Cinderella Stories Essay

1092 Words5 Pages
Cinderella’s Cultural Transformation Many times we hear about Cinderella stories in sports. The classic sports Cinderella story is when an underdog rises from their low circumstance and wins the game. This rise to good fortune has people around the world cheering for them and supporting them. Like these sports teams the classic Folktale of Cinderella in every culture shows a transformation from low circumstance rising to good fortune. From looking at the Native American Cinderella Story told by the Algonquian people to the classic Cinderella story by Charles Perrault it is obvious that the beginning, middle, and end of their tales explain a transformation that many people put hope in to rise to good fortune. Once upon a time in a land far away… Many folktales begin this way but the beginning of a Cinderella story is much more than the setting. In all Cinderella stories the first incident that occurs is always a very sad circumstance. In Oochigeaskw The Rough-Faced Girl told by the Algonquin people it says, “The youngest girl was very small, weak, and often ill: and yet her sisters, especially the elder, treated her cruelly” (639). This sad circumstance affects the poor youngest child and sets her up for failure. In most other Cinderella stories, like in Perrault’s Cinderella the mother dies and leaves a young girl with her widowed father. Soon after the mother’s death the father remarries to a horrible stepmother who mistreats poor little Ashputtle (Perrault 624). These cultures are very different but each has an incident that occurs that lowers the characters circumstance. As in all cultures unfortunate incidents happen, but this leaves room for a great transformation to occur. The beginnings of these folktales are like a team that does not have a good coach, the most talented players, or the best facility. They are the underdog and no one expects anything good to
Open Document