The Educated Imagination: Cinderella Story Convention

In 1964, the literary critic Northrop Frye published a book, titled The Educated Imagination, in which summarized his ideas on the relevance of literature to life and more specifically, the conventions that come with them. Frye establishes the literary forms through the exploration of traditional and modern forms of story telling. The foundation of conventional literature has been told many times throughout history, however it is at the discretion of the author to embellish it with minor outlying details, or content change. Literature can only stem from literature itself. All literature is new, but also recognizable. We can still find these conventions in modern day literature and media. An illustration of the Cinderella story convention is
The movie Pretty Woman is a clear example of a conventional rag to riches Cinderella story. Julia Roberts stars as a prostitute who unintentionally falls into a mutual love with a classy businessman. We are first introduced to Edward, a charming man of high social and economic status, where as Vivian, a beautiful and kind prostitute, is forced to walk Hollywood boulevard at night in order to make some cash. After spending the night with Edward in his very expensive pent house suite he offers her a business proposal of staying with him for the rest of the week to escort him to social events. Vivian goes through her princess transformation when the hotel manager, Bernard, acts as Vivian’s metaphorical fairy godmother by coaching her on dinner etiquette and finds her an extravagant cocktail dress. The fact that
The hero’s journey is broken down into three parts; departure, initiation, and return. Within each of these stages, there are steps which the hero undergoes in order to change the hero from the person he is to the person he needs to be. Usually the hero is resistant to embark on the journey, refusing the call. A sign is then necessary in order for the hero to understand that he has to depart on the journey. This is portrayed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when Huck notices Pap’s boot print in the snow in the early pages of the novel. The belly of the whale or trial where the hero must use his unique abilities to progress is demonstrated in this novel when Huck fakes his murder and escapes Pap’s cabin. Huck then continues to cross the first threshold entering a new world, where in this book the river is the threshold to new worlds. The initiation is where most similarities between the novel and the hero’s journey are found. The road of trials that is the hero’s pursuit of an ultimate goal that matures him and reveals unrealized potential is portrayed through Huck’s journey with Jim to get him to freedom. Huck matures from identifying Jim as a slave to identifying him as a human, and most importantly, a friend. Temptation away from the path is when the hero is asked to join a dark or evil