Who wrote the fairy tale Cinderella. Who actually invented the fairy tale “Cinderella. Famous Alternatives
The classic tale of Cinderella, who lost her glass slipper, is known to us thanks to the adaptation of the French writer and poet Charles Perrault and his son Pierre Perrault. It is believed that the father first wrote a poetic version, and the son already rewrote the fairy tale in prose.
Different versions of Cinderella
The work of Charles and Pierre Perrault was first published in 1697 and has been constantly republished since then. Based on it, various cartoons and film adaptations appear. However, even before Charles Perrault, many knew the story of a poor girl forced to endure an evil stepmother.
The first story about a poor girl who lost her shoe and married a prince appeared before our era. Scientists, studying ancient Egyptian papyri, deciphered the story of a girl named Rhodopis. Only her shoe was not crystal, but wooden.
Then, in one version or another, stories about a girl who lost her mother and found herself at the mercy of an evil stepmother began to appear at different times, in different countries and under different names. So, for example, in China, the hardworking heroine, who went to the ball in golden slippers and met a rich groom there, was called Ye-shien. A few facts about different versions of the fairy tale “Cinderella”:
- There are 700 different versions of this tale, and most have no author.
- If you start counting from the appearance of the oldest fairy tale about Cinderella, then this story will be already 2.5 thousand years old.
- The glass slipper exists only in the fairy tale of Charles Perrault.
Famous Alternatives
One of the most famous variations of the Cinderella fairy tale belongs to the Brothers Grimm. In their retelling, instead of a fairy, the heroine gets magic nuts. But her sister still ends up with the prince; she managed to put on a small shoe, since she simply cut off her toes. But the deception is quickly revealed and the main character finds happiness with the prince.
The second famous version belongs to the Italian author Giambattista Basile. In his fairy tale, the poor girl herself deals with her evil stepmother and soon finds happiness with a handsome prince.
Both versions contain violence that may frighten young children. Therefore, Perrault's fairy tale with a pumpkin carriage, a fairy and a ball received the greatest popularity.
How often when we read fairy tales to children, we do not think about their hidden meaning. And also about the mysterious fate of magic stories.
The tale of Cinderella remains one of the most popular among children and adults. It is difficult to meet a person who does not know her. Having heard, read and seen many times, it seems familiar and understandable.
Do you think you know everything about this fairy tale? In vain. Despite its apparent simplicity, it still holds many secrets.
The first mystery of Cinderella: who is the author of the fairy tale?
When mentioning Cinderella, as a rule, the heroine of the fairy tale by Charles Perrault is introduced, because this story is the most popular. However, she is far from the only one. The Brothers Grimm, the Italian writer Giambatista Basile, and Afanasyev’s collection of fairy tales have fairy tales with a similar plot. And also in the folklore of the peoples of the world.
But first things first.
The Brothers Grimm are famous folklore collectors and writers. Despite the similarities in the storyline, Grimm experts say: “Cinderella” (Aschenputtet) by Grimm is a full-fledged and independent fairy tale, and not at all a later version of Cinderella.
Charles Perrault is known in our country for his fairy tales, but meanwhile, he was a member of the French Academy and the author of serious scientific works.
He published the collection “Tales of Mother Goose,” which included the story of Cinderella, under the name of his 18-year-old son D. Armancourt. It is difficult to say why, but probably the author was not sure of society’s reaction to the passion for fairy tales.
If the storytellers Grimm and Afanasyev are even more or less known, then the next author is undeservedly forgotten.
This is Giambatista Basile, Italian writer. He was the first to create a literary version of the tale of Cinderella, taking the plot from folk tales and urban folklore.
The book “Pentameron” he wrote (containing the fairy tale of Cinderella) had a significant influence on the development of European literary fairy tales as a whole.
It is interesting that in his story the heroine loses her pianella. Shoes similar to galoshes on a high platform, thanks to which residents of Naples in the 17th century did not stain the hems of their dresses in the city dirt.
The second mystery of Cinderella: How old is the fairy tale?
The Brothers Grimm published the fairy tale in the early 19th century.
Before this, in 1697, C. Perrault wrote “Tales of Mother Goose.”
Even earlier, in 1634-36, Giambatista Basile created the Pentameron.
But the first fairy tale with a similar plot known to us dates back to Ancient Egypt. There, during excavations, a papyrus was found with a story about a girl named Rhodopis. But this is more than 2500 years ago! And maybe more!
This story, in beauty and poetry, is not inferior to the tale of Charles Perrault. A young Greek woman, Rhodopis, is kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery. A girl, beautiful and kind, works tirelessly, and the evil master's daughters push her around. One evening she dances by the river for her friends - a bird, a hippopotamus and a monkey. The old man, the girl’s owner, sees this. Admired, he decides that such a beautiful dancer should not go barefoot and orders a pair of gold-plated sandals.
One day, the old man's evil daughters go to a holiday, and poor Rhodopis - Cinderella - remains to work around the house. When she washes in the river, having taken off her beautiful sandals, the God Horus, in the form of a falcon, grabs one of them and carries it away. In Memphis, he drops the sandal into the lap of the pharaoh, who in turn seeks out Rhodopis and makes him queen of Egypt.
So how old is the story about the kind young beauty who survived difficulties and became a princess (queen)? Maybe even at the dawn of humanity, the ancestor Eve told this story to children?
The third mystery: The Tale of Cinderella is the legacy of lost civilizations?
Few fairy tales can “boast” of such prevalence on the globe. It is impossible to list all the countries of the Eurasian continent where this fairy tale was well known long before G. Basile, and after him Grimm and Perrault, included it in collections! Finland, Ireland, Spain, England, France, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus. And also China, Vietnam, India.
It turns out that the fairy tale about Cinderella arose in those times when European states did not yet exist, and human tribes wandered from site to site.
But what then to do with this fairy tale on other continents? In Egypt, India, Peru? Scientists put forward a version of the existence, once upon a time, of one continent with a single culture. Subsequently, the continent was divided into parts. What happens, the fairy tale about Cinderella is the legacy of disappeared ancient peoples?
But there is another version, less fantastic. Throughout historical development, human tribes faced similar social situations, with the appearance of similar tools, clothing and utensils. This led to the creation of largely identical fairy-tale plots.
Like a living fairy tale, it returns generation after generation, for many thousands of years. Is she trying to convey to us an ancient secret? Or is this an inescapable dream of people about the triumph of kindness and innocence over cruelty and indifference? It's difficult to say, but one thing is clear. For a long time she will go hand in hand with a person.
The story of a young girl called Cinderella helps children believe in the best outcome of any event. Despite its fairly advanced age, there is still no loss of interest in the fairy tale: cartoons are drawn based on it, films and films are made. And some creative personalities even come up with a continuation of the young girl’s story.
But throughout all these years, young and adult readers have been haunted by the question: who wrote Cinderella? It is known that the fairy tale exists in more than a hundred versions. Moreover, only a few of them have an author, while most take their roots in oral folk art, folklore and even in the tales of the times of the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.
Who wrote "Cinderella"?
- Egyptian papyri. This is one of the very first versions of the tale. It is unknown who wrote Cinderella from Greece. One thing is clear: the ancient Egyptian Rhodopis and the well-known Cinderella are related only by the loss of a shoe and subsequent marriage to a man of blue blood.
- Retelling of the Italian storyteller D. Basile. His “Cinderella” was written long before the most famous version, created by Charles Perrault. Zezolla Basile was born 61 years before Perrault's The Crystal Slipper, in 1636.
- Who wrote "Cinderella" and "Little Red Riding Hood"? If you pose the question in this way, naming several works at the same time, you can give a precise answer: the author of both works is Charles Perrault and his son Pierre. Storytellers wrote the story about the good stepdaughter in 1697.
- The Brothers Grimm created the image of an oppressed stepdaughter, who is closest to nature of all her analogues. In the fairy tale, the role of the fairy is played by a hazel tree planted by a girl on her mother’s grave, and a white bird. The version seen by Grimm storytellers is a little scary. There is a lot of blood in it: the sisters cut off parts of the body (heel and toes) to put on the shoes. And in the end the pigeons pecked out their eyes.
To be honest, children don’t really care who wrote Cinderella. They do not ask this question, because for them the main thing is the culmination of the action. And she is always alone: the girl becomes the prince’s bride.
Greek version of Cinderella: Rhodopis and Phodoris
It is believed that Rhodopis (according to other sources, Phodoris) was the progenitor of all stories about Cinderella.
However, even this version does not have a single storyline. According to one of them, Rhodopis is a Greek slave who was kidnapped by pirates as a child. The owner who bought the girl gave her elegant gilded sandals. One day, while swimming in the river, she lost them: they were dragged away by a falcon. He turned out to be a god. Horus took the Rhodopis sandals to the pharaoh himself, who ordered a search for the owner of this lovely little shoe.
The second version says that Fodoris is an Egyptian prostitute. The rest of the story is not much different from what was previously mentioned, only instead of a falcon there is an eagle.
The searches in both cases ended in weddings.
Bloodthirsty Zezolla Giambattista Basile
Who wrote "Cinderella" - a fairy tale that inspires girls to work hard and be obedient? If the question is put this way, then Giambattista Basile has nothing to do with writing a story about a girl.
It is not difficult to explain this statement. Zezolla, straight out of the pages of Basile's tale, is frighteningly bloodthirsty. In cahoots with the nanny, she broke her stepmother’s neck with her own hands. After committing the murder, Zezolla marries his father to the nanny. And only then, after this wedding, the king falls in love with her. Here a plot similar to other versions begins: the loss of a shoe (pianella), the search for a beloved through trying it on for every woman in the state and, finally, finding love. Only Cinderella Giambattista was not eager to marry the young prince and struggled with this in every possible way.
“The Glass Slipper” by Charles Perrault and Pierre de Harmancourt is the gentlest form of a fairy tale
The most gentle and child-friendly tale is the version dated 1697. Therefore, if you ask your parents: “Who wrote “Cinderella”? - they will answer with one voice: “Charles Perrault.” And, without pretense, we can say that they are undoubtedly right. The fact that Charles Perrault is not the first to retell the story of the poor girl is not important. The important thing is that it was he who created the children's version, which is not scary to read to a child at night.
The main merit of the French storyteller is adaptation to children's worldview. He introduced new, modern attributes for those realities: a carriage, coachmen, a godmother, but transferred them from the real world to the magical one. The carriage is an enchanted pumpkin; godmother - fairy sorceress. And the shoe is transformed into a subtle crystal frame.
A kind magical atmosphere reigns in Charles Perrault's fairy tale. It tells the story of a poor but honest girl. After the death of her mother, the father remarried an evil woman who, along with her orders, brings two daughters into the house. Cinderella became a servant in her own house, but she followed all the instructions of her stepmother and sisters meekly and humbly. Having got to the ball with the help of her fairy godmother, Cinderella loses her glass slipper. The evil stepmother and daughters prevent the reunion of two loving hearts, but without bloodthirsty scenes (like Basile). Having become a princess, Cinderella shows kindness to the women who oppress her and contributes to the development of their personal lives.
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Film adaptation: “Three Nuts for Cinderella”
The fairy tale as edited by the Brothers Grimm is a little scary and shocking. The step-sisters mutilate their legs for the sake of a lucrative groom, and then are left without eyes thanks to Cinderella’s faithful assistants - the pigeons.
But there are also positive sides to it. There is a clear connection here with the deceased mother. In the fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm, it is she who helps her daughter cope with all adversity: this cannot be denied, since a hazel tree grew on her grave. A white bird can also be called a symbol and prototype of a mother.
In Czechoslovakia, based on the fairy tale by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the film “Three Nuts for Cinderella” was shot. What is so attractive about this adaptation? There are no bloody episodes from the original.
Russian contribution to the history of young Zamarashka
Some intellectuals call the Russian writer of the Soviet period Evgeniy Schwartz the author of the work we are considering. This theory is the most unrealistic. After all, he lived and worked long after the fairy tale appeared. However, if we consider the girl's name, maybe he became the first. After all, thanks to him, his Cinderella became an ordinary Trash.
Charles Perrault and Pierre de Armancourt. Father or Son: Who Wrote Cinderella?
The fairy tale “The Crystal Slipper” has still not been fully studied by writers, since they do not know which author should give the copyright to it: the son, whose name was printed on the first editions of “Tales of My Mother Goose,” or the father, who wrote mainly in lyrical poetic language. In 1697, the first version of the collection was published. The name of the creator was on the title: Pierre de Armancourt. The authorship of the son of Charles Perrault was assigned until 1724.
Why was his name mixed with mud after the storyteller's death? And the name of his son has sunk into oblivion? And who really is the author of the well-known fairy tale? Sergei Boyko is trying to answer these questions. He devoted an entire book to the study of this phenomenon: “The Magic Land of Pierre and Charles Perrault.” Boyko believes that the original authorship belongs to Charles Perrault. However, he composed fairy tales exclusively in poetic form. They acquired their modern prosaic appearance thanks to the efforts of his son Pierre. Therefore, we can say that father and son are equal co-authors of the works.
Walt Disney: a new vision of an old fairy tale
The wandering fairy-tale plot is fixed not only on the pages of books and in the memory of admirers, but also on hundreds of meters of cinematographic film. We can say that the progenitor of Disney's Cinderella was none other than Charles Perrault. After all, we have already touched upon the issues of creating a fairy tale more than once: when, where, and most importantly, who?
“Cinderella” and “Puss in Boots” were written by the French storyteller Charles Perrault (and his son Pierre). Therefore, it is not difficult to assume that the Disney girl is French by birth.
Cinderella first takes on its modern features in 1950. The main character of the cartoon became one of the main official princesses of Walt Disney. Just like the folklore ancestor, Disney's Cinderella is a wandering character, but does not lose her kindness and honesty.
She appears in several animated films: “Cinderella” (main story), “Dreams Come True” (continuation), “Evil Spells”. She also often becomes an episodic character: “Sofia the First.” The heroine was also featured in the leading roles in the Once Upon a Time series.
Based on all of the above, we can conclude that the origins of the girl are still hidden under a veil of secrecy. How to answer the question of who wrote “Cinderella”? The author (although in this matter it is more important for adults than for children) depends on which version you are interested in: fairy-tale, children's or bloodthirsty fantasy.
Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm and Evgeny Schwartz - incorrect answers. Knowing this, can you then answer who wrote Cinderella?
Fairy tale history
Of course, it would be easier to answer that Cinderella, known to everyone almost from the cradle, was invented by Charles Perrault. After all, he wrote his fairy tale back in 1697, that is, more than 300 years ago. And everything that is ancient is where we look for the author. At least that’s how it happened, and that’s how people think. Well, our grandmothers told us about Cinderella performed either by that same Charles Perrault, or... well, of course, by the Brothers Grimm.
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were just born in 1785 and 1786, respectively. And they themselves grew up on the fairy tale of Cinderella as interpreted by Charles Perrault. And when they matured, they collected the most famous folk tales of the German people and published them under the title “Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm.” This is where the second version was born.
And the third one walks and wanders among intellectuals who seem to believe that before the 20th century nothing existed at all and fairy tales were not “written,” and Cinderella was invented by Evgeniy Schwartz when he was composing the famous play. But this, of course, is a joke. Schwartz is mentioned more because he contributed specifically to the Soviet Cinderella. Let me remind you that during the translation Turgenev called Cinderella (Cendrillon or Cinderella) Zamarashka.
Classic "tramp plot"
Actually, who wrote Cinderella? It was not even invented by the German people, as the Brothers Grimm believed when describing German folklore. The plot of Cinderella is a classic “wandering plot”, there are thousands of variations and in the center there is always a beautiful, honest, kind, naive Cinderella, whatever you call her: CINDERELLA (modern), Cinderella (obsolete original), Sondrien (French), Aschenpute (German) or Cinderella ("Hollywood-Disney" English).
Cinderella is one of the most ancient fairy tale characters. The girl has been wandering around the world for 2.5 thousand years. The plot, artistic outline and set of characters have changed countless times. The fairy tale has not lost one single detail - the shoe, which the heroine inevitably loses.
History of creation
It is impossible to say exactly who wrote the fairy tale about Cinderella. Its roots go back to ancient times. The amazing events that happened to the girl Rhodopis were described by the Greek historian Strabo in the 1st century BC. Although researchers believe that the story was heard from the lips of himself, and this is the 6th-7th centuries BC. Ancient Egypt had its own Cinderella - the beautiful prostitute Photodoris. While she was bathing in the river, the eagle pulled off the shoes and brought them to the palace of the pharaoh, who, just looking at the miniature sandal, immediately became inflamed with love for the girl.
The Egyptian “Cinderella” lost this sandal instead of a shoe
The tale in different versions traveled all over the world: children were introduced to the happy stepdaughter in Italy and Spain, Sweden and Finland, Ireland and Scotland. And the shoe appeared everywhere. True, the shoes were made not of crystal, but of wood. The fact is that the people put religious motives into the work. Women's shoes had a place in sacred rites. In addition, wherever the fairy tale was told, the name of the main character was invariably associated with ashes (Cinderella, Papyalushka, Popelushka), which ranks her among the cohort of priestesses whose rituals required fire.
And after a series of geographical discoveries, European writers found traces of Cinderella in China and even Korea. The plot is repeated with minor changes: the unloved stepdaughter works until she sweats, for which she receives a reward from divine powers in the form of a noble groom. The girls in these fairy tales have shoes made of cloth and gold.
Foreign and Russian cinema today cannot do without magical stories borrowed from ancient fairy tales. On Valentine's Day in 2012, the director delighted fans of Russian cinema with the romantic comedy "Cinderella", in which she tried on the character.
- The film studio "" presented the children with the full-length film "Cinderella" (1950). Based on this cartoon and other fairy tales released at the studio, the animated film “Tangled Story” was created in 2010.
- Russia and Ukraine have their own Cinderellas: this international heroine is reminiscent of the main characters of folk tales “Chernushka” and “The Golden Cherevich”.
- She reincarnated into the image of Cinderella by participating in a photo project that was in the nature of an advertisement for the Disney studio. In addition to Scarlett, the advertising campaign was decorated with other celebrities dressed as Alice in Wonderland.
Quotes
The film “Cinderella” is rich in vivid quotes that audiences still laugh at:
Forester (to the King about his wife):
“Her sister was eaten by a cannibal, poisoned and died. You can see for yourself, Your Majesty, what poisonous characters there are in this family.”
Stepmother:
“I work like a horse: I run, I fuss, I beg, I ask, I beg, I charm...”
“...“ha-ha” - 1 time, “it’s blowing here” - 1 time... Five and three are nine signs of attention. Well, now, my dears, I will achieve an order to recognize you as the first beauties!”
“It’s a pity, the kingdom is too small, I have nowhere to roam. Well, it’s okay, I’ll quarrel with my neighbors. I can do this!”
“Hey, soldiers, to the palace, march barefoot behind the royal mother-in-law!”
Cinderella:
“Good people, where are you?! Good, oh, good people!”
King:
“Why should I look at the leg when I can see from the face that it’s not her!”
