Cinderella Theme
Tagged under Fairy Tales.
In the Perrault version of the fairytale, the titular heroine is the daughter of a rich widower who marries a woman with
two daughters of her own; the women turn out to be mean and controlling, treating Cinderella worse than a servant. After
a ball at the castle is announced, with the purpose of finding a bride for the Prince, the overjoyed Cinderella prepares
a dress but, in a fit of jealousy, her stepsisters destroy it before leaving. Seeing her misery, her fairy godmother
intervenes and gifts her new dress and a warning - to return home before midnight.
At the ball,
Cinderella dances with the Prince and falls in love with him, but leaves before he can find out who she is. When a
second ball is announced, Cinderella participates once again but loses track of time and rushes back, tripping and
leaving one of her crystal slippers behind. In hopes of identifying her, the Prince demands that all young girls in the
kingdom try the slipper on. And even though the stepsisters go to great lengths to squeeze their large feet into the
tiny slipper (temporarily fooling the Prince), and the stepmother tries to prevent Cinderella from being discovered,
Cinderella manages to try it on and it's a perfect fit! She and the prince then return to the castle and get married.
Other variations on the tale feature the stepsisters mutilating their feet to make them fit in the slipper,
and the stepmother and stepsisters having their eyes plucked out by crows at Cinderella's wedding. In the Grimm version,
there are three balls at the palace and Cinderella wears a different dress every time (each more beautiful than the
last), with slippers made of "pure gold". In one variation, the fairy godmother is replaced with the spirit of
Cinderella's mother, who interacts with her through a magical tree that the girl had planted near the grave.
Description: pandemonium91
