Fairy Tales and False Empowerment: Cinderella and her Happily Ever After

     I work at a preschool and the other day we were listening to the story of Cinderella and I realized it is the perfect example of Marxism and the way social classes are represented. Cinderella is a classic fairytale about a kind and obedient woman who is mistreated and forced into a life of servitude by her greedy stepmother and stepsisters. As this story has been re-told many times in many formats, they all have the same components. 

    Sellnow states, “a preferred reading reinforces the status quo ideology about empowerment by proposing taken-for-granted assumptions as common sense.” Sellnow is saying that a preferred reading is the interpretation a story encourages the audience to accept. In Cinderella the audience is meant to accept that Cinderella’s exploitation is treated as normal. The story never questions the class system that her stepmother and stepsisters are allowed to control and mistreat her. Instead of gaining power through independence or resistance, Cinderella is empowered by marrying a prince. This reinforces the idea that the existing system of power is fine just how it is. 

    Fairy godmother comes to play in the story by presenting a magical solution. In other words, a solution that bypasses the real economic struggle, and offers a temporary fox to a larger problem. Sellnow says, “Hence, even the oppressed groups essentially participate in their own oppression!” In Cinderella, Hegemony explains why Cinderella excepts her role as a servant instead of challenging it. This comes from the belief that she should work quietly, accept her place in the family. It is seen as normal, not unfair. Thus, Cinderella is treating this as just how it is, which shows how the dominant group remains in power. 

            

    Cinderella stepmother and stepsisters forced her into unpaid labor while denying her basic rights. This is a classic example of exploitation and reflects Marx’s idea of exploitation, where the labor of one class benefits another class with power and resources. Sellnow’s neo-Marxist ideas would say the story normalizes this inequality. Cinderella continues to work and obeys until she is rewarded with a prince and marriage. She is not part of a change to economic conditions. The story reinforces the idea that the system is perfect the way it is and individuals should accept their class roles rather than challenge them. There was a scene where
Cinderella’s stepsisters humiliate Cinderella who wants to go to the ball, they mocked Cinderella by mimicking her and the prince dancing. This scene implied how her stepsisters oppressed Cinderella. Cinderella can’t go to the ball because she was considered as a person not worthy for such kind of privileges, to meet the prince and attend the ball.

             

While Cinderella is a classic fairy tale most see and romantic, it also hides the ideas of Marxism. The narrative subtly reinforces the ideas that the only way for a servant like her to move up socially and economically is through the marriage of someone in a higher class, rather than systematic change.