Hi Nikki, Erin, Benton, Tiffany, Emily and Michelle,
Here is your assignment for this week.
Look through the websites suggested below and find a version of Cinderella or even an illustration of her, that has not been talked about in class as yet.
1. D. L. Ashliman's folktale site:
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0510a.html
2. the Sur La Lune fairy tale site:
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/
3. the Cinderella Project at the Univ. of Mississippi:
http://www.usm.edu/english/fairytales/cinderella/cinderella.html
Having selected the story/illustration, you are to elaborate on the reason you picked that particular story/illustration.
You could talk about how the story is different from what you have read so far and how these differences could be interesting in the light of our current discussions in class.
If you have selected an illustration, mention what about it grabbed you, what about it is different from other illustrations known to you and whether it contradicts or proves any of what we have discussed in class so far.
Posts are to be sent in by Midnight on Tuesday and comments to a minimum of two other posts are to be in by Midnight on Wednesday.
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I chose the illustration by Folkard, from the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm version of Cinderella, from the Sur La Lune website http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/illustrations/cinderella/folkardcindy.html.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I find the picture descriptive and narrative-based, and therefore fitting of the Brothers Grimm version of Cinderella.
I was intrigued by what we discussed in class today about the differences between the Grimm and Perrault versions of Cinderella. Professor Figal talked about how the Grimm magic is "more of a ghostly magic," that has conditions, such as piety and morality, in contrast to Perrault's magic, which is all about artifice, and comes down to beauty and ornamentation. The illustration by Folkard for the Grimm story version is indicative of such: it evokes the characters; Cinderella, offering her self so modestly and humbly to her sisters, who look vain and immoral, standing apart from her. The Grimm versions put God and sin into their stories, and sin definately seems a big part of the illustration here.
We also talked about the death element in the Grimm stories, and how the Brothers Grimm wanted to teach their readers how there is a less permeable world between our world, the world of the living, and the living of the dead, or Heaven.
In the illustration, death seems looming. The step sisters look grim, to say the least, with their dark eyes and dark hair. Also, their pale skin is reminiscent of vampires, even, as if they are about to suck the blood of Cinderella. The whole scene has a haunted aura to it: it looks like a typical haunted house, with the candles, old-looking fabrics and cloths, and eerie lighting. The illustration was created in 1911, and in England, so the artist must have been influenced by the Victorian mystery era.