Blog 10 Fairy Tales

For this week we are reading multiple versions of different [probably] well-known fairy tales. Among them are variations of Cinderella, Snow White, and Little Red [Riding Hood]. I have known since I was younger that there are different versions of fairy tales, some differing only slightly from others, some more so; in grade school we read culturally different versions of some.
One of the fairy tales that is recounted many times is that of Cinderella, as we know it to be called in English. There are some main elements which make up a Cinderella tale. The first is that the mother of the child (usually but not always a girl) dies. The father then remarries and later he too dies. After the father’s death, the step-mother and step-sister(s) either begin to treat the girl harshly as they have wanted to (as in The Golden Carp) or continue to treat her harshly as they had done while the father was alive (as in Aschenputtel). This usually involves things such as harder or the majority of the chores and having worse living conditions than the others. Another part of the Cinderella tale is a ball or festival that the step-mother and step-sister(s) and many other people will be attending and that Cinderella is not allowed to attend. In some of the tales Cinderella is made to help ready the others for the event. An element of the stories that goes along with the ball/festival is magical aid; with it Cinderella is given means (sometimes a new outfit) so she can attend the event. At the event, Cinderella departs early and leaves something behind. This item is brought to the attention of the ‘prince charming’ figure and he sets people out in search of her. This along with Cinderella passing this identification test are other elements of this type of tale. Where identification is required Cinderella passes and if the step-sisters have tried they have failed; I have heard that in the Grimm version of Cinderella her step-sisters cut off their toes so they can try to fit into the shoe. After this Cinderella is brought to the palace or house and is married to the prince charming.

Hey all I found today I could not access my blog from home because I need to update my browser or something so I'll post my late Blog 4 after I can get to the library to use their not-limited data wi-fi to download a more current one.