Fear Of Cinderella

Amalia Price

Mrs. Robinson

World Literature

13 November 2023

A Fairytale Fear of Stepmothers Every little kid dreams of living in a fairytale and going on magical adventures. Children watch movies and read books about how the protagonist faces trials, conquers evil, and ultimately lives happily ever after. Classic fairy tales such as Cinderella and Snow White teach little ones of the basic archetypes, both good and bad, that are found in all stories. The main antagonist found in most Grimm Brothers stories is the evil stepmother, a person who mistreats and harms the protagonist that most kids can relate to. Under the influence of descriptive storytelling or catchy show tunes, children often make connections to their real-life situations. The

Though in the Grimm fairytale, the majority of the abuse is written to be conducted by her two awful stepsisters, it is clear that her stepmother is at the root of the problem. Despite living in a house with four other people, Cinderella is made to do all of the household chores. This includes sweeping the chimney, which is how she earned the unfortunate nickname that even her father uses. When invited to a ball, Cinderella is told by her stepmother that she must complete a task before being allowed to go, saying "Here, I've dumped a bowlful of lentils into the ashes. If you can pick out the lentils in the next two hours, then you may go"("Cinderella" 118). Her stepmother knows that this is an impossible task to complete in that amount of time and is so shocked that when Cinderella manages to do it, she dumps two bowls of lentils into the ashes. Even when this is completed once more, she does not permit Cinderella to go with them for no reason other than to be

After reading fairy tales that describe violence and mistreatments committed by stepmothers from a young age, it can be easy for their new children to view them as a fairy tale stepmother who is inherently evil. Though many stepmothers nowadays do not seek marriages solely for money, the stereotype still exists and is able to skew the world's, especially children's, opinion of stepmothers. Seeing the world from a fairy tale protagonist's point of view can greatly influence what a child thinks about the people around