Ethan Cadotte, Period 7, 3/19/2024

Ethan Cadotte Period 7 Modern Mythology 2024

Research Topic: Cinderella

Ethan Cadotte PD 7

Despite being a topic that was covered in the very beginning of the year, I wanted to revisit the story of, “Cinderella”. I found the history of fairy tales to be quite interesting and significant in showing how society has changed throughout time through the lens of something that is as simple as a fairy tale, and so I wanted to save this subject for my final blog. Before this class, I had not known that there were other versions of fairy tales that we would see on television, often a production made by Disney. The curriculum has opened my eyes to the grim and harsh reality of the original fairy tales and their storylines. 

There is some controversy surrounding the first Cinderella story, but the earliest story with similar components of the Cinderella story was told by Strabo, a Greek historian. The story tells of someone named Rhodopis who had his sandal stolen by an eagle and dropped on the lap of the King of Egypt. The king then, stricken by the beauty of the sandal, went searching for the woman that wore it. It is a rather short storyline, but seeing how it has evolved over time into a story of malice, magic, and love is incredible to witness. 

After the story of Rhodopis, there were stories created with the elements of Cinderella that are more commonplace amongst more modern versions of the story. These elements include magical entities, evil stepmothers, and a protagonist that is a mistreated woman. One of the earliest versions of Cinderella that incorporates these elements is a story about Yeh-hsien, a girl with an evil stepmother that has a best friend goldfish that her evil stepmother resents and eventually kills. Yeh-hsien was then told by a stranger to pick up the fish bones and they turned into a nice dress and slippers to attend a festival. She loses a slipper that is found by the king, and he leaves it out for her to find. When she finds it and takes it home, the king and his men follow her to find out who she is. In stories like this, I find the part of each story where the, “magic happens”, to be very interesting. I find that every magical aspect has almost direct correlation to the culture of the people that made them. This is quite obvious because the people that made their own versions of the story would obviously use their own culture, however it is the only aspect that I see changed from story to story. In the story of Yeh-hsien, the fish bones that grant her the dress and slippers have meaning in Chinese culture. After a quick search, I found that the meaning of the fish in Chinese culture is wealth, and the meaning of the fish bones is happiness and safety. In one of the more famous versions of the story made by the Grimm Brothers, originating from Germany, the, “Cinderella”, of the story cries under a hazel tree and is then gifted with the garments for the festival. In Germanic culture, hazel trees represent several great qualities like wisdom, protection, rebirth, etc. 

The aspect of magic in each of these Cinderella stories is a direct representation of the culture in which they originated from. Taking a deeper look into the magic that occurs in these stories gives us better insight into how the people of the time lived and the things that they believed in. Fairy tales like Cinderella and many more, can allow us to peer into the lives and beliefs of societies that have thrived throughout history.

Sources: 

Ciucci, C. (2021b, November 22). A history of the cinderella fairytale. BOOK RIOT. https://bookriot.com/the-history-of-cinderella/