Fairy Tales 2010

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Similarities between donkeyskin and Cinderella

The previous posts have done a great job in summing up some of Tatar’s arguments for why donkeyskin and Cinderella stories should be read together. I want to add some of my own observations as to the similarities between the two. There is the overarching theme of a girl who has been forced to grow up without a mother and abuse (or near abuse) ensues, but of course the type of abuse is very different.

For Cinderella, it is an oppression by her new mother and her new stepsiblings and a lack of a father figure that leads to a physical and verbal abuse, best illustrated in one of my favorite Disney songs:



For the heroine in donkeyskin stories, the abuse (or near-abuse) is sexual and predatory from a very-present father figure. In both cases, unlike in the majority of fairy tales, it takes cunning and quick-thinking abilities to escape the situation (although not without a little bit of help from the world of magic). As Helen Pilinovsky wrote in the “Donkeyskin, Deerskin, Allerleirauh: The Reality of the Fairy Tale,” the secondary reading for the week: “The action which fits the mold of unassertive femininity starts the ball rolling, indirectly causing a series of harmful effects, while the more assertive, independent actions of the daughter are both required and rewarded.”
However, in the extra Cinderella story I read this week (“Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper” by Charles Perrault), I noticed some of the weird incestuous father figure that still lingered in the background. At the ball, right after Cinderella appeared in her beautiful dress, “The king himself, old as he was, could not help watching her, and telling the queen softly that it was a long time since he had seen so beautiful and lovely a creature.” That’s kinda creepy, for lots of reasons. Plus, can you imagine having your husband lean over and whisper into your ear how pretty another woman is? The Cinderella/donkeyskin male figure is shown as perverted or as effeminate, unable to take manly positions which protect his daughter from harm (even if the harm is himself).

I also noticed in the donkeyskin story that the trope of a beautiful girl covered by something ugly was also a commonality. Cinderella is covered by the ashes from the hearth by which she sleeps. The donkeyskin heroine is not only covered with the skin outfit (“It’s Donkeyskin. There’s nothing beautiful about her,” was the answer the prince got when he asked about the nymph (113).) but “her face dirtied with mud” as she traveled (112). These cloaks, as Pilinovsky wrote of the donkeyskin, are not mere coverings:

“The fact that it consists of skins, either from a creature magical in itself, or procured through magical means (as a skin consisting of the fur of a thousand creatures)cannot be ignored: the basic Law of Contagnation (dictating that any given part of a thing carries a connection and a portion of that thing in its entirety), which is a product of both magic and of fairy tales as a whole, dictates that this cloak is more than simply a source of warmth or a method of camouflage.”

The coverings are a magical, transformative disguise that reveals a great deal of inner and outer beauty when removed. A different, though, is Cinderella also has magical coverings that are beautiful, where as the donkeyskin’s magical covering is ugly. Both mask what’s underneath, although Cinderella’s reveals more of her actual nature. Maybe that’s a big difference between the two types of stories, but it’s also a similarity in a way, too, and each type of story reveals layers that reside in the other.

2 comments:

  1. Your comment about the father in Perrault's "Cinderella" reminds me of a story I read in a gossip rag this past summer (I swear I have a point, Prof. Figal and Jessica!). After Farrah Fawcett died this past summer, Tatum O'Neal popped up at her funeral, only to be accidentally hit on by her father, Ryan (and for those of you who know your celebrity gossip, you know that Ryan and Tatum have a very troubled history). You mention that it is basically creepy and weird for the king to have admired his daughter from a distance, but I think it is more important to notice (as you did) how that might be one of the first instances in the "Cinderella" tale that we see at least a hint of (too much) paternal amorousness. What role do you think it is playing in that story that makes it stand out against everyone else's version of "Cinderella"?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really liked your comparison in thise blog. The incorporation of the incestual tendencies in both stories is very interesting. Perhaps Bettleheim was correct in saying that these stories reveal a deeper message that needs to be taught to kids at an early age...(stay away from dad). I also agree with you concerning the sybolism of the ragged clothes that both heroines must wear. The rags cover up their outer beauty (the same beauty that got them into their secific predicament in the first place). Had Cinderella not been beautiful, the stepmother would not have had feelings of jealousy toward her and therefore might not have forced her to slave over chores day in and day out. Similarly, in Donkeyskin, the daughter has inherited her mothers beautiful characteristics (be it her overall appearance, her brilliantly blonde hair, or her uniquely gold teeth) that resulted in the father's feelings of incest. Also, in my blog i mentioned that perhaps the connection between Cinderella/Donkeyskin and nature during the story could signify the return to nature that we have discussed in class. Do you think the mother or the father is to blame for the treatment of both heroines?

    ReplyDelete