Who wrote "Cinderella"?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Who owns the authorship of one of the most famous fairy tales in the world, who wrote "Cinderella"? Does it belong to the hand of Charles Perrault or was it invented by the Brothers Grimm? Or did this unique story come from the lips of the people? Is it possible to answer even one of these many questions?

Most folklore scholars are sure not. The legend about the girl who lost her shoe is so ancient that it is no longer possible to establish the original source. In London, at the end of the 19th century, a book by M. R. Cox was published, which mentioned the specific number of variations of the fairy tale discovered by the author - 345. Modern collectors of myths and legends have found a much larger number, among which, probably, one of the oldest is the Chinese, recorded eleven centuries ago.

But for many of those who wrote Cinderella, of course, remains Charles Perrault - a French storyteller, writer and poet. Taking on plots that already existed in folklore, he reworked them in his own way, and at the same time to please His Royal Highness, often completing each story with a conclusion - a “moral” set out in an ironic and witty poem of his own authorship.

In the elegant creation of Perro Cinderellaappears before us in the form of a kind, obedient and beautiful daughter of a nobleman, whose first wife was also a beautiful woman. But, unfortunately, she dies, and Zamarashka's father has to marry another. And so begins the misadventures of the main character, who gets her name only because the frequent cleaning and bullying of her stepsisters and stepmother covered her with ashes and dust. Of course, thanks to her gentleness and kindness, she will with honor withstand all the trials prepared by fate, and will definitely marry the prince thanks to the shoe she lost, trimmed with fur (no, not crystal!), And will live happily ever after. But did this sweet story about a girl named Cinderella always end so happily? After all, Charles Perrault, in fact, showed the reader a simplified version, where the negative characters are almost never punished for their atrocities.

In the hands of the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, collectors of folklore, the fairy tale acquires completely different tones, becoming an order of magnitude more magical and tougher. For example, there is no godmother as such in the presentation of the Germans, but there is an amazing tree growing on the mother’s grave, as well as two doves that settled in its branches, from which Cinderella receives the main help. Charles Perrault, who took the northern European version of the story as the basis for his version of the tale, which the brothers used almost a hundred years after the death of the Frenchman, probably also removed from it the bloody details of “revenge” on the stepmother and her daughters for the mistreatment of the main character. It is worth mentioning that at the end of the Grimm's fairy taletwo half-sisters of Zamarashka cut off one or another part of their legs in order to fit into an already golden shoe, after which the two aforementioned doves in the wedding episode peck out both eyes of each of them.

In the "Pentameron" by the Italian storyteller and poet Basile, one can see the edition of the story, which, according to some assumptions, Perrault also saw. Cinderella here - Zezolla - is not the pretty girl we used to imagine her to be. She kills her first stepmother with a chest, after which her teacher becomes the second, who, in fact, persuades the main character to commit a crime. The sisters in the Italian variation are not two, but six, and the godmother herself does not appear on stage. But the unlucky girl's father brings a special set of magical things received from his fairy friend, with the help of which Zezolla easily goes through a series of balls, loss and subsequent fitting of shoes and marries the prince.

When we hear another version of the tale told in a book of stories published in France about the beautiful Greek courtesans, it becomes even less clear to us who wrote Cinderella. In it, the author dispenses with balls, stepmothers, half-sisters and magic, leaving only the fact of losing the shoe, or rather, the eagle stealing the sandal from the main character. Like a bird, she is thrown to the feet of the pharaoh Psammetikh, who then orders to find the owner. The story still ends with a happy wedding.

The Chinese Cinderella mentioned above, named Yehhsien, was distinguished from others by her intelligence and talent for doingceramics. The magical assistant here is the goldfish, which, unfortunately, is killed by the stepmother. However, this does not prevent the main character from using her bones, which also have magical powers. With the help of them, Yehhsien goes to the carnival in a cloak trimmed with kingfisher feathers and gold shoes, one of which she, of course, loses. The warlord finds her, who then searches for the owner all over China, and then, having found his Cinderella, marries her. And for mistreatment of the stepdaughter, the stepmother, and at the same time her daughters, are stoned to death.

But, despite the huge number of versions of this famous story, it is up to you to decide who wrote Cinderella, and not to researchers, storytellers and numerous collectors of folklore. After all, it may happen that only one of all will fall in love with your heart, which means it will turn out to be the main and most faithful. And it will undoubtedly be the right choice.