Cinderella Book Comparison

Cinderella is a tale synonymous with violence, bloodshed, and missing eyeballs. In reality, this is only a portion of one version of the Cinderella story, the Grimm Brothers “Cinderella”. Two other well known renditions of the Cinderella story are the Little Golden Book Cinderella as well as the 2015 Disney Film Cinderella. The similarities and differences in these three adaptations of Cinderella are clearly seen by analyzing the theme, how death is expressed, and the portrayal of the animal helpers archetype in each iteration of the story. The themes of all three versions of Cinderella are distinctive but are all correlated in some way. The theme of the Little Golden Book version is that dreams come true. This is seen at the end of the

In all three versions, death is not viewed as definitive, or the end all be all. Instead, there is some element of living after death, and this can be clearly seen in the character of Cinderella 's mother. In the Grimm Brothers version, after being harassed by her stepmother Cinderella runs immediately to her mother 's grave which is beneath a hazel tree. She then cries out asking for a dress so that she can attend the ball when “the bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her, and slippers embroidered with silk and silver” (pg. 3 para 9) This bird is a reincarnation, or extension of her mothers spirit to help Cinderella even after death. Similarly, in the Little Golden Book version, Cinderella 's mother comes back to Cinderella as an actual fairy godmother. In this version, the representation of Cinderella 's mother helps Cinderella with her dress as well as the fairy godmother “looked at it [the dress]. “Good heavens” and with a wave of her magic wand, she turned the rag into a exquisite gown” (pg 6). Additionally, Cinderella 's mother 's spirit extends through death again in the film as an actual fairy godmother to help Cinderella. Differences in how death is conveyed are tied to the theme of each version. In the film, Cinderella remains kind and courageous, which is the statement that

The themes of each version not only define the essence of their respective iterations, but also help to define how death is viewed in each adaptation. The animal helper archetype is present across all three version, but analysis of the animal helpers reveals subtle differences in each rendition. The idea of the classic Cinderella story may vary depending on the person. However, this iconic tale despite similarities and differences that can be seen through the lens of theme, death, and the animal helper archetype contain lessons that everyone can benefit from and use to succeed in all aspects of