3/24/2023 0 Comments Cinderella shoes![]() ![]() It is still possible that Perrault could have heard a version with vair slippers - but is it probable? What stories might Perrault have heard? By Perrault's time, this medieval word was long out of use! It's important to note that "vair" was popular in the Middle Ages. However, did he misunderstand an oral tale which mentioned slippers of vair? There is no question that he was talking about glass. The fact is that Perrault wrote about "pantoufles de verre," glass slippers. They are a contradiction in terms (of course it would be impossible for a woman to dance in glass shoes! That's the whole point!) and that's why they have captured so many imaginations. Cinderella must be light and delicate, too, in order to dance in them. Moving into symbolism: they are expensive, delicate, unique, magical. Glass slippers are rigid and you can see clearly whether they fit a certain foot. ![]() As has been pointed out by others, the whole point of the slippers is that only Cinderella can wear them. In fact, they fit perfectly well with the internal logic of the fairytale. In Perrault's version alone, mice are transformed into horses and pumpkins into carriages. Forests grow of silver, gold and diamonds. Prisoners are confined atop glass mountains. How did she dance in them? How did she run in them? Wouldn't they have shattered? Wouldn't they have been super noisy? Fur slippers erase those questions entirely.īut Cinderella stories regularly include things like dresses made of sunlight, moonlight and starlight. It has also produced a persistent legend in the English-speaking world that Perrault used fur slippers and was mistranslated. Since then, quite a few authors have relied on this alternate origin for Cinderella's origins, usually in order to fit the story into a more "realistic" mold. Therefore, claimed Balzac, Cinderella's slipper was "no doubt" made of fur. This fur was a luxury item which only the upper class was allowed to wear. The word for glass, "verre," sounds the same as "vair" or squirrel fur. This theory may have originated with Honore de Balzac, in La Comédie humaine: Sur Catherine de Médicis, published between 18 and finalized in 1846. It's impossible to identify an "original" version of Cinderella, but at least in terms of publication, the glass slipper came first.īut was it really a glass slipper? There is a persistent theory that the shoes were originally made of fur - which is about as far from glass as you can get! Perrault published his work 115 years before the Grimms did. I often see people on the Internet insist that "the original Cinderella wore gold slippers and had the stepsisters cut off their toes and get their eyes pecked out by birds!" But that was "Aschenputtel," the version from the Brothers Grimm. This is probably the most widespread version of Cinderella, thanks in large part to its adaptation by Walt Disney. The fallen slipper leads to the typical 'Happily ever after' ending, so the action of the shoe falling off must happen before we reach this point.In 1697, Charles Perrault published the story of "Cendrillon: ou la Petite Pantoufle de verre" (Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper). So, whilst Cinderella's shoe should fit her perfectly, it is a plot device that drives the story towards the resolution.Ĭinderella's fallen slipper becomes a key identifier, and the prince uses it to find his way back to her. In the case of Cinderella and her glass slipper, the story reaches its climax when her shoe falls off as she hurriedly exits the ball. The climax usually occurs in the middle of a story and is often the most interesting and/or unexpected part of the narrative. Some of the conventions in fairy tales like Cinderella include a hero or heroine who overcomes an obstacle, and there is typically an overarching moral lesson. There are also specific components of fairy tales and fantasy stories that have elements of magic, wonder and conflict. Fairy tales often follow basic narrative arcs - three-act structures with a beginning, middle and end (setup, confrontation, and resolution). ![]()
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