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Pages:
4 pages/≈1100 words
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4
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MLA
Subject:
Literature & Language
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
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$ 14.4
Topic:
Understanding the Inner Story of Cinderella
Essay Instructions:
Choose one fairytale or folktale and breifly summarize it. Explain in depth one symbol or theme throughout the story. Use the story as a primary source and use 3 other sources(book,jornal, or electronic database). Use thesis statement in the last sentence of the first paragraph and restate thesis in the last paragraph using different words. Use atleast one quote per page from the primary and secondary sources.
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[student`s name]
[professor`s name]
[course]
[date]
Understanding the Inner Story of Cinderella
Cinderella is a well-known fairy tale among children, but what few people know is that it is a story whose theme may be traced in antiquity. The Cinderella theme refers to a young woman forced to live in unfortunate circumstances. Such theme existed as early as the Ancient Greeks, but the most popular version was made by Charles Perrault who added the pumpkin, the fairy god mother and the glass slippers in the story. This was also the same version used as basis for the Walt Disney film. For this paper, however, we will explore the Cinderella story written by the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm wherein the help comes not from a fairy, but instead on a wishing tree that grows on the grave of the girl`s mother. Through this analysis, it is my aim to show that the Grimm`s Cinderella had spiritual symbolism and that it contains valuable information about man and suffering.
Summary of Grimms` Cinderella
The Grimms` Cinderella follows a pattern. Samuel A. Fohr gives light to the episodes:
* A girls` mother dies. (b) Her father remarries a woman with one or two daughters. (c) The stepmother treats the girl poorly, confining her to the hearth and giving her impossible tasks. (d) The girl asks her father to bring back a certain gift when he goes on his travels. (e) The gift, usually a twig or a tree, is planted, often on the mother`s grave. (f) The twig, watered by the girl`s tears grows into a wish fulfilling tree. (g) The girl is able to go to a prince`s ball with clothes provided by the tree. (h) The girl runaway from the ball three time, and the last time leaving a gold shoe. (i) The prince looks for the maiden who fits the shoe and finds the firl. (j) The sisters or sister and mother, are punished. ADDIN Mendeley Citation{25d0d006-310e-4788-9215-60f2db4cc1c6} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Fohr", "given" : "Samuel D." } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2004" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Sophia Perennis", "publisher-place" : "Hillsdale", "title" : "Cinderella's Gold Slipper", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=25d0d006-310e-4788-9215-60f2db4cc1c6" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Fohr 88)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Fohr)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Fohr 88)
Analyzing the story
Folklore and fairytales are bearers of tradition, they "fabricate a personal identity and social role for [tradition]" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{3d9a9f43-dc7e-49c2-961f-7eef1c199d7b} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Jones", "given" : "Michael Owen" } ], "container-title" : "Western Folklore", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "2", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2000" ] ] }, "page" : "115-141", "title" : "\"Tradition\" in identity discourses and an individual's symbolic construction of self", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "59" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=3d9a9f43-dc7e-49c2-961f-7eef1c199d7b" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Jones 116)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Jones)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Jones 116). They give insights on the understading of man and the nature of the divine. Hence, it is important to read Cinderella critically because it is a story which is present in almost every country in Europe. Its theme is universal and it speaks a native truth which knows no bounds - it is not limited by the context, but rather it speaks and appeals to humanity in general.
From the first sentence of the story, we already know that the moral lesson is that person must remain pious and good despite the adversities that one will encounter. The rest of the story acts as support for this lesson, but it also serves to provide different symbolisms, which are more spiritual in nature.
By spiritual, I refer not to religion but rather on the belief that there is a power greater than ourselves. Such power has different names. In Star Wars it is referred to as "the Force", in Christianity its name is "God" or "Jesus", in Islam, "Allah", in Buddhism Its name is "Buddha". For this paper, we will call it the divine.
This divine may be found in the story of Cinderella in different forms. In the book written by Samuel D. Fohr says that there are many elements in Cinderella`s story which gives it its spiritual element. In the same way that we grow up and leave childish games behind. the death of Cinderella`s mother signified the "end of development of the world out of the Passive Pole of existence" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{25d0d006-310e-4788-9215-60f2db4cc1c6} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Fohr", "given" : "Samuel D." } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2004" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Sophia Perennis", "publisher-place" : "Hillsdale", "title" : "Cinderella's Gold Slipper", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=25d0d006-310e-4788-9215-60f2db4cc1c6" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Fohr 90)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Fohr)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Fohr 90). The time has come for Cinderella to face new challenges in life. But then, notice that the mother says "I will look down on you from heaven to be near you" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{7276a418-be8c-473b-8803-bfbd3c6da462} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "URL" : "/~dash/grimm021.html", "accessed" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011", "12", "11" ] ] }, "author" : [ { "family" : "Grimm", "given" : "Jacob" }, { "family" : "Grimm", "given" : "Wilhelm" } ], "container-title" : "University of Pittsburgh", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "title" : "Cinderella", "type" : "webpage" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=7276a418-be8c-473b-8803-bfbd3c6da462" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(J. Grimm and W. Grimm)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (J. Grimm and W. Grimm) which reiterates the common notion that the dead become angels and they help their loved ones through the divine intelligence they receive when they enter heaven. It is also a symbol for the belief that while there is pain waiting for everyone as we start adult life, there is hope because a divine being is watching over us.
Fohr also says, "there is little doubt that the prince symbolizes God" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{25d0d006-310e-4788-9215-60f2db4cc1c6} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Fohr", "given" : "Samuel D." } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2004" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Sophia Perennis", "publisher-place" : "Hillsdale", "title" : "Cinderella's Gold Slipper", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=25d0d006-310e-4788-9215-60f2db4cc1c6" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(90)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Fohr)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (90). The world will do everythin...
[professor`s name]
[course]
[date]
Understanding the Inner Story of Cinderella
Cinderella is a well-known fairy tale among children, but what few people know is that it is a story whose theme may be traced in antiquity. The Cinderella theme refers to a young woman forced to live in unfortunate circumstances. Such theme existed as early as the Ancient Greeks, but the most popular version was made by Charles Perrault who added the pumpkin, the fairy god mother and the glass slippers in the story. This was also the same version used as basis for the Walt Disney film. For this paper, however, we will explore the Cinderella story written by the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm wherein the help comes not from a fairy, but instead on a wishing tree that grows on the grave of the girl`s mother. Through this analysis, it is my aim to show that the Grimm`s Cinderella had spiritual symbolism and that it contains valuable information about man and suffering.
Summary of Grimms` Cinderella
The Grimms` Cinderella follows a pattern. Samuel A. Fohr gives light to the episodes:
* A girls` mother dies. (b) Her father remarries a woman with one or two daughters. (c) The stepmother treats the girl poorly, confining her to the hearth and giving her impossible tasks. (d) The girl asks her father to bring back a certain gift when he goes on his travels. (e) The gift, usually a twig or a tree, is planted, often on the mother`s grave. (f) The twig, watered by the girl`s tears grows into a wish fulfilling tree. (g) The girl is able to go to a prince`s ball with clothes provided by the tree. (h) The girl runaway from the ball three time, and the last time leaving a gold shoe. (i) The prince looks for the maiden who fits the shoe and finds the firl. (j) The sisters or sister and mother, are punished. ADDIN Mendeley Citation{25d0d006-310e-4788-9215-60f2db4cc1c6} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Fohr", "given" : "Samuel D." } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2004" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Sophia Perennis", "publisher-place" : "Hillsdale", "title" : "Cinderella's Gold Slipper", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=25d0d006-310e-4788-9215-60f2db4cc1c6" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Fohr 88)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Fohr)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Fohr 88)
Analyzing the story
Folklore and fairytales are bearers of tradition, they "fabricate a personal identity and social role for [tradition]" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{3d9a9f43-dc7e-49c2-961f-7eef1c199d7b} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Jones", "given" : "Michael Owen" } ], "container-title" : "Western Folklore", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "2", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2000" ] ] }, "page" : "115-141", "title" : "\"Tradition\" in identity discourses and an individual's symbolic construction of self", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "59" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=3d9a9f43-dc7e-49c2-961f-7eef1c199d7b" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Jones 116)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Jones)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Jones 116). They give insights on the understading of man and the nature of the divine. Hence, it is important to read Cinderella critically because it is a story which is present in almost every country in Europe. Its theme is universal and it speaks a native truth which knows no bounds - it is not limited by the context, but rather it speaks and appeals to humanity in general.
From the first sentence of the story, we already know that the moral lesson is that person must remain pious and good despite the adversities that one will encounter. The rest of the story acts as support for this lesson, but it also serves to provide different symbolisms, which are more spiritual in nature.
By spiritual, I refer not to religion but rather on the belief that there is a power greater than ourselves. Such power has different names. In Star Wars it is referred to as "the Force", in Christianity its name is "God" or "Jesus", in Islam, "Allah", in Buddhism Its name is "Buddha". For this paper, we will call it the divine.
This divine may be found in the story of Cinderella in different forms. In the book written by Samuel D. Fohr says that there are many elements in Cinderella`s story which gives it its spiritual element. In the same way that we grow up and leave childish games behind. the death of Cinderella`s mother signified the "end of development of the world out of the Passive Pole of existence" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{25d0d006-310e-4788-9215-60f2db4cc1c6} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Fohr", "given" : "Samuel D." } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2004" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Sophia Perennis", "publisher-place" : "Hillsdale", "title" : "Cinderella's Gold Slipper", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=25d0d006-310e-4788-9215-60f2db4cc1c6" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Fohr 90)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Fohr)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Fohr 90). The time has come for Cinderella to face new challenges in life. But then, notice that the mother says "I will look down on you from heaven to be near you" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{7276a418-be8c-473b-8803-bfbd3c6da462} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "URL" : "/~dash/grimm021.html", "accessed" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011", "12", "11" ] ] }, "author" : [ { "family" : "Grimm", "given" : "Jacob" }, { "family" : "Grimm", "given" : "Wilhelm" } ], "container-title" : "University of Pittsburgh", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "title" : "Cinderella", "type" : "webpage" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=7276a418-be8c-473b-8803-bfbd3c6da462" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(J. Grimm and W. Grimm)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (J. Grimm and W. Grimm) which reiterates the common notion that the dead become angels and they help their loved ones through the divine intelligence they receive when they enter heaven. It is also a symbol for the belief that while there is pain waiting for everyone as we start adult life, there is hope because a divine being is watching over us.
Fohr also says, "there is little doubt that the prince symbolizes God" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{25d0d006-310e-4788-9215-60f2db4cc1c6} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Fohr", "given" : "Samuel D." } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2004" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Sophia Perennis", "publisher-place" : "Hillsdale", "title" : "Cinderella's Gold Slipper", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=25d0d006-310e-4788-9215-60f2db4cc1c6" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(90)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Fohr)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (90). The world will do everythin...
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