In Defense Of Cinderella's Stepfamily: A Comparative Analysis Of The Female Antagonists In "Cinderella" And "Ever After: A Cinderella Story

Abstract

Wicked Stepmother is a common trope in fairy tales of many cultures. In these tales the wicked stepmother is usually set up as a foil against an innocent heroine, who is treated cruelly by her. One of the most famous Stepmothers is Cinderella's, in the popular fairy tale, recognized by popular culture especially through Disney's 1950 Cartoon. Disney's animation portrayed Cinderella's stepfamily as evil incarnates, and helped in forming the public opinion on cruel stepmothers. On the other hand, Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998) is an attempt to revamp the Cinderella fairytale with a historical context, in the early 16th century, France. The movie challenges the concept of female stereotypes especially in the fairy tales. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast Cinderella's stepfamily in the Disney animation and the movie adaption to better understand and defend the reasons for their so-called cruelty and evilness.