Cinderella: A Review

When we think of Cinderella, we think of the blonde girl that has light blue eyes and finds her Prince Charming.  We think of the story by Disney that furthers patriarchal dominance and sexism. This great story that almost every child is introduced to when they are young, teaches us that there is a clear divide between men and women and that women need to find their Prince Charming. This story has been handed down by generations without giving much thought as to what it’s teaching our children and how we are furthering these thoughts if we meant to or not.

However, I am not talking about that Cinderella; I am talking about one that was published years before Disney even heard the story. The Brothers Grimm Cinderella talks about greed and the costs of being greedy and wicked. This is a book that is meant for more of an adult audience. While it does follow a similar story to the Disney version, it is a lot more graphic and gory. It also shows Cinderella outsmarting the Prince and her family. Cinderella seems to confuse and confound everyone. She isn’t made to look like some girl who is solely going after the Prince because he has money, she seems to have intelligence and she is a hard worker.

I guess the biggest thing that I would like to stress about this book is that it is meant for adults and solely adults. The Disney version does a nice job of making this story for kids; this version is not for kids. It’s something that I personally like because I am not one of those people who like happy endings in stories. I am more of a realist I guess I would say. I know that everything doesn’t work out perfectly and I really don’t like it when books and movies do that. This story has an amazing ending, it starts off with the two wicked sisters cutting off parts of their foot to fit in the shoe that is meant for Cinderella and then when the Prince is informed that they aren’t the correct person, he actually figures out its Cinderella. At the end, the two sisters attempt to sneak into the wedding and get their eyes pecked out. It’s part of a punishment and part of a lesson that we have to take with us. It tells us about wickedness and greed and metaphorically what you lose when you indulge in those things.

I feel like this book is something that more adults and teenagers should read. The Brothers Grimm makes it so easy to understand what’s happening and what their message is about greed.  I feel like most people forget that fairy tales were normally meant for adults and not children. They were supposed to give adults an easy way to access their moral compass and help remind people the causes of their actions and how they should behave.  Without these stories and these reminders, we lose what we had to help us make decisions and we lose those little reminders that we once had.