Female Passivity In Cinderella

I chose to revise “Cinderella” because the power of female beauty and the presence of female passivity as a component of beauty has found its way into modern culture and it has warped society’s perspective of females. Cinderella’s impact on growing girls is enormous because it is the biggest of the three “Big Girl Tales” and it is embedded in the heart of our culture in regards to how little girls should grow to view themselves (Thomas, Tammis). The subliminal impacts of “Cinderella” on the minds of female children encourage passivity and place an emphasis on a “Prince” who is supposed to save them from their circumstances. The driving point that led to “Cinderella” as the tale for my radical revision is that there is more to choosing a mate …show more content…
In the Grimms version of “Cinderella” the seeds of female passivity are planted in the first sentence when Cinderella’s mother tells her daughter to “be good and pious” and follows her statement up by saying that her reward for not causing trouble will be the “dear Lord” assisting her along with her mother (GRIMMS CITATION). Through Cinderella's failure to act on her own behalf and set boundaries she becomes objectified in the eyes other characters as an object that only exists to satisfy their needs. The Grimm’s do not see an issue with that and reward Cinderella with “two white pigeons” as helpers, symbols of her purity and a confirmation that she is on the right path. Due to Cinderella being an object instead of a person the Prince can only go based off of a shoe size when looking for her. Instead of bothering to find out the maidens name the Prince is adamant about no maiden being his wife “but the maiden whose foot fits this slipper” (GRIMMS CITATION). By Cinderella being able to fit the slipper she is satisfying the Prince’s need of a wife. In the Grimm’s “Cinderella” the Prince is the highest reward there is and as a result, a Triangle of Violation emerges between the most beautiful female and rival females. Cinderella’s stepsisters try to compete with Cinderella by chopping off …show more content…
I dramatized each of the original characters primary characteristic in a modern setting in the hopes that it would outline the issues in the Grimm’s “Cinderella”. For Arabella as Cinderella her primary characteristic was being obedient and passive in situations that would warrant some judgement from modern females. For example, when the doctor tells Arabella that he “needs a date” for an event later that night and she “will do perfectly” most women would have brought up that they did not know him instead of thinking about whether or not they would be able to go (Major 3). With the doctor as the prince his primary characteristic was being very one-dimensional. During the course of the entire tale the doctor is only described as being “handsome” and one of the “most prominent doctors in his field” (Major 4). The reader knows about as much as Arabella when it comes to the doctor which aids in their ability to be able to put themselves into Arabella’s shoes. The primary characteristic for Cornelia and the stepmonster is an obsession with beauty which leads them to spend all of their waking moments focused on the most popular trends. Their dynamics of their relationship mirrors one of a mother who places her daughter in a beauty competition. The stepmonster is abusive towards Cornelia in how she tries to live her life through her; the readers are not sure how much of