Cinderella’s Ashes - New Women, Old Fairytales

This paper brings into focus the feminine qualities that heroines in Western fairy tales possess, as well as the roles they traditionally perform. The heroines are either rewarded or punished in accordance to how well they fit the feminine pattern, while the association of femininity with the female clearly indicates the social impact of gender ideology. Two variations on the Cinderella story will illustrate how feminist revisions of fairytales upset this rigid division.