Cinderella
Cinderella or The Little Glass Slipper, is a folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world. The protagonist is a young girl living in unfortunate circumstances who is suddenly blessed with remarkable fortune, ultimately ascending to the throne through marriage. The story of Rhodopis—recounted by the Greek geographer Strabo sometime between 7 BC and AD 23—is about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt, and is usually considered to be the earliest known variant of the Cinderella story.
The first literary European version of the story was published in Italy by Giambattista Basile in his Pentamerone in 1634. The version that is now most widely known in the English-speaking world was published in French by Charles Perrault in Histoires ou contes du temps passé in 1697 as Cendrillon, and was anglicized as Cinderella. Another version was later published as Aschenputtel by the Brothers Grimm in their folk tale collection Grimms' Fairy Tales in 1812.
Although the story's title and main character's name change in different languages, in English-language folklore Cinderella is an archetypal name. The word Cinderella has, by analogy, come to mean someone whose attributes are unrecognized or someone who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity and neglect. In the world of sports, "a Cinderella" is used for an underrated team or club winning over stronger and more favoured competitors. The still-popular story of Cinderella continues to influence popular culture internationally, lending plot elements, allusions, and tropes to a wide variety of media.
Ancient versions
European
The oldest known oral version of the damsel in distress story is the ancient Greek story of Rhodopis, a Greek courtesan living in the colony of Naucratis in Egypt, whose name means "Rosy-Cheeks". The story is first recorded by the Greek geographer Strabo in his Geographica : "They tell the fabulous story that, when she was bathing, an eagle snatched one of her sandals from her maid and carried it to Memphis; and while the king was administering justice in the open air, the eagle, when it arrived above his head, flung the sandal into his lap; and the king, stirred both by the beautiful shape of the sandal and by the strangeness of the occurrence, sent men in all directions into the country in quest of the woman who wore the sandal; and when she was found in the city of Naucratis, she was brought up to Memphis, and became the wife of the king."The same story is also later reported by the Roman orator Aelian in his Miscellaneous History, which was written entirely in Greek. Aelian's story closely resembles the story told by Strabo, but adds that the name of the pharaoh in question was Psammetichus. Aelian's account indicates that the story of Rhodopis remained popular throughout antiquity.
Herodotus, some five centuries before Strabo, records a popular legend about a possibly related courtesan named Rhodopis in his Histories, claiming that she came from Thrace, was the slave of Iadmon of Samos and a fellow-slave of the story-teller Aesop, was taken to Egypt in the time of Pharaoh Amasis, and freed there for a large sum by Charaxus of Mytilene, brother of Sappho the lyric poet.
The resemblance of the shoe-testing of Rhodopis with Cinderella's slipper has already been noted in the 19th century, by Edgar Taylor and Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould.
Aspasia of Phocaea
A second predecessor for the Cinderella character, hailing from late Antiquity, may be Aspasia of Phocaea. Her story is told in Aelian's Varia Storia: lost her mother in early childhood and raised by her father, Aspasia, despite living in poverty, has dreamt of meeting a noble man. As she dozes off, the girl has a vision of a dove transforming into a woman, who instructs her on how to remove a physical imperfection and restore her own beauty. In another episode, she and other courtesans are made to attend a feast hosted by Persian regent Cyrus the Younger. During the banquet, the Persian King sets his sights on Aspasia herself and ignores the other women.''Le Fresne''
The twelfth-century Lai of Le Fresne , retold by Marie de France, is a variant of the "Cinderella" story in which a wealthy noblewoman abandons her infant daughter at the base of an ash tree outside a nunnery with a ring and brocade as tokens of her identity. Because she is one of twin sisters, the mother fears that she will be accused of infidelity. The infant is discovered by the porter, who names her Fresne, meaning "ash tree", and she is raised by the nuns. After she has attained maturity, a young nobleman sees her and becomes her lover. The nobleman, however, is forced to marry a woman of noble birth. Fresne accepts that she will never marry her beloved but waits in the wedding chamber as a handmaiden. She covers the bed with her own brocade but, unknown to her, her beloved's bride is actually her twin sister, and her mother recognizes the brocade as the same one she had given to the daughter she had abandoned so many years before. Fresne's true parentage is revealed and, as a result of her noble birth, she is allowed to marry her beloved, while her twin sister is married to a different nobleman.from Malta
The Maltese Cinderella is named italic=no. She is portrayed as an orphaned child during her early childhood. Before his death, her father gave her three magical objects: a chestnut, a nut, and an almond. She used to work as a servant in the King's palace. Nobody ever took notice of the poor girl. One day she heard of a big ball and with the help of a magical spell turned herself into a beautiful princess. The prince fell in love with her and gave her a ring. On the following night the Prince gave her a diamond and on the third night he gave her a ring with a large gem on it. By the end of the ball italic=no would run away hiding herself in the cellars of the Palace. She knew that the Prince was very sad about her disappearance so one day she made some krustini for him and hid the three gifts in each of them. When the Prince ate the biscuits he found the gifts he had given to the mysterious Princess and soon realized the huge mistake he had made of ignoring italic=no because of her poor looks. They soon made marriage arrangements and she became his wife.Outside Europe
The tale of Ye Xian first appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang written by Duan Chengshi around 860. In this version, Ye Xian is the daughter of the local tribal leader whose mother died when she was young. Because her mother died early, she is now under the care of her father's second wife, who abused her. She befriends a fish, which is the reincarnation of her deceased mother. Her stepmother and half-sister kill the fish, but Ye Xian finds the bones, which are magical, and they help her dress appropriately for a local Festival, including a very light golden shoe. Her stepfamily recognizes her at the festival, causing her to flee and accidentally lose the shoe. Afterwards, the king of another island obtains the shoe and is curious about it as no one has feet that can fit the shoe. The King searches everywhere and finally reaches Ye's house, where she tries on the shoe. The king realises she is the one and takes her back to his kingdom. Her cruel stepmother and half-sister are killed by flying rocks. Variants of the story are also found in many ethnic groups in China.'' and ''
The Story of cat=no and cat=no, from Vietnam, is similar to the Chinese version. The heroine Tấm also had a fish that was killed by the stepmother and the half-sister Cám, and its bones also give her clothes. Later after marrying the king, Tấm was killed by her stepmother and sister, and reincarnated several times in form of a bird, a loom and a gold apple. She finally reunited with the king and lived happily ever after. Cám asked her about her beauty secret. Tấm led her to a hole and told her to jump inside. She then commanded the royal guards to pour boiling water on Cám. Her corpse was used to make a fermented sauce, to which she sent to the stepmother. The stepmother ate it with every single meal. After she reached the bottom of the jar, she looked down only to see her daughter's skull. She died of shock.There are many variations for the ending of this story, with the family friendly version one usually ending with the stepmother and Cám being exiled, and then struck by lightning, killing them both. Other versions either have a different ending for the story or simply omit the revenge part entirely.
''Kongjwi and Patjwi''
Originating from Korea, Kongjwi and Patjwi is a tale similar to Disney's Cinderella, with two distinguishing characteristics: the degree of violence and the plot's continuance past the marriage to the prince charming. The protagonist, Kongjwi, loses her mother when she was a child and her father remarries a widow. The widow also has a daughter, named Patjwi. After her father passes, the stepmother and Patjwi abuse Kongjwi by starving, beating, and working her brutally. Kongjwi is aided by animals and supernatural helpers, like a cow, a toad, a flock of birds, and a fairy. These helpers aid Kongjwi in attending a dance in honor of a magistrate. On her way back from the dance, Kongjwi loses one of her shoes, and the magistrate searches the towns to find the one who can fit the shoe. When he finds Kongjwi, he marries her.Where the story usually ends, Kongjwi's hardships continue into the marriage. Patjwi, envious of this marriage, pretends to ask for Kongjwi's forgiveness and then drowns Kongjwi in a pond. Patjwi then pretends to be Kongjwi and marries the magistrate. Kongjwi is then reincarnated into a lotus flower, burned by Patjwi, and reincarnated once more into a marble. With help from additional characters, Kongjwi is able to inform her husband of Patjwi's doings. As punishment, Patjwi is ripped apart alive, her body made into jeotgal, and sent to her mother. She eats it in ignorance, and when told that it is Patjwi's flesh, she dies out of shock. There are 17 variants of this tale known in South Korea.
A notable difference from other versions of Cinderella is that Kongjwi avenges her death with her own determination and willpower. Unlike Perrault's version of Cinderella, named Cendrillon, who forgives her stepfamily when they plead for forgiveness, Kongjwi takes ownership of the principle of kwon seon jing ak and accomplishes her vengeance herself. The violent degree of the punishments stems from the increased violence that Kongjwi suffered compared to the abuses other versions went through.