Fairy Tales: A Closer Look at Cinderella

The story of Cinderella inspires transformation, and its setting is similar to our inner child. It’s a story which makes emotions to run deep as the audience eagerly waits for what would befall the favorite character Cinderella. The audience laments her mother’s death which leads to her father’s second marriage with a cruel person, who unites with her daughters to ill-treat Cinderella. The innocent Cinderella’s rags and tribulations are later transformed into a pleasant gown and joy when she is married to the prince and lives happily ever after. The fairytale of Cinderella involves many magical possibilities and its plot stems from aspirations that ordinary people have. These aspirations include: the punishment for evil acts, appreciation for every member of our society, and reward for endurance by the oppressed or the disadvantaged in the society. The magic that is involved in this fairytale’s setting is the eventual lavishing of Cinderella with great rewards for her goodness and steadfastness irrespective of the harsh conditions that she had live in. 

Cinderella fairytale consists of a succession of five basic occurrences: the oppressed heroine, the magical help, her meeting with the prince, the proof of her identity, and marriage with the prince. The fairy tale of Cinderella has been narrated in every culture throughout the world. It possesses a semi-religious theme which shows that evil acts will eventually be punished. In other words, the good will forever triumph the evil. This is equivalent to what all major religions of the world teach. The fairytale has been argued to inspire thoughts in children that guide them into having good conduct so as to avoid the ultimate punishment. Just like religious practices and other community social norms, the exact source of this fairytale has not been established. It appears to have spontaneously emerged and began to be narrated in several places simultaneously. Some examples of places other than Europe and America where the tale has been narrated include Japan, China, and Africa. The main goal has definitely been community correction. It’s meant to sensitize the society of the advantages of acting in a morally upright manner. The unappealing part is that the haughty behavior is always punished in evil and harsh ways, which then tend to evoke the audience sympathy for the former evil doers. The invocation of sympathy is because, it is human true nature to forgive or be compassionate even when terrible acts are committed. This is the reason why the audience values the character of Cinderella of being affectionate.

Adherence to ethical and moral principles is sometimes challenging, and sometimes individual violates the society codes of conduct in a manner that is detrimental to the community as a whole. The community has several ways of enforcing adherence to morality, some of which are correctional and others preventive. Correctional measures are taken when criminality or immorality has resulted from individuals conduct. These measures are meant to help the offenders abandon their immoral behavior and adopt more meaningful conduct which benefits them and the society as a whole. They include punishment through imprisonment, fining, and retribution. However, the society favors preventive measures since they have the greatest effectiveness and sustainability. Preventive measures are meant to teach members of the society to reason uprightly before acting, so that there is peaceful co-existence with the rest of the society. Some years back, the role of the elders was to interpret conducts and determine the wrong and right.

The fairytale of Cinderella has evolved in several cultures as a way to instill good conduct in people from an early age. It’s a tale that has over the ages been teaching that arrogance and mistreating others will precisely land someone into trouble. On the other hand, it is meant to instill the quality of endurance. The story has a setting that demonstrates unhealthy rivalry among siblings oedipal complex among some members of the society. It entertainingly emphasize on the importance of being remorseful and forgiving having being set about a girl who, despite being hated, she is able to forgive her siblings. Forgiveness is a virtue that enhances harmony and continuity in the society because, had equal justice been applied, communities would waste too much time and resources. Application of equal justice might be counterproductive as it would probably lead to resentment and urges to revenge, and therefore not serve its purpose.

The Cinderella fairytale is about a virtuous, hand working, and pretty young girl who is cruelly ill-treated by her step mother and sisters and forced to attend to all domestic chores without their assistance. The girl remarkably perseveres patiently without contemplating revenge. This teaches the children that although human nature might not be congenitally desirable, it is still possible to persist in doing what is right regardless of torture that we may receive. It also makes them appreciate the reality of conflicts among human beings. It makes us hypothetically believe that every good thing is preceded with difficulty, and that those in privileges positions must treat others with kindness.

By the time he she is a young adult, the prince of the country where she lived organized a big party and in attendance was Cinderella’s cruel stepmother and her daughters. Cinderella was to remain at home suffering and crying as if she was a common criminal. However, in an unprecedented manner and with the aid of a godmother, she is able to attend the party in style. This enables her to dance with the prince whose emotions get stirred. Unfortunately she is supposed to leave at midnight, and all her showy attire and accessories destined to turn back into rags, pumpkins, and mice that they were magically made from. Therefore, as soon as Cinderella hears the strike of the clock, she runs down the staircase of the castle, incidentally leaving behind a glass slipper which the prince uses to trace her despite several crafty and sinister moves by her sisters. The prince was probably among the most privileged in that country. The manner in which he searches for Cinderella without despairing serves as an inspiration to children that they need to be principled. He probably met several girls who might have been as beautiful as Cinderella but he opted to remain focused. The pain and exhaustion that he suffers reminds us that material possessions do not necessarily assure us of an easy life. Cinderella does unto others as she would have wished them to do unto her, which a philosophy is campaigned for by all major religions and several other cultural norms.

The fairytale have deficiencies too, and I wish to point out to two of them. As I stated earlier, undesirable conduct is always punished in evil and harsh means, which then tend to evoke sympathy for the one-time evil doers. This kind of punishment is not mainly aimed at reforming individuals but condemning them to eternal suffering which does not coincide with the human nature. Another shortcoming is that the audience may be conditioned to believe that goodness in the future happens magically or by sheer luck. This might be misleading because in reality, people usually have to work hard to secure a better future. However, I take it as among the best tales that enhances morality.