Reading Notes: Brother' Grimm (Crane), Part A

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Notes on Aschenputtel:

  • Before starting the story, I assume aschen = ash, ash = cinder, so it is the Grimm brothers version of Cinderella
  • Not the traditional ugly stepsisters, as they were "beautiful and fair in appearance". The ugly stepsister trope seems to come from them being ugly at heart
  • Why was her father just okay with all of this? They took away her bed and he didn't do anything about it
  • She should use her bird-wishes to wish for some improvement in her home life. But maybe she is too good at heart to wish for things like that
  • Seems like all the stuff with the lentils was overkill. The stepmother was going to say no from the beginning, so why even pretend to be considering it?
  • Silk shoes instead of glass, when did that change in the story happen? Was the glass slipper image Disney's doing?
  • A three day festival instead of just one night
  • Now she has gold slippers, but still no glass slippers
  • Grimm stories are much more grim (haha) than the fairy tales we typically hear now
  • How did the prince know what house to go to? Was there not a kingdom-wide search?
  • The father referring to Aschenputtel as his wife's daughter is very different from the loving father that we see in most other tellings of this fairy tale
  • The Brothers Grimm were all about revenge I guess. The sisters cut up their feet  and ends up blind for being such bad people

Bibliography:  Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm translated by Lucy Crane link to reading

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