Disney Symposium

How cool is it that the BYU English Symposium had a panel called: "A Whole New World: Disney, Adaptation, and the Americanization of Fairy Tales"? Pretty much, really cool.

The paper that helped me the most was "From Adoration to Antagonist: Father Figures in Popular Cinderella Tales" by Jenna Cooper. It was about the father-role in Cinderella book and film adaptations. One of her examples was Ella Enchanted! She wrote not only about how fairy tales are retold, but also about gender roles. Needless to say, this was a very helpful paper for me to listen to.

Cooper wrote about how Hollywood fairy tale adaptations have to adapt to the movie watching culture, which has little connection to the traditional tales. Novels have the power to be more literary and can thus connect audiences more easily to traditional fairy tale literature. She made the point that films tend to have a father role who is loving, supportive, and vital to Cinderella's determination and success, whereas books usually portray the father as a demeaning antagonist more like the original story of Cinderella. Because really, who would marry such a wicked woman as Cinderella's step mother?

I loved listening to what Jenna Cooper had researched and collaborated and found it really helpful to hear very similar ideas from a completely different angle. After the presentations, I approached her and asked her a few questions and explained the paper I have been working on. She agreed to let me see the entirety of her paper while we both expressed our love for the novel Ella Enchanted.

I don't know why I have never gone to the English Symposium at BYU before.

Snow White and the Seven New Sources

hakirah.org

In writing my literary analysis paper on fairy tales and feminism, my focus has shifted to include more of the novel Fairest as well as Ella Enchanted. Fairest is a retelling of Snow White by the same author: Gail Carson Levine. As I have been reading Fairest, I have become convinced that I need to write about it along with Ella Enchanted.

Here's an updated thesis:

The novels Ella Enchanted and Fairest are both fairy tale adaptations written by Gail Carson Levine. The young female protagonists, Ella and Aza, teach opposite lessons than the fairy tales they are retelling, redefining a woman’s beauty, success, and happiness as a result of hard work, wit, and determination rather than the effect of external actions, people, and circumstances.

As I was trying to research, I felt like I had already exhausted my efforts to find new sources. That is before I had a wonderful chat with a BYU librarian at 11:30pm. I couldn't believe it. My husband was amazed that there was someone willing to help me so late at night. I'm telling you guys, talk to the librarians if you haven't already done so. It was so helpful. I was led to these a source that helped me uncover all of these new sources below (and more).

Ella Enthused

Wikipedia Commons

I originally had too many ideas for my paper. Now that I have narrowed it down and eliminated the ideas that I felt didn't connect as well, I have been left with a problem. I think my paper lacks a "so what?" After writing this much, it seems to me that the goal of my paper has become a comparison, taking Ella Enchanted and Cinderella side-by-side and talking about what each text teaches young girls about womanhood. There aren't high stakes.

Does anyone have an idea of how I can make this idea matter? I think I am summarizing and pointing out some general truths, but I need help finding a way to make it have more weight. What if I incorporated how women have to fight to be a heroine, whereas men are expected be the hero? Thoughts?

Ella Enchanted: Regaining Feminist Control

There are certain roles society assumes appropriate for women and they are often reflected in literature. Young adult literature in particular envelopes the topic of gender as a dictator of status and expectations for young women. In the novel Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine there is no mistaking the feminist connotations. It is meant to be a retelling of the classic fairy-tale Cinderella; however, Ella, the young female protagonist, is teaching an opposite lesson than Cinderella. Ella begins the novel by explaining a curse of obedience that prevents her from having the agency to make her life her own. She is also fighting something much greater than her curse. The plot follows Ella's journey to rectify this curse of obedience, and along the way Ella defines a woman’s beauty, success, and happiness as a result of hard work, wit, and determination rather than from the actions of external people or circumstances as in Cinderella.

In Cinderella, her outward feminine beauty defines her worth. It is her pretty dress from her fairy godmother that gets her the prince in a matter of moments. In Ella Enchanted, this idea of beauty is addressed and discredited.

“I collapsed on the stool next to the stove, sobbing so hard I couldn't catch my breath. Then Mandy's arms were around me, and I was crying into the ruffles along the neck of her apron, where I had cried so many times before for smaller reasons...
“She couldn't be a fairy. Fairies were thin and young and beautiful. Mandy was as tall as a fairy was supposed to be, but who ever heard of a fairy with frizzy gray hair and two chins?" -Ella Enchanted

Cinderella: The Anti-Feminist

I have been exploring Cinderella and the novel Ella Enchanted and how the latter is much more rich and realistic. There are several parts of Ella's story that teach an opposite lesson than the classic fairy tale Cinderella. This leads me to my latest question: What role does feminism play in how beauty, success, happiness is defined in Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine? 

Beauty:

What makes a woman beautiful?

Creative Commons License 2.0

"I collapsed on the stool next to the stove, sobbing so hard I couldn't catch my breath. Then Mandy's arms were around me, and I was crying into the ruffles along the neck of her apron, where I had cried so many times before for smaller reasons. A drop landed on my finger. Mandy was crying too. Her face was red and blotchy. "I was her fairy godmother too," Mandy said. "And your grandmother's." She blew her nose. I pushed out of Mandy's arms for a new look at her. She couldn't be a fairy. Fairies were thin and young and beautiful. Mandy was as tall as a fairy was supposed to be, but who ever heard of a fairy with frizzy gray hair and two chins?" -EE

Ella asks the question, "Who ever heard of a fairy with frizzy gray hair and two chins?" and the rest of the novel answers it. Mandy is beautiful because of who she is not because of what she looks like. Dame Olga, Hattie, and Olive are all ugly because of the way they act more than their physical appearances. Lucinda, the fairy who cursed Ella, masks her true nature with make-up, perfumes, and beautiful clothing in an attempt to stand out and appeal to people. Her shallowness make her instead, very unappealing. 

Feminist message: Beauty is not dictated by how society, particularly men, think women should look in order to be "beautiful", rather, beauty is being yourself and not altering your appearance for the sake of a man.

From stockmonkeys.com

Success:

In the story we all know, Cinderella does little to nothing to fight against her very unjust living situation. While she is treated as a slave and denied all that she could ever want, she simply takes it, crying silently to herself until magically she is rescued because of a few tears. It always bothered me that all Cinderella did to summon her Fairy Godmother was cry. Didn't it bother you a little too? When I have throw-myself-on-my-bed moments I have never been rescued by a fairy godmother or given a pretty dress.

Ella has no choice but to obey. 

“If someone told me to hop on one foot for a day and a half, I’d have to do it. And hopping on one foot wasn’t the worst order I could be given. If you commanded me to cut off my own head, I’d have to do it.” -EE

Ella is required by her father to go to finishing school where she is taught to eat, sit, sew, sing, and dance "properly" as a young lady should. Ella makes a great comment about how she doesn't "want to be finished" and disagrees that there is one way a lady should behave. Ella can't sew very well, but she is very skilled at picking up foreign languages quickly. She gets scolded for letting a conversation distract her from her sewing while at finishing school. Ella is even more constricted than usual with teachers and students telling her why she isn't a "proper lady". 

Feminist message: Women aren't solely homemakers and objects to be used for their elegant skills. If a woman is skilled with construction, linguistics, law, or business, they should have equal opportunities for these professions and not expected to learn the more "womanly" skills. 

Happiness:

In the classic tale, the fairy godmother comes, and gives Cinderella everything she's ever wanted.
Which is what, exactly? To go to the ball, to be with people, make friends maybe. It is interesting to me how all it takes is a pretty face and dress and boom, she has landed a high place in society and that is the end goal. Yay. Now she has everything she wants. So it seems pretty shallow and empty when I look at the story like that. I think we all realize how shallow and empty it is and maybe that's what makes Ella Enchanted so wonderful.

Ella’s Fairy Godmother doesn't come and rescue her in her moment of need. Instead, she is there all along, quietly encouraging and teaching her how to accept and deal with problems. Ella does not passively accept all of the demands of her odious stepfamily members.

Feminist message: Women don't need a man (or anyone) to come and "save" them.  Women can save themselves and create their own happiness based on the choices they make, not a shift it class because they "married up". 

Cinderella, you have some explaining to do.

My first encounter with Gail Carson Levine was in Elementary School when I stumbled upon her collection of fairy tales retold entitled The Princess Tales.

I was immediately drawn to Levine’s writing style and skill with fairy tale adaptation.

I yearned for more.

A few years later I picked up this Newbury Honor book: Ella Enchanted.

I’m surprised I didn't find Ella sooner.