The literary theories we learned in class the other day have already had an
impact on the way I view everyday o and commonplace things. When we looked at
Cinderella a classic, focusing on one of these lenses alters the meaning of the
story. Thing id never realized or thought about came up when my group looked
through the Marxist lense. We took in to consideration the mention of social
classes and the reference to oppressors and victims to Identify the “So What?”
In doing this we found that the luxuries and nice things of
the time period are associated with the upper and noble class. For instance
Cinderella lives up in the attic in a dirty room while her two step sisters
live in fully furnished rooms with the nicest and latest style fashions. They
wore the most elegant and colorful dresses while Cinderella was in rags. The
upper and noble class members are provided with privileges that are not
available to lower class. For example they (the upper class) are all invited to
the Prince’s ball while Cinderella in the lower class is supposed to stay home.
The members of the upper class are the oppressors while
Cinderella is the victim in the lower class. She is forced to do the dirtiest
house work and has no say in the mater. She has to help her sisters prepare for
the ball; making them look good and helping them get ready. It is like they rub
it in her face just because she is considered lower than them on the social
ladder.
It was interesting to see that the author of the story,
Perau, came from a wealthy family as well. This was interesting because of the
view given of the upper class here as being snobby and stuck up.
Through all of this when Cinderella does go to the ball and later
becomes a princess she forgives her step sisters. The so what is that rue
beauty is not in the luxuries owned but in the heart. The lens however allowed
me and the group to see a hold other side of Cinderella rather than just
looking at and focusing on the happy ending.
I just wanted to address how interesting it was to read Cinderella through a Marxist lens. What I find most interesting is how reading the same story through multiple lens can completely alter the tone of the passage. For instance, in reading Cinderella through the Marxist lens, the tone became almost cynical. I felt as if the commentary on society and beauty transformed the fairytale of my childhood from a story of love and hope into a story of shallowness. It is truly ironic that the lady who the gentlemen and women at the ball favor the most is the poorest, homeliest person in the room. She has nothing but the glass slippers on her feet and the hope that she will someday be able to become of a higher social standing. The fact that she is beautiful comes from the fact that she has on a beautiful dress; had she been wearing her usual outfit of tattered cloth she would not have appeared as anything more to the attendees than a maid. The people in the story determine social class through material things and this is the main divider between classes, for how could Cinderella ever had been accepted without a beautiful ballgown and extraordinary slippers. From a different perspective, the reading of Cinderella still changes. For instance, looking at the story through a gender lens also alters the tone of romance, fantasy, and love, and switches it to a tone of disgust. Cinderella easily and readily marries a man she does not even know proclaiming that it is her dream, and in addition to this, she sets up her dreadful stepsisters to two of the other noblemen, thinking it the most wonderful act of kindness she could display. During this time period, looking partially through a historical lens, but still maintaining a gender criticism, women depended more heavily on men. Considering that they had so few rights and were very restricted in what was expected of them, and independent women were few and far between. Cinderella and her step sisters are the perfect examples of women who think all they need to be happy are material things and a man which is funny considering that when the story starts, Cinderella has none of the above. She is so easily influenced by this society and easily assimilates to life of royalty. Any feminist interpretation of this story will have a relatively negative connotation, solidifying how different readings through different lenses can be. Before the class where we analyzed Cinderella through these multiple lens, I absolutely adored Cinderella and her heart of gold and her angel-like voice that charmed animals in the forest. Not saying that I have anything against Cinderella after this activity, I just merely think of the magnificent fairy tale in a different light.
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