Although, one would also think that Cinderella’s father was absent from her life because of famous retellings, it is far from the truth. Surprisingly, he takes an interesting role in Cinderella’s life. The first active appearance he makes is when he is going to a fair and Cinderella requests for him to bring her back the first branch that brushes against his hat. Later on, he attends the ball with his wife and her two daughters, knowingly leaving Cinderella at home. He is most likely aware of all the work his daughter is made to do because she is always covered in ashes, hence the name Cinderella. The ball he attends with his family goes on for three days and he has a growing suspicion that Cinderella is the one that the prince dances with,
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Desperately, when the shoe fits neither daughter, the prince asks if there is another daughter in the house. Cinderella’s biological father responds, “There’s only little Cinderella, my dead wife’s daughter, who’s deformed, but she can’t possibly be the bride.” (83). There are several things wrong here and un-fatherly. He detaches himself from his own daughter by making her a dead woman's daughter instead of his. The father also calls her deformed when only Cinderella’s beauty is mentioned in the tale and there is no such deformity- he is delusional. This father is not absent at all, but plays a part in Cinderella’s abuse.
Cinderella’s father is not the only abusive father. Many fathers marry off their daughters to strangers or give them off as if they are property. Madness is recognized against a background of “unreason” (Foucault, 83). These fathers are the epitome of unreason. An old, poor miller boasts to the king about his daughter being able to spin straw into gold, getting her into a very sticky mess. His daughter could not spin straw into gold and she will be put to death if she does not spin the straw into gold. Because of this predicament, she gets into a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, a very greedy and selfish little
Desperately, when the shoe fits neither daughter, the prince asks if there is another daughter in the house. Cinderella’s biological father responds, “There’s only little Cinderella, my dead wife’s daughter, who’s deformed, but she can’t possibly be the bride.” (83). There are several things wrong here and un-fatherly. He detaches himself from his own daughter by making her a dead woman's daughter instead of his. The father also calls her deformed when only Cinderella’s beauty is mentioned in the tale and there is no such deformity- he is delusional. This father is not absent at all, but plays a part in Cinderella’s abuse.
Cinderella’s father is not the only abusive father. Many fathers marry off their daughters to strangers or give them off as if they are property. Madness is recognized against a background of “unreason” (Foucault, 83). These fathers are the epitome of unreason. An old, poor miller boasts to the king about his daughter being able to spin straw into gold, getting her into a very sticky mess. His daughter could not spin straw into gold and she will be put to death if she does not spin the straw into gold. Because of this predicament, she gets into a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, a very greedy and selfish little