Cinderella

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Cinderella (disambiguation).

Gustave Doré's illustration for Cendrillon

"Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", (French: Cendrillon, ou La petite Pantoufle de Verre, Italian: Cenerentola, German: Aschenputtel) is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world.^[1] The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune. The story was first published by Charles Perrault in Histoires ou contes du temps passé in 1697,^[2] and later by the Brothers Grimm in their folk tale collection Grimms' Fairy Tales.
Although both the story's title and the character's name change in different languages, in English-language folklore "Cinderella" is the archetypal name. The word "cinderella" has, by analogy, come to mean one whose attributes were unrecognized, or one who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity and neglect. The still-popular story of "Cinderella" continues to influence popular culture internationally, lending plot elements, allusions, and tropes to a wide variety of media.

Contents

• 1 Early versions and versions from different countries
• 2 Cenerentola, Cinderella and Aschenputtel
  • 2.1 Plot (Cenerentola)
  • 2.2 Plot (Aschenputtel)
  • 2.3 Plot (taken from Perrault)
• 3 Types
• 4 Adaptations
  • 4.1 Opera and ballet
  • 4.2 Theatre