Liana Mora
Professor Kyle Hoehne
Fairytales and Rewritings
3 October 2019
A Rebels Dress
Cinderella has become a very well-known fairytale amongst both children and adults. The story’s plot may vary depending on which culture and time period you are in. However, most follow the storyline of a wicked stepmother and two envious stepsisters who enslave Cinderella. With the help of a magical creatures, Cinderella transforms into a princess and marries the prince. Cinderella includes most of the key components of a fairytale that you could think of such as magical enchantments, supernatural aspects, and a universal lesson. The protagonist picks up new characteristics such as being brave, rebellious, and determined only when she is properly dressed. She is not referred to as a princess when she is dressed in rags, but only when she is dressed with grand luxury. Cinderella is only seen as a princess/ heroine when she is wearing her dress because it releases her inner rebel living up to the standards that society has established to be considered a heroine.
Cinderella acquired her name from waking up with cinder in her face after having fallen asleep next to a fireplace. Her stepsisters force her to attend to their needs and essentially become their maid. In Walt Disney’s animated film Cinderella, we can observe how she is dressed in dull-colored rags as compared to all the other characters who wear vibrant dresses. On the night of the ball, Cinderella’s animal helpers make her a dress which she wears later that night. Instantly she becomes a different person she is fearless of what her stepmother might say she takes a grand step of determination and walks down the stairs to show off her dress. However, moments later her stepsisters ruin her dress, strip her bravery away, and leave her back into rags. Cinderella becomes concealed, she does not fight back as to why her stepsisters would embarrass her in such way instead her animal helpers who had been watching this whole time seemed to have a stronger will to fight back. For a moment we see a Cinderella who fights for what she wants, but this only happens when she is wearing a dress. The dress not only makes her more appealing, but it makes her a rebel which is anticipated from her since she is supposed to be a heroine in a fairytale.
Cinderella has been interpreted in numerous ways each version is unique and no two are the same. The Cinderella Cat by Giambattista Basile does not include the help of a fairy godmother instead of the protagonist who is referred to as Zezolla has the help of a magical date tree. On multiple occasions Zezolla approaches the tree and recites the phrase:
“Golden date of mine
I’ve hoed you with the golden hoe,
I’ve watered you with the golden pail,
I’ve dried you with the silk cloth,
now strip yourself and dress me!” (Basile 206)
The tree acts on-demand and fulfills her wish. Zezolla returns to this date tree and keeps asking for a dress and each time she gets a more glamourous one than the one before. She “waits for a change instead of initiating it” which resembles her passivity and lack of rebellion (Ohmer 1). Zezolla becomes too comfortable with the date tree that she becomes very greedy by continuously approaching it and demanding for a dress instead of making one herself. She does not take the initiative when she has the tree by her side which resembles her passivity as she accepts that she cannot work for a nice dress it must be hand given to her. Once in the dress, Zezolla takes charge of her actions and soon marries the prince because of her beauty and charms.
It is no secret that Cinderella cleans up very nicely. She is mostly remembered as wearing a lovely blue dress that matches her eyes with glass slippers. Her clothing resembles a change of “character … and a vehicle for the transformation of the self” with her dress on she gets to meet the prince and with her glass slipper on she marries him (Lupton 1). Cinderella remains sweet and naïve regardless of what she is wearing, but she gains the courage to go after the prince when she is dressed nicely. The audience witnesses Cinderella transform into a princess as she undergoes the typical progression of rags to riches. However, “she is [only seen as] a heroine … when properly cleaned and dressed (Stone 44). Many viewers only remember Cinderella when she is wearing her dress because of the vibrant color and how she acts as a rebel. At the beginning of the story, we get used to seeing her being bossed around and talked down upon until she leaves her rags behind. Once in her dress, she becomes reckless which is expected from her and leads her to become not only a princess but a heroine.
Fairytales can be interpreted in numerous ways and serve for multiple purposes. Cinderella is often foreseen as a heroine since she receives her happily ever after next to the prince. In most aspects she is even considered a heroine, however, the true nature of her heroism is up for debate. Cinderella is strictly seen as a heroine only when she is wearing her dress, not because of her heroic qualities or heroic deeds. With the dress on, she takes on a brand-new persona which contributes to heroic standards such as bravery, rebellion, and determination. Even though she possesses these traits within her regardless of what she is wearing she only exerts them when she is in a dress. The dispute if she is a heroine or not depends mostly on the judgment of her actions. Referring to Cinderella as a heroine is up for debate, but if she owes all of her luxuries to her fairy godmother then wouldn’t the godmother be the real heroine in the story?
Works Cited
Basile, Giambattista, and Nancy L. Canepa. “The Cinderella Cat.” Marvels & Tales, vol. 13, no. 2, 1999, pp. 201–210. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41388543.
Cinderella. Dir. Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske. Perf. Ilene Woods. Disney, 1950. DVD.
Lupton, Mary Jane. “Clothes and Closure in Three Novels by Black Women.” Black American
Literature Forum, vol. 20, no. 4, 1986, pp. 409–421. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2904440.
Ohmer, Susan. “’That Rags to Riches Stuff’: Disney’s Cinderella and the Cultural Space of Animation.” Film History, vol. 5, no. 2, 1993, pp. 231–249. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27670722.
Stone, Kay. “Things Walt Disney Never Told Us.” The Journal of American Folklore, vol. 88, no. 347, 1975, pp. 42–50. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/539184.
