The Morning Realms Dispatch No. 6
Cinderella, or the power of hope and perseverance
This is the free monthly edition of The Morning Realms Dispatch, in which I share with my lovely readers some behind-the-scenes content and teasers for GUARDIANS OF DAWN: ZHARA, the first book in the Guardians of Dawn series, forthcoming AUGUST 29, 2023. If you would like even more secrets, why don’t you consider becoming one of my 절친?
I never used to think Cinderella was my favorite fairytale.
To some extent, that’s probably because I grew up in the 90s and early 2000s, in the Spice Girls-era of girl power! (as opposed to this current era of #girlboss)1 where feminism meant pushing back against patriarchal structures by being...whatever white 90s and early 2000s female icons were doing. Being unapologetic, I suppose. Unapologetically angry (Alanis Morrissette), unapologetically sexual (Britney Spears), unapologetically dirrty (Christina Aguilera), and sometimes even unapologetically Christian (Jessica Simpson).
The point is, I think I somehow absorbed the idea that being feminist (and I was very invested in being feminist as a child)2 meant taking agency for yourself in LOUD and ACTIVE ways. This sort of LOUD and ACTIVE feminism was probably best exemplified in the 2000 remake of Charlie’s Angels, where being a “kickass” girl meant literally kicking ass, but also being super-skilled and talented in multiple ways.
Cinderella is anything but that.
If you asked me what my favorite fairy tale was between the ages of six and twenty-six, I would have said Beauty and the Beast, but mostly because the animated Disney version remains an all-time favorite movie of mine. But I also love the tale itself, mostly because it contains my favorite trope — monster fucking.3
All kidding aside, Beauty and the Beast felt like an appropriately feminist fairy tale to me back then because I thought it was about how beauty didn’t matter when it came to love.4 And Beauty as a character always felt more active to me; she offers herself as Beast's prisoner instead of her father. She asks to return home, and then returns to the Beast of her own free will. So many of Beauty's decisions seem to be driven of her free will — her agency — that I thought hers was the "right" fairy tale to call my favorite.
I still think all those things about this fairy tale, but my idea of feminism, of what makes a “good” feminist role model have evolved over the years.
Cinderella is a story about perseverance.
I think it’s funny that, despite everything, all of my favorite fairy tale adaptations (save the animated Beauty and the Beast)5 have been inspired by Cinderella. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Brandy and the Hot Asian Prince,6 Ever After, the new live action Disney Cinderella will Lily James and Robb Stark,7 and even the books Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire, and Cinder by Marissa Meyer all make up a large part of my heart.
Perhaps it’s because, at the end of the day, Cinderella is wholesome in a way Beauty and the Beast is not. There are darker undertones to Beauty and the Beast that are not present in Cinderella — a monstrous beast, a bargain made that toes the line of coercion, and an undercurrent of fear in Beauty and Beast’s initial interactions, despite his kindness.
Cinderella is about an abused girl searching for just one moment of happiness.
Of course, there are darker elements to the Cinderella story — the stepsisters cutting off their toes and heels to jam into the glass slipper, the loss of Cinderella’s parents, the mistreatment and emotional abuse by the stepmother. But the thing that remains constant throughout the stories is Cinderella’s “goodness,” which I used to dismiss as passivity but now I think it’s hope.
Hope is a very difficult thing to write about, but it is the very thing that lets us persevere. That lets us endure the hard times. That keeps us going. Cinderella is a story about a girl who hopes for better things, and then when the opportunity finds her, finds the courage to take it.
But narratively speaking, Cinderella is harder to write about, or at least harder to write without finding some way to make her more active somehow. Obedience is a core element of Cinderella’s character — some have interpreted that trait as passivity, and still others have interpreted it as a curse — but I interpret it as survival.
Obedience in an abusive situation is survival. But the minute Cinderella decides to go to the ball? That’s the moment Cinderella decides that she wants to do more than survive; she wants to thrive.
That’s all for this month’s issue of The Morning Realms Dispatch! Next month I’ll be talking about Avatar: The Last Airbender and Asian-inspired fantasy made for western audiences, so be on the lookout for that. I will also be sharing my thoughts on “unlikeable girls” for my 절친-only The Guardians Gazette, so if you would like to check out that, why don’t you consider subscribing?
Do the youths even know who the Spice Girls were?
Far less so now, especially with the TERFs and white feminists usurping the identity.
I kid, I kid. OR AM I.
I may or may not have a theory about ace kids and why so many of us love monster-fucking. This may have to go behind a paywall lol.
And Cocteau’s La belle et la bête. And the 2014 version with Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux.
Yes, I know his name is Paolo Montalban, but he will forever be Hot Asian Prince to me.
Yes I know his name is Richard Madden, but he will forever be Robb Stark to me.
Ever After is my favorite Cinderella retelling, and I think (after reading your smart thoughts here) it might be bc it blends the perseverance and agency so well. Danielle perseveres throughout the whole movie. But we also see the literal “kicking ass” agency (she wrestled with her bf, throws apples at a thief, etc), and her clever/strategizing agency (buying back the servant the stepmom sold off, debating philosophy with the prince, etc). She’s good and whip smart and determined. It’s such a wonderful blend and so easy to root for.