FREE Cinderella Complex Essay (original) (raw)

The traditional story of Cinderella begins with a beautiful, motherless young girl name Cinderella whose father gets married for the second time. His new wife is an arrogant and proud widow who has two daughters of her own, both vain and selfish like their mother. Immediately following the wedding, the wicked woman began to show her true colors. She could not bear the good qualities of her pretty stepdaughter, and even more so because they made her own daughters appear the less attractive. To punish Cinderella for this she made her wash dishes, scrub floors, and wait on her own daughters. She gave Cinderella a straw bed in the loft to sleep upon, while her daughter's slept in fine rooms and upon soft beds. The sisters wore fine gowns, while Cinderella was only allowed to wear shabby clothes, but even with that she still was a hundred times more beautiful then her evil stepsisters. Poor Cinderella bore all this very patiently, and wouldn't tell her father, because he always sided with his wife. So innocent, gentile hearted Cinderella was forced to bear an undeserved existence all because of her stepmother's resentment for her. It can almost be stated as a fact that everyone in the world has heard or seen the story of Cinderella. No matter where you go throughout the world, you can always find some version of the story. Tennessee Reed interpreted the story of Cinderella her own way in her poem entitled "Disney's Cinderella". .
In this poem I find the same similarities as the traditional story - a common term in sociology called the "Cinderella Complex", which is used to describe a situation where a person merely being herself can arouse a sense of inferiority in others that leads to resentment and hostility. The story of Reed's Cinderella symbolizes this type of relationship complex with an evil stepmother, and two evil "jealous" stepsisters who all secretly want to be Cinderella, and attempt to disguise their mental and physical inferiority by constantly, and brutally degrading her.

1. cinderella

The "Cinderella Complex" which dates back to 1981 has not only out grown its meaning but has left some women with the psychology effect that it still exists to put blame elsewhere on their conditions in society. ... The entire fairytale of Cinderella reflects back to the "Cinderella Complex" and why people back then relied on their external selves to get them through life. ... Change has overcome the statement "The Cinderella Complex". ... That is why I do not feel that the "Cinderella Complex" still exists. ... No matter which version you are reading most people will go ...

2. Perrault's Version of Cinderella

She uses her power within her family to reduce Cinderella's quality of life, rather than taking Cinderella in as her own. ... Cinderella's godmother is another matriarchal character, that determines Cinderella's fate. She questions whether Cinderella wishes to attend the ball, and then conclusively is the one who allows Cinderella to go. ... Cinderella's marriage is often viewed as the grand finale to Perrault's Cinderella story. ... It is not simply a story about a girl being saved by a valiant prince, but how women are complex and different characters, and how they a...

3. Cinderella - A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts

In "Cinderella: A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts,"" by Bruno Bettelheim is a story that revolves around one key component: kids will try to portray the Cinderella character at some point in their childhood. ... He goes on to mention how a child's years want to be plotted like Cinderella's. ... Also, they were not fair for the positivity of the Cinderella side, either. ... Where are the reasons why a kid should read Cinderella. ... Yes, it could be explained through the Oedipal complex, but I do not believe it causes it at such a young age. ...

4. Rebuttal to Toni Morrison's Cinderella's Stepsisters

Rebuttal to Toni Morrison's Cinderella's Stepsisters. Although I agree with many of the points that Toni Morrison made in her address, Cinderella's Stepsisters, to the students at Barnard College, I find myself in sort of a quandary. ... She then illustrates this by using the folktale of Cinderella, and specifically point's out the stepsister's abuse of Cinderella by inadvertently saying that they used her to get ahead. Morrison does not let the blame solely lie on the Gillispie 2 stepsisters though, she includes the step mother in her audio visualization by po...

5. teenagers wants and needs

It is in their teenage years, they step out of the Santa's sleigh in fairy tale books and step into reality of the world where Cinderella is still scrubbing floors and the reindeers are on strike. ... Friendship is the best thing to have in life, but if one abuses the love of friendship it will result in a complex relationship. ...

6. The Pain of a Postcard

The Pain of a Postcard I used to look at a postcard of Cinderella's Castle in Disney World as an exciting memory of the fun times I had in Disney World. ... As he explains in his essay: "Seeing the Canyon under approved circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. ... Percy's idea of the Symbolic Complex is not so strange. ... (Dillard 204) Dillard's "natural obvious" can be very easily compared to the "symbolic complex" of Walker Percy. ... Its true simple meaning seems to be lost in the "Symbolic Complex" and "Natural Obvious" of Percy and Dillard, respecti...

7. movies Pretty Woman

Along with the similarities of Cinderella and Pretty Woman, there are also some differences. ... When I was young, I remember watching Walt Disney's Cinderella over and over again. ... Kelley continues giving more significant information by referring to Colette Dowling, the publisher of The Cinderella Complex. ... Watching Cinderella as a kid, I wasn't worrying about finding someone to protect me, or give me a sense of identity. ... I believe the title of this article should be, "Pretty Woman: A "Grown-Up" Cinderella". ...

8. chapter summaries, the educated imagination

For example, the highly conventionalized Cinderella story. The original story had Cinderella as a slave to her step mother and sisters and the prince fell in love with her. ... The stories are the same, except for minor differences, instead of Cinderella being a house servant, she is simply a dork with hidden beauty, and instead of the prince, it's the captain of the football team. One of the differences between older literature and newer literature, Frye says, is that as society advances the more complex the conflict needs to be. ... He feels that tragedy and irony s...

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