Uninspiring Cinderella
Cinderella
is considered a “rise tale” in which magic and/or marriage causes someone to go
from poverty to wealth. Although, this
tale is initially inspiring, the motif does not maintain its hopeful nature
upon inspection.
Firstly, it’s important to note that the idea is
somewhat realistically possible. People “marry up” all the time, and it is very
possible to find a wealthy man. This
element of the motif is a realistic and possible way to find success. It is still possible to find your “prince
charming”, as Cinderella does. The magical component is much less feasible,
since that requires magical birds and trees, according to the Grimm version. These tend to be extraordinarily difficult to
find. Therefore, counting on magic to better your life is not realistic.
The motif with magic/marriage bringing you from rags
to riches is not very inspiring on a whole, though. Cinderella does not achieve
her success through any intellectual or physical feat of her own. In the Grimm
version, she goes to the tree above her mother’s grave and simply asks it to
shower her in riches. Birds respond by throwing her a beautiful dress to wear
to the ball. She was so beautiful that the prince immediately liked her. Upon
their marriage, Cinderella is able to escape her horrible living situation. However, Cinderella actually did very little
to achieve this success in life. Magic is solely responsible for her beautiful
appearance at the ball. Her eventual ascension in living arrangements was the
direct consequence of the prince liking her. So, Cinderella’s success was not
achieved through any means of her own. Taking that into account, the story is much
less inspiring. It basically teaches that if you want your situation to
improve, you are at the mercy of magic and men. You cannot do anything but hope
that somehow something will occur that will help you.
A much better lesson would be that if you try
hard enough, you can achieve something better and take yourself out of the bad
situation. Cinderella would be much more
inspiring if she did something proactive to help herself. In the Grimm version,
she simply asks the tree in desperation for gold and silver, and magic does the
rest. As lame as her plea is, it is a step above her actions in the Disney
movie. All this Cinderella does is cry about how she does not get to go to the
ball and how she cannot try on the glass slipper. A fairy godmother magically appears and helps
her get to the ball, and some mice bring her the key to unlock herself from her
room. Neither Cinderella does much of anything to improve her own situation. Had
she even told the prince her name, she would have done something to earn her
improved situation. Her lack of initiative is what fails to make her an impressive
heroine and what makes the motif, though partially realistic, completely
uninspiring upon reflection.
Cinderella
is considered a “rise tale” in which magic and/or marriage causes someone to go
from poverty to wealth. Although, this
tale is initially inspiring, the motif does not maintain its hopeful nature
upon inspection. 
Firstly, it’s important to note that the idea is
somewhat realistically possible. People “marry up” all the time, and it is very
possible to find a wealthy man. This
element of the motif is a realistic and possible way to find success. It is still possible to find your “prince
charming”, as Cinderella does. The magical component is much less feasible,
since that requires magical birds and trees, according to the Grimm version. These tend to be extraordinarily difficult to
find. Therefore, counting on magic to better your life is not realistic. 
The motif with magic/marriage bringing you from rags
to riches is not very inspiring on a whole, though. Cinderella does not achieve
her success through any intellectual or physical feat of her own. In the Grimm
version, she goes to the tree above her mother’s grave and simply asks it to
shower her in riches. Birds respond by throwing her a beautiful dress to wear
to the ball. She was so beautiful that the prince immediately liked her. Upon
their marriage, Cinderella is able to escape her horrible living situation. However, Cinderella actually did very little
to achieve this success in life. Magic is solely responsible for her beautiful
appearance at the ball. Her eventual ascension in living arrangements was the
direct consequence of the prince liking her. So, Cinderella’s success was not
achieved through any means of her own. Taking that into account, the story is much
less inspiring. It basically teaches that if you want your situation to
improve, you are at the mercy of magic and men. You cannot do anything but hope
that somehow something will occur that will help you.
A much better lesson would be that if you try
hard enough, you can achieve something better and take yourself out of the bad
situation. Cinderella would be much more
inspiring if she did something proactive to help herself. In the Grimm version,
she simply asks the tree in desperation for gold and silver, and magic does the
rest. As lame as her plea is, it is a step above her actions in the Disney
movie. All this Cinderella does is cry about how she does not get to go to the
ball and how she cannot try on the glass slipper. A fairy godmother magically appears and helps
her get to the ball, and some mice bring her the key to unlock herself from her
room. Neither Cinderella does much of anything to improve her own situation. Had
she even told the prince her name, she would have done something to earn her
improved situation. Her lack of initiative is what fails to make her an impressive
heroine and what makes the motif, though partially realistic, completely
uninspiring upon reflection. 
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