Sibling Rivalry In Cinderella By The Brothers Grimm

Superior Essays
Life Is Anything But a Fairy Tale. Sibling Rivalry, as based in fairy tales, lead children to believe that's what their “happily ever after” life should start out. From the dark depths of the Brothers' Grimm to the purity of the Disney adaptations, fairy tales have always played apart of entertainment for children for centuries. However, these tales, specifically the Disney ones, show children of a happy ending between the prince and the princess who overcome the evil in the story. In the Brothers' Grimm's “Cinderella” the heroine of the story, Cinderella, was subject to years of cruelty because of her sisters jealousy. Even though they were “beautiful and fair of face” (Grimm 746) they still felt a rivalry with Cinderella because she wasn't …show more content…
Along with this mother cam two stepdaughters, whom were beautiful but were cruel to their new stepsister. They treated Cinderella as a maid, they had her cook and clean, “they took her pretty clothes away from her, put on an old grey bedgown on her, and gave her wooden shoes.” (Grimm 746), and took her bed away forcing her to sleep on the ashes in the fireplace. While Cinderella was treated as a mere peasant the two sisters lived the high life being spoiled in gowns, jewelry, shoes, and had the luxury of having a bed, courtesy of Cinderella's step mother. When it came time for the ball held by the Prince they wouldn't allow Cinderella to go. They kept giving her one chore after another before pointing out how she'd disgrace them by arriving covered head to toe from the ashes that she slept on. Cinderella, with the help of some friendly birds, manages to go to the ball and not only befriends her rotten stepsisters but gain the eye of the Prince. On the last day of the ball when Cinderella lost her slipper the king searched high and low for her before coming to her home and being mislead by the stepsisters and their mother, cutting off a part of their foot to fit the slipper. He eventually found his Princess and the two got married. At her wedding the cruelty Cinderella's stepsisters showed her didn't go unpunished, because of their selfishness and …show more content…
They showed a darker side to the sibling rivalry that Cinderella and her stepsisters share. With the Brothers Grimm's version, how Bettelheim shows how it's related to sibling rivalry, and how it effects children, it can be understood that depending on how impressionable the child is it can have a negative effect. The exaggeration children believe of the rivalry with their siblings, whether blood or not, is like Cinderella is far from the truth they see in their eyes. It raises their expectations on how their life should play out. Young girls will expect a knight and shining armor to come rescue her from her parents rule abiding house and whisk her off into the sunset while boys believe that every girl is a damsel in distress who need a prince to come save them. When reality hits them it'll knock those expectations right out the window. However, that doesn't mean that there is a “happily ever after” type of life waiting for them. It just never plays out exactly how they imagine. There will be no knight, no castle, and no magical dresses, but love is a powerful thing and it comes

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