Critique: Love and Cinderella
W131
8 October 2013
Critique of “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior” Elisabeth Panttaja, teacher at Tufts University, analyzes the true morality of Grimm’s well known fairytale, “Cinderella”, in her critique, “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior.” Cinderella is usually characterized as an innocent and “motherless” girl who is trying to find true love, such as Disney’s version of “Cinderella”. However, Panttaja claims that Cinderella is not motherless and Cinderella is trying to gain power by using magic instead of finding true love (Panttaja 289). Panttaja’s validity throughout her article is at best when describing how Cinderella actually has a power thirsty and magical mother, but her legitimacy begins to lack through her analysis over the topic of love in the fairytale. In Grimm’s fairytale, Panttaja makes it apparent that Cinderella in fact has a mother throughout the whole story. In the beginning of Grimm’s fairytale, Cinderella’s mother tells her, “…I shall look down on you from heaven and always be with you” (Grimm 628). This direct quote from Grimm’s fairytale validates Panttaja’s claim because it shows how the mother directly states she will always be by Cinderella’s side. Another example of the mother being present is when Cinderella is given a twig from father (Grimm 629). Cinderella then plants the twig next to her mother’s grave and the connection of her father and herself to the twig help create her mother in the story. This twig, or known as her mother, then helps Cinderella in many aspects of the story. Panttaja brings in many patterns of Grimm’s story to show how the mother disguises as natural elements in order to help Cinderella in many key parts of the story (Panttaja 287). Panttaja lists the various natural elements the mother disguises herself as, such as trees, doves, and a dovecote (Panttaja 287). These natural elements provide Cinderella with solace, give her clothes for the ball, and then expose the false brides at the end of the
8 October 2013
Critique of “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior” Elisabeth Panttaja, teacher at Tufts University, analyzes the true morality of Grimm’s well known fairytale, “Cinderella”, in her critique, “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior.” Cinderella is usually characterized as an innocent and “motherless” girl who is trying to find true love, such as Disney’s version of “Cinderella”. However, Panttaja claims that Cinderella is not motherless and Cinderella is trying to gain power by using magic instead of finding true love (Panttaja 289). Panttaja’s validity throughout her article is at best when describing how Cinderella actually has a power thirsty and magical mother, but her legitimacy begins to lack through her analysis over the topic of love in the fairytale. In Grimm’s fairytale, Panttaja makes it apparent that Cinderella in fact has a mother throughout the whole story. In the beginning of Grimm’s fairytale, Cinderella’s mother tells her, “…I shall look down on you from heaven and always be with you” (Grimm 628). This direct quote from Grimm’s fairytale validates Panttaja’s claim because it shows how the mother directly states she will always be by Cinderella’s side. Another example of the mother being present is when Cinderella is given a twig from father (Grimm 629). Cinderella then plants the twig next to her mother’s grave and the connection of her father and herself to the twig help create her mother in the story. This twig, or known as her mother, then helps Cinderella in many aspects of the story. Panttaja brings in many patterns of Grimm’s story to show how the mother disguises as natural elements in order to help Cinderella in many key parts of the story (Panttaja 287). Panttaja lists the various natural elements the mother disguises herself as, such as trees, doves, and a dovecote (Panttaja 287). These natural elements provide Cinderella with solace, give her clothes for the ball, and then expose the false brides at the end of the
Cited: Grimm, Wilhelm and Jakob. “Ashputtle.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, 11th ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J Rosen. Boston: Longman, 2011. 682-633. Print. Panttaja, Elisabeth. “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior.” Writing and Reading for ACP Composition, 2nd ed. Christine R Farris and Deanna M. Jessup. New York: Pearson, 2013. 286-289. Print.