Synopsis

• Begins: ‘There was once upon a time…’
• Proud and haughty widow with 2 daughters who are exactly like her marries second husband. He also has a daughter who is one of ‘the best creatures in the world.’
• Stepmother is mean to step-daughter – she makes her own daughters look bad.
• Given nicknames Cinderbreech and Cendrillon from sitting in chimney corner when resting.
• King’s son announces a ball. 2 eldest sisters invited. Cendrillon helps them with their preparations for the ball.
• Cendrillon breaks down after her sisters have left for the ball. Fairy godmother appears. After determining the problem she grants Cendrillon’s wish to go to the ball by transforming: a pumpkin into a coach, 6 mice into grey horses, a rat into a coachman, a lizard into 6 footmen and Cendrillon into beautiful clothes, shoes and hair.
• One condition of going to ball: Cendrillon must be home by midnight.
• Dances most of the night with Prince. Sisters do not know who she is. Leaves 11:45pm.
• Second wish is granted by fairy godmother to go to Prince’s ball the next night in all her finery again.
• Again dances with the Prince all of the night. Loses track of time. Loses glass slipper in mad rush out the door at midnight.
• Prince declares he will marry the lady to which the slipper fits.
• Slipper does not fit princesses, duchesses, women in court or sisters.
• Cendrillon jokes with sisters about the possibility of shoe fitting her. Bantered by sisters. The royal who is conducting the search insists she tries on slipper. Slipper fits!
• Fairy godmother’s wand transforms Cendrillon into her finery.
• Cendrillon forgives sisters. Marries Prince. Sisters live in palace and are married off on the same day to 2 lords of the court.
• Poem ‘The Moral’ concludes the story. > About the place of beauty in society and the importance of what is within, ‘good grace exceeds by far a handsome face’ (Perrault 1977: 89).
  

Back to Top

History and Tradition

• Perrault (1628-1703) was born to an upper middle class family in Paris, France.
• He completed a law degree in 1651, however it is thought that he bribed the learned doctors to pass (Princeton University n.d.).
• Perrault wrote verse and was elected to the French Academy in 1671.
• He did not record tales as he heard them, rather he ‘adapted folk material to his own theories of juvenile letters’ (Perrault 1977: 5).
• 1697 – Published ‘Histoires ou Contes du temps passé. Avec les moralitez’ (Stories or tales from times past with morals.) This was first translated by Robert Samber in 1729.
• This text was one of the first written for children, prior to this children read adults literature.
• Muir (Perrault 1977: 39) stated that Perrault believed that ‘the best stories we have are those that imitate best the style and simplicity of children’s nurses’.
• There has been debate over time as to whether Charles or his son Pierre Perrault wrote this classic tale as both men sign their work ‘P.P’. Zipes (2001: 839) suggests Charles used his son’s name to mask his own identity so that he would not be blamed for re-igniting a quarrel between the ancients and the moderns.
• It is thought that Perrault mistakenly wrote that Cendrillon’s slipper was made from glass. The French words glass (verre) and fur (vair) are very similar so it is thought that a mistranslation led to the inclusion of the famous glass slippers (Dundes 1988:  38). 

Back to top

Modified Elements

• Perrault includes a verse about the moral of the tale after the conclusion of the story. This verse disappeared from many English versions at the beginning of the 19th century (Cullen 2003: 62).
• In many versions of Perrault’s Cinderella the step sisters are unnamed – however in the original version he names one of the step sisters Charlotte (Javotte – French) (Heiner 2006). It is interesting that this name does not carry through to Disney’s filmic adaptation of the tale.
•  Perrault does not focus largely on the physical appearance of the step sisters as many versions do. All he mentions of their looks is that Cendrillon is a ‘hundred times handsomer than her sisters’ (Perrault 1977: 75). He concentrates on portraying Cendrillon’s personal attributes to be far superior to that of her step sisters.
• Greater emphasis is placed on the wedding in many adaptations of Perrault’s version of Cinderella. Perrault gives little attention to the wedding - ‘a few days after [the prince] married her’ (Perrault 1977: 89) and instead focuses on the forgiveness of her step sisters (Goldthwaite 1996: 54-55). The step sisters’ forgiveness is seen as one of the main outcomes of the story rather than Cendrillon’s marriage to the prince.
• The fairy godmothers transformations vary between versions of Cinderella. In Perrault’s version he transforms 6 mice into 6 horses but in the Disney version of the tale 4 mice are transformed. The animals that are transformed also differ, as a rat is transformed into a coachman in the Perrault version, whilst a dog is transformed to a coachman in the Disney version.
  

Strengths and Weaknesses

• The inclusion of the verse ‘The Moral’ at the end of the tale provides the reader with a good explanation as to what the tales true meaning is. This reinforces the readers understanding of the text, leaving them with more than just a happy ending.
• The absence of Cendrillon’s father is not explained further than ‘his wife governed him entirely’ (Perrault 1977: 75) which poses many questions for the reader. We are left wondering if a dramatic event occurred that led to his departure.
• There are some inconsistencies in Perrault’s version of the tale:
  - If Cendrillon heard the clock strike 12 when she was at the ball why was she not transformed at that exact moment? How is it that the prince did not see her as her usual self? How did she have time to get outside and out of the prince’s view before she was transformed?
  - Cendrillon’s fairy godmother clearly states that all that she has transformed will return to is old form at 12am precisely. How is it that both of the glass slippers remain after 12am, without returning to their original form?
  
  Back to top

This page was created by Liz Tingay

An assignment for:
History of Children's Literature 1 (EDU12HCL)
La Trobe University Bendigo
Semester 2, 2006