When I read about Cultural Criticism, what came to mind was the Cinderella fairy tale.  This famous tale has been retold and reshaped so many times throughout history and across so many cultures.  Tyson says, “while we are constrained within the limits set for us by our culture, we may struggle against those limits or transform them.” (280)  I think the Cinderella tale reflects that.  Fairy tales are stories that we tell to children literally from birth so many times, kids can recite them off the top of their head years to decades later.  They become cultural references and familiar touchstones for other stories.  Fairy tales have been told so many times, they have been ground into our culture and affect it in many ways.  Looking at how could reveal some interesting truths about both the story and the culture around it.

I think a close look at the multiple versions of this fairy tale could show the cultural impact on gender roles that they had.  Cinderella is usually portrayed as a girl who does all of the house work and as someone who is submissive to a point.  More recent versions have changed Cinderella’s submissive personality or sometimes even her role in the story itself.  Many people are familiar with the 1950’s cartoon that was made by Disney, which shows Cinderella as the ideal 50’s house wife.  She cooks, cleans, sews, and does housework for most of the movie, singing the whole time.  She doesn’t even go to the ball until the Fairy Godmother intervenes.  This Cinderella really only does as she’s told and relies on her Prince Charming to get her out of her awful home situation.  On the other hand, if you look at an adaptation like the movie Ella Enchanted, it shows a girl who is much more in control of her situation.  In this particular movie, Ella, who is the Cinderella figure, is put under a curse to follow any and every command she is given.  This movie shows a much different girl, one who constantly rebels against what she is told and eventually finds a way to be her own person.  The movie ends with Ella breaking her curse herself, not having to rely on anyone else to help her.  This protagonist fits an entirely different mold than her predecessor and shows a completely different person to a new generation of children.  These movies are only 50 years apart, but show vast differences in how Cinderella is interpreted in these time periods.  Our culture is reflected in the stories we tell, as well as the ones we continuously re-adapt.  Cinderella is a prime example.

Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: a User-Friendly Guide. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015.