Cinderella is a story that everyone has heard about in their childhood. This beautiful story is instilled in all of our childhood memories. We are still fond of watching Cinderella, Hollywood still makes Cinderella movies, and there are a lot of modernized versions of it.
The Happily Ever After
Most people know the typical Cinderella story, a poor orphaned girl living with her step-mother and even worse step-sisters. The prince charming wooed by her at the ball, and Cinderella looking dreamy gorgeous in a dress crafted by the fairy godmother and whimsical animals. We also know about the glass slipper and the stroke of midnight. And then how all of it was happily ever after.
The Real One
Happily ever after was Disney’s version of Cinderella but the story is much darker. In the original story written by Grimm Bros, there is no stroke of midnight, no bippity-boppity boo, no dimwitted mice.
Here It Goes
Cinderella is not the real name of the protagonist, there is no known name of the protagonist in the story, or even anyone else’s in the story. The story begins with her mother’s last words before her demise due to an unidentified illness encouraging her daughter to be always kind and good.
The loss of her mother sets a major setback on Cinderella, who spends each day at her mother’s grave.
A year goes by, and her father marries a woman who brings two daughters into the family. Thereafter, all that is known is that her father goes somewhere due to work (his arrival remains a mystery), Cinderella is ill-treated by her stepmother and her daughters. No wonder how much she missed and loved her mom so much.
Her new mother and sisters tossed all of her clothing away, made her wear rags, and forced her to wear wooden shoes made by herself. She was being tortured and ordered by all of them. They were cruel, cold-hearted people. They teased and berated her for the way she dressed and even refused her to sit in the same room as they did.
They were sadists, used to torture poor girls by dumping lentils into the fireplace ashes and forcing her to pick them out, clean them, and sort the good and bad ones. This made her exposed to the soot and ash and hence the name Cinderella.
The Magic Happens Hereafter
The daily torture for the poor girl continued, they never stopped, and one day the father goes on a journey and asks his daughters what they would like him to bring back for them.
Obviously, the stepsisters command jewels, the finest clothes, and luxuries.
Cinderella simply requests her father to bring the first twig that brushes against his hat on the way home. The hazel twig that he brings back is taken by Cinderella, which she plants at her late mother’s grave, watered by the child’s tears, and grows into a large tree.
This tree acts as a magical conduit from her mother to help the poor Cinderella live the life she deserved.
The Ball
Finally, the ball is announced for the Prince to find his new gorgeous bride. It is a 3-day affair and everyone is invited. Cinderella pleads to be able to attend the ball. The stepmother as cruel and cold-hearted dumps a plate of lentils into the ashes and laughs that Cinderella may attend if the lentils are taken care of.
This task is taken care of by Cinderella’s friends, the birds. The step-mother merely dumps more lentils into the ashes, two platefuls this time, again the task is done by birds for the girl. With her step-sisters and step-mother at the ball, Cinderella goes to her conduit tree and begs for a decent dress to be able to go to the ball.
The finest most beautiful dress falls from the tree and Cinderella goes to the ball, dances with the prince flees after the party, and returns each night for all three nights, each time with a more magnificent and dreamy dress, people were awe-stricken every time they saw her at the ball.
The 3rd Night
On the 3rd night’s escape, her golden ‘not glass’ slipper falls off and the prince begins his ‘now-famous hunt’ through the land to find the foot of the gorgeous girl that fits the slipper.
Not too horrifying right! Apart from some overzealous bullying and torturing. But here is where the ‘darkening part’ begins. The prince on his search mission gets to Cinderella’s house and the first sister goes to the backroom to try the slipper on.
It obviously does not fit, how will it?
Her mother in mere desperation tells her to slice off her toes because she would not need to do any walking as queen anyway, the best part is she does it.
The cherry on the top - the prince buys it. There is more to the story, but fortunately, as they are riding off, the friendly birds point out that there is blood pouring from the shoe. The prince turns around, returns to the house.
Here comes, sister number two’s turn. Pretty much the same story and the foolish girl accepting to do it, except this one slices off her own heels. Again, the birds point out the pouring blood and the prince returns again. I know it is tiring for you to read, but this is the last visit to the house.
This time he gets the right girl, yay!
Cinderella puts on the now surely blood-soaked shoe and rides off to get married.
If you would like to know, my favorite part is that the birds the vindictive little guys decide to rip out the crippled stepsister’s eyes at the wedding.
It was karma indeed!
Written by - Riya Gupta
Edited by - Akanksha Sharma
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