls that if one of them drops a spindle into the abyss, their mother will turn into a cow. The curiosity of the girls took up and they went to look into the crevice and then one of them dropped the spindle. The worst fears were confirmed - instead of the mother, a cow was waiting at home.

The father marries another, the stepmother begins to scoff at the adopted daughter, and the cow helps and protects, though then it turns out to be eaten. This makes it akin to the fairy tale about Tiny-Khavroshechka.

There can be several reasons for cannibalism, one of them is a forced measure due to hunger, drought, the other is ritual. In early mythology, cannibalism was inherent in the supreme deities, but prohibition began to spread and cannibalism gradually becomes a sign of lower mythological creatures. Usually he was severely punished, just as Cinderella never touched the meat of the animal that her mother turned into. The Vietnamese version includes cannibalism in a completely unexpected way, as punishment, the stepmother eats a piece of her own daughter's flesh.

Such discrepancies in plots are explained by the fact that for too long time fairy tales were an oral genre, which were passed from mouth to mouth, each added something of his own, modified in accordance with his vision of the world and the system of values.

Over time, the image of the mother is almost completely supplanted by a kind helper, and most often it is either an animal or a fictional creature, but not a person.

Why is the tale of Cinderella offensive to women, but is still being replicated?

The question should have been made rhetorical if the Cinderella story had not been perceived by the absolute majority exclusively positively. Say, you should humbly wait, endure, and then there will certainly be a prince who will take away all problems to his palace. Moreover, for the main character it is enough to simply exist and not try to change her life for the better. Well, except to take a chance and go to the ball.

Modern stories about Cinderella are now shown on the screen, and in the form of films, of which there are a huge variety. Not a single generation of women has grown up on them, confident that you can just wash the floor, “rake out the ashes” and wait for the prince. And now, it seems that the "prince" loomed on the horizon, but for some reason life is not getting better. Who is guilty? Of course, the prince. After all, it is he who is expected to solve absolutely any problems, even of a personal nature.

But there are definitely not enough princes for everyone, and over the past ten years, only Meghan Markle managed to marry the crown prince, and even then with a lot of reservations and difficulties. The rest, on whose shoulders it is entrusted to improve the life of the Cinderellas, are in no hurry to do this. One does not plan to marry, the second, it turns out, prefers to lie on the couch, and not to please his beloved, the third even fits the fashionable word "abuser".

And there are too many questions to the most important heroine of the fairy tale. The passive sufferer, silently enduring bullying in her own home, hardly wanes the approval of modern Amazons with a feminist attitude. And, perhaps, already since the 80s of the last century, Cinderella is a real antihero when it comes to gender discussions (and she constantly comes to it).

Modern psychologists interpret Cinderella's position as: if day and night humbly endure bullying, take on an unbearable burden, silently endure all injustices, then you can earn Happiness and Love (and also a palace). Even the designation "Cinderella syndrome" has appeared. Psychologists recommend that women get rid of this syndrome as from an incorrect and destructive psychological setting. Moreover, the writers argue that Charles Perrault does not have any girlish illusions, but it is about saving the family and expelling the false heirs of the surname.

If we consider Cinderella as an infantile person, on whom for some reason benefits began to pour in, then she has a male version in Russian folklore - Ivan the Fool. Simple and harmless, he does nothing wrong to anyone. However, he simply does nothing to anyone, and the oven is his natural habitat. However, this does not at all prevent him from marrying a princess and receiving half a kingdom.

If you start looking closely, then you can criticize not only a fairy tale, but also cartoons, and even the most beloved Soviet ones, which are considered to be classics of animation, and for some reason modern children do not particularly like them.