Cinderella Theme: the Different Depiction of a Fairy Tale

Cinderella theme is simple: it is a classic fairy tale traditionally known for a beautiful young lady who is stuck being mistreated by her evil stepmother and stepsisters after the passing of her father. The cruel stepmother and jealous stepsisters forced Cinderella to be a servant in the home. The wicked stepmother prohibited Cinderella from attending the royal ball ceremony in hopes of keeping the beautiful girl away from the prince. The stepmother would much rather have her own daughters attend and encounter prince charming. With the help of her fairy godmother Cinderella was able to go to the ball and dance all night with the prince. She arrived at the ceremony in a horse and carriage wearing a stunning dress and glass slippers which were all magical and would return to normal once the clock struck midnight. In a rush to leave the palace before midnight Cinderella loses a glass slipper on the stairs which the prince finds. The prince searched high and low for the owner of the shoe, eventually he found Cinderella was the perfect fit. They got married and lived happily ever after.

Roald Dahl’s version of Cinderella differs from the traditional fairytale. The baselines in both versions are similar with a cruel stepmother and ugly stepsisters mistreating the young lady. As the story goes on the plot begins to change. Roald Dahl mentioned in the beginning of the poem that he was going to tell the “real” story and this version would be much “more gory” which in fact is was. Like in the traditional version, Cinderella was able to attend the royal ball with the help of her fairy godmother. She was at the ball in her magical dress and glass slippers dancing the night away with the prince. As the clock struck 12, she ran away but the prince held onto her dress making it rip from her body. She lost both her dress and her glass slipper that night. The prince set the shoe aside with the intentions of finding the mysterious lady in the morning. While the prince looked away the envious stepsister flushed the slipper down the toilet and sneakily replaced it with one of her own. In the morning the prince went around town searching for the owner of the shoe and he found that its fits the ugly sister. He knew this was not the lady he danced with, so he beheads her. The other sister tried to claim the shoe and he did the same thing to her. Cinderella found the actions of the prince distasteful and wished to marry a “lovely feller”. Her wish was granted immediately after, and they married and lived happily ever after.

What is the theme of Cinderella? Both stories started off the same but as the plot thickened Roald Dahl’s version painted a picture of violence. In comparison both stories had the wicked stepmother and stepsister who were mean to Cinderella. She wished that she could attend the ball and with the help of a fairy godmother her wish was granted until midnight. As the tale went on there were some differences. In each story Cinderella danced the night away with the prince until it was time for her to leave. When she left in a rush she lost a glass slipper in both stories, but in Roald Dahl’s poem she lost her dress as well. The prince wanted to search for the young lady who he danced with at the ball. In the traditional tale the stepsister tried to fit their foot in the slipper when the prince came looking for the owner. Whereas in Dahl’s poem, the sisters flushed the original slipper down the toilet and replaced it with one of their own shoes. Once the prince found out neither one of the sisters were the rightful owner he beheaded them both. Both endings were the same, the prince and Cinderella found each other married and lived happily ever after