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Viable And Spirited Views Of "Cinderella"

Viable and Spirited Views of "Cinderella"
For centuries both children and adults have familiarized themselves with fairytales and fictional stories. Although these stories were created for adolescent entertainment, many believe that these tales convey much more meaning than what meets the eye. In the story "Modern Cinderella" Karol Kelly says "Cinderella shows that women have to be dependent on a man, and teach girls not to create a life of their own." Were these stories intended to send a message to society about idealism, gender discrimination, and competitiveness? According to Alexandra Robbins and her essay "The Fairy-Tale Façade: Cinderella's Anti grotesque Dream," Cinderella and our everyday fairytaless have done just that. Through her essay she shares various authors' opinions that will support her argument. On the other hand, Bruno Bettelheim's essay, "Cinderella: A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts," depicts how fairytaless have helped our generations adapt and confront issues of sibling rivalry and every child's preconceived expectations. These authors relate this fictional story with real-life occurrences by illustrating how "Cinderella" gives a sense of competitiveness to children in some form or fashion.
Kelly shows just how the true Cinderella story was transformed into a symbolic message that depicts the nature of power relationships in a given society. She says "In the earlier story Cinderella is a strong, independent woman who rebels against the hard labor forced upon her and uses her wits to help regain her upper class status in society (Kelly 88). Kelly and Robbins share very similar views on the topic. In Robbins's essay she shows the competitive message "Cinderella" gives to young girls by a way of inferiority and appearance. She feels that "Cinderella" puts every young woman in a position where she feels perfection is the only way possible to live a happy and successful life. Robbins states, "Cinderella encourages little...