Cinderella, published in 1697 is a book based on a popular Italian tale called La Gatta

Cenerentola and tells the story of a girl, who after losing her father, has her life tied to her
cruel stepmother and her two jealous daughters. The name Cinderella is related to ashes,
originating from the word "cinder" in English. This name alludes to the ashes of the stove
and the fact that the character is given the task of cleaning it. Cinderella is a folk tale that is
present in many forms and variants. In this text, we will bring comparisons of these different
versions of the tale and also see how the feminism has an impact in the story.
The original tale of Cinderella was written by Charles Perrault. He was an important
French writer, he was born on 12th January, 1628. He was also a member of the Académie
Française, that helped the construction of the fairy tales. Born into a wealthy middle-class
family in Paris, Charles Perrault is the child of Pierre Perrault and Paquet Leclerc. He
attended the city's excellent schools and studied law before beginning his civil service
career. Perrault was involved in the founding of the Academy of Sciences and the
reconstruction of the Academy of Painting.
Author of numerous children's tales and responsible for writing one of the best-known
stories around the world.
The narrative of Cinderella revolve around a kind young woman who suffers from her
abusive step mother and step sisters, that treat her like a maid and do not appreciate
anything she does. The breaking point from the story is the presence that comes in the form
of a guardian, her Fairy Godmother who enables Cinderella to be recognized for her true
worth. She gives the girl an opportunity that will change her life from now one, along with
some beautiful crystal slippers. Cinderella is now ready to go to the ball, but not before a
warning: she needs to leave the ball before the clock strikes twelve. The first night is all
magical, she danced and enchanted the prince with her beauty. The next night, Cinderella
dresses up even better than before and spends the whole ball with the prince, that is so kind
and delicate to her that she forgets to leave before midnight. Seeing the hour, she rushed
off, leaving her one of her glass slippers behind. The prince started do madly look for all of
the girls in the village, in search of the one he danced with. The end is filled with
happiness, when the lovers find eachother again.

Over the years, the story has gained new scripts and adaptations, some being more faithful
to the original tale than others. The most famous one is Cinderela (1950) a animated film
produced by Walt Disney Studios. In this adaptation, the characters come to life, gain a
name and a special personality based on the work of Perrault. The plot remains very similar
to the original one, only adapting the events to the children’s audience.
A Cinderella Story is a modern adaptation, released in 2004, starting the actress Hilary
Duff as Samantha Montgomery and Chad Michael Murray as Austin Ames. The movie
tells the story of Sam, that is also mistreated by her stepmother and sisters. Sam’s dream is
to study at Princeton, a well-regarded university in New Jersey, United States. She meets
her Prince Charming, known as Austin Ames, the most popular boy in school, by
exchanging messages over the internet.
The essence of the story remains the same in this adaptation. The difference, which was
made to captivate the children and youth of the time, was to modernize the story, making it
fit into the reality of those days, showing that the story can be flexible and adapt to the
many changes in humanity.
The adaptation of 2015 was also produced by Walt Disney Studios, it is a live action movie
of their own version of Cinderella, made in 1950. It stars Lily James as the title character.
This version of Cinderella brings more life and depth to the tale. It gives Cinderella a
loving mother, a carefree father and a motive behind all of the situations that is what we
know as story plot. In this movie is explained the reason Cinderella carries her name. The
Cinder is associated with the ashes of the fireplace she is obligated to clean. Her birth name
in this adaptation is Ella.
Combining all three versions, we can see that the main element that makes the tale of
Cinderella itself are kepted, and some small changes were made due to various reasons.
Focusing on that, it is important to discuss the evolution of the feminist ideal in these
adaptations and the image of women in history. Thus, to compose the analysis, the
theoretical perspectives of Naomi Wolf in The Beauty Myth will be used, which will allow
us to understand the ideals of cleanliness and the stereotypes of what is considered
beautiful in the original tale. Simone de Beavouir in The Second Sex, will expand the
vision of the female image created over time, with regard to submission and the supposed
need for dependence on men.

Fairy tales play an important role in society, as they elaborate and perpetuate values and
ideologies. The ideal of beauty and domesticity is something elaborated by men since the
beginning. According to Naomi Wolf, "We are in the midst of a violent backlash againist
feminism that uses images of female beauty as political weapons against women’s
advancement [...] The ideology of beauty [...] has grown stronger to take over the work of
social coercion that myths about motherhood, domesticity, chastity, and passivity, no longer
can manage.” (1992, p. 12, 13). Thus, when analyzing Perrault's work and the Disney
films, one can see that there is an insistence on characterizing Cinderella as a docile girl,
calm and totally dependent on everyone around her. Cinderella could only be seen as
someone ideal to marry the prince when she was dressed in a way considered beautiful.
Thus, Wolf's thought echoes over the classic by drawing a line that unites the imposition of
beauty and calmness as something associated with good marriage. In addition, Cinderella's
sisters are considered ugly simply because they possess different physical characteristics
than those within beauty standards. Cinderella in both Disney films and even more in the
updated versions, has a calm and sweet voice, singing beautifully and always speaking in a
quiet tone, passing an image of a docile and respectful woman, unlike her sisters, who sing
badly and speak loudly, becoming synonymous with ugliness and unkindness. Femininity,
therefore, is also a myth that is perpetuated in this fairy tale, after all, what it is to be a
woman is a behavior dictated by male minds and everything that is close to the feminine is
designed to please and serve men.

During the 2004 film, the character who alludes to the prince of the original story falls in
love with Cinderella without ever having seen her, going against Perrault's classic, which
insists on perpetuating the passion linked to the girl's beauty. It can also be seen that in the
updated version, Cinderella is not as calm and patient as in the original version, thus
seeking ways to get out of the abusive situation she finds herself in. Simone de Beauvoir
elaborates a discussion in her work that can be put to the test by analyzing Perrault's
Cinderella, since she proposes a critique based on the female image referring to the
relationship of power and domination, of the social imposition that is based on the physical
characteristics of beings, consolidating a male-centered society arising from this non-
egalitarian vision between the sexes, who has always titled the woman as the weakest part.
Thus, Cinderella in the original tale has as a life goal to marry a man who makes her happy
and takes her out of the mistreatment of her stepmother, proving herself incapable of
making decisions and totally hostage to male power. Countering this fact, the 2004 film
manages to break with this pattern, transforming the main dream of the character to enter
college and become totally free and financially independent of her stepmother. In addition,
the girl manages to disentangle herself from the situation, meeting De Beauvoir's thoughts
about the need for female empowerment to break with the belief of salvation of woman
through man.
Finally, it can be understood through this work that just as the world evolves and the
thoughts of society become more consistent with the egalitarian ideals of gender and sex,
the adaptations of great classics can also be adapted, maintaining the original messages and
lessons and reframing prejudices and stereotypes arising from a time when these
discussions were not put as an agenda. Cinderella, therefore, has become eternally striking
over many generations and will continue to accompany us in the future, either by changing
some aspects of its narrative or perpetuating closeted misogyny.
References:

BEAUVOIR, Simone de. The Second Sex. V 1. Facts and myths. Translated by Sérgio
Milliet.

WOLF, Naomi. The Myth of Beauty: how images of beauty are used against women.

PERRAULT, C. Cinderella. In: TATAR, M. Contos de Fadas: edição comentada e

ilustrada. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar, 2004. p. 37-49.