Into the Forest discussion

The earliest known, written, version of "Cinderella" is the Chinsese version. The first European version is Italian, "The Cat Cinderella" when Cinderella kills step-mother number one. Some Cinderellas include a post-script when the step sisters try to take Cinderella's place. Additionally, tales such as "Donkeyskin" combine elements of both Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella.

What do you think about Cinderella? What is your favorite version? Do you like or hate any of the movie versions?

I only know the Grimm version and the Perrault version, as well as the "Donkeyskin" tale. And, I do probably know of other versions vaguely; I just cannot think of them at the moment.

I personally favor the Grimm version. There is something about their brutality (in so many of their stories) that I find appealing. I remember being a child and contemplating how it would be to want to cut off your own toe or heel - want to! It blew my mind.

I love both the Rogers and Hammerstein versions (b&w TV and the Disney multiracial version, though being a geneticist the latter had me a bit confused at times, especially regarding the stepsisters.) Mercedes Lackey has at least two: Phoenix and Ashes and The Fairy Godmother. Haven't read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.

Oh! There is another one; I have read "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister". I quite liked it.

I didn't like Confessions. I like what Jane Yolen does with the tales.

Considering the release of a new Jane Eyre movie, in what ways do you feel that Jane Eyre echoes Cinderella? is it a more modern Cinderella?

Cinderella is one of the classic stories that you seem to find all over the world and can be seen reflected in many different stories. I think Cinderella also seems to have better movie adaptions, when it comes to live action films.

When I was little, apparently I LOVED the Rogers and Hammerstein version of Cinderella (1965). I also liked Ever After. There are so many other adaptations, and they keep coming out with new ones-- it seems to be a favorite for young Disney stars.

Ella Enchanted is one of my FAVORITE books of all time. I believe it was the first fairy tale retelling that I (knowingly) read. There is also The Rough-Face Girl, which I adore. The artwork is so beautiful, and I really liked the idea behind it.

Cinderella is one of the classic stories that you seem to find all over the world and can be seen reflected in many different stories. I think Cinderella also seems to have better movie adaptions, when it comes to live action films.

When I was little, apparently I LOVED the Rogers and Hammerstein version of Cinderella (1965). I also liked Ever After. There are so many other adaptations, and they keep coming out with new ones-- it seems to be a favorite for young Disney stars.

Ella Enchanted is one of my FAVORITE books of all time. I believe it was the first fairy tale retelling that I (knowingly) read. There is also The Rough-Face Girl, which I adore. The artwork is so beautiful, and I really liked the idea behind it.

I usually see Jane Eyre compared to Beauty and the Beast, but that's probably because I read more of those retellings. I can definitely see the connection. A girl mistreated by her surrogate family, ending up with a well-to-do man.

I really wouldn't consider it an outright Cinderella story, though. I think it could be compared to a lot of different fairy tales, but in the end-- Jane is Jane.

Melissa: thanks for putting a link to "The Rough Faced Girl". It looks very good and I am going to borrow that from the library.

I have never read any books by any of the Bronte sisters... (terrible, I know)

Hmmm, I don't know Mawgojzeta; there's got be some law that all women have to read at least one Bronte before the age 15.

Ha! I know; I have always been a bit embarrassed to admit this. Of course, if I would just pick up one of the darn books....

Actually, Anne Bronte is rather more current than the others considering that she deals with spousal abuse.

Thanks!

I didn't read any Bronte as a girl, and tried both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights in college, without getting far in either.

I just read Wuthering Heights last month in English class, and I don't think I could have done it before than. (I just graduated high school so it was a senior class)

There are many books that I'm glad I waited to read, because I don't think I would have enjoyed them younger.

Congrats on the graduation Mindy!

Miriam, I think you are right. Sometimes you have to be the right age for the book.

And some of them are even books that were "meant" for a younger audience, that I didn't or wouldn't have liked at the "right" age.

Thank you! Yeah some books you either have to be a certain age or remember that they're meant for a certain age.

BTW, anyone familiar with a country song with the chorus "It's midnight, Cinderella, but don't you worry none/Cuz I'm Peter Peter the pumpkin eater and the party's just begun."

No. I know she pops in a Wallflowers' song.

I've been immersing myself in all the amazing recommendations here and have ended up ordering lots of fairy tale books from Amazon!!

Ella Enchanted was the first fairy tale retelling I read - I read it years ago and read it again and again, I really loved it.

I really want to get into the old versions like the Brothers Grimm so have ordered lots of the classic versions.

A few weeks ago I read Eleanor Farjeon's The Glass Slipper and was charmed. It really was meant to be read by children, though, as there are some significant flaws. What's nice is that it isn't as 'quaint' as some of her other works.

In that one the clock, broom, etc, have personalities and converse with the girl. And the witch is neither her mother nor a 'godmother.' The dreamy description of the events at the ball is worth the price of the book itself.

I read Charles Perrault's Cinderella a couple of weeks ago and loved it.

I agree about the echoes of Cinderella in Jane Eyre - as well as Beauty and the Beast.

There are so many versions I loved. I really enjoyed the Disney version of Cinderella (the 1950s cartoon version) and I loved the movie Ever After which was based off of Cinderella. I was also interested in the Brothers' Grimm interpretation of Cinderella, which involved the stepsisters cutting off their toes to get into the glass slipper.

In The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, Christopher Booker talks about both the story of Cinderella and Jane Eyre as primary examples of the "Rags to Riches" storyline (he mentions that there are over a 1000 versions of Cinderella spanning generations around the world).

Booker sums up the Rags to Riches plot with 5 stages:

1. Initial wretchedness (usually) at home, and the 'Call' - mistreated at a young age, then something happens to call or send them out into a wider world.

2. Out into the world, initial success - first reward but limited, left incomplete.

3. The central crisis - Everything suddenly goes wrong, and great despair. This is the worst moment in the story.

4. Independence and the final ordeal - Coming out of the despair and growing a new inner strength... but this must be put to the test and the dark shadow standing between the protagonist and happiness must be removed once and for all.

5. Final union, completion and fulfillment - Usually a state of complete loving union with the 'Prince' or 'Princess', and/or the gaining of a 'kingdom,' where they will reign in complete happiness ("they lived happily ever after")

If this sort of classification interests you, I know that almost every fairy tale has some sort of basic plot line [like the one described above] which helps compare them to other tales or similar stories.
The Finnish scholar Antti Aarne and the American folklorist Stith Thompson categorized most fairy tales in some way or another. For example, Rumpelstiltskin is a "Name of the Helper" tale.

I definitely prefer the Perrault version because of the Fairy Godmother. I guess because it is the first version I was familiar with as a child, the Godmother became one of my favourite all time characters. When I read the Grimm's version I felt something missing because she is not in it. I never thought about Jane Eyre as a Cinderella Story it s so much more Beauty and the Beast! I am currently reading The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey and not liking it that much yet, maybe it will grow on me.

My own favorite is "Tattercoats" -- though it does fall into the "Donkeyskin" branch rather than the "Cinderella" subcategory.