Grimm Brothers Cinderella Jacob And Whilhelm

Between “once upon a time” and “happily ever after” lies childhood fantasy and imagination. It is a place with princes and princesses, knights in shining armor, and is a place where dreams come true. Many fairy tales have taught values and morals regarding life and love, others have been rather grimacing, and some have been just for the sake of fantasy and escaping reality. Fairy tales are constantly changing, or rather, adapting to an ever-changing world. It is interesting to look at the evolution of fairy tales, because paired with the events happening in our society, fairy tales usually portray what most Americans are lacking in their life at that given time. The Grimm brothers, Jacob and Whilhelm, were German authors and story-tellers
It was a story of a maiden whose mother had died. The mother, on her death bed, called to her daughter, “Dear child,” the mother had said, “be good and pious, and then the good God will always protect you, and I will look down on you from heaven and be near you” (ibid). The father remarried and along with a step-mother came the two step-sisters, who the Grimm brothers describe as “vile and black of heart” (ibid). The step-sisters constantly made fun of Cinderella and made her work day in and day out, sunrise to sunset. One day Cinderella asked her father to bring her back a branch of a huckleberry tree. He does as she requests and Cinderella plants it at her mother’s grave and weeps. Crying made the branch grow into a beautiful tree and soon after, a bird started appearing on the huckleberry tree. The bird became Cinderella’s friend and he would throw down anything that Cinderella wished for. The night of the prince’s ball arrived and the bird became good use to Cinderella, who was crunched for time because of chores. She met the prince at the ball and they danced the night away, then she fled. The second night she encountered the prince again, they danced the night away, then she fled. The third night, she danced the night away with the prince, she fled yet again. The prince could never find were she was fleeing. But luckily, the third time Cinderella’s slipper fell off. The prince declared that whoevers foot the slipper fit, he would marry. When they found Cinderella was the fit, the prince rode off with his fair maiden and soon after got married (ibid). This Grimm tale is more like the Cinderella our society is used