When reading “Cinderella’s Secret Dream” by Ena Lucia Portela, I immediately wondered why the author specifically chose Cinderella to tell a story of domestic violence. Many fairy tales involve young women becoming swept up with successful men with higher social standing such as The Little Mermaid, Snow White, and The Princess and the Frog. Yet Portela picks Cinderella, leading me to do more research. Cinderella is a global folk tale; from Cambodia to Greece to China, numerous cultures have passed on stories that bear a close similarity to the Disney Cinderella. One of the most important aspects of Cinderella stories is the skewed power balance between the man and woman. The man is often royalty or very wealthy whereas the woman is lowly, a peasant, and being with the man is a privilege. Additionally, Cinderella stories often include jealous and mean step sisters who further subjugate the woman. Cinderella is also often motherless, which in the context of this story, is perhaps a commentary on the plight of womanhood.

In the context of “Cinderella’s Secret Dream,” Cinderella is the perfect fairytale to tell a story of domestic violence and gender inequality. Prince Charming is wealthy, powerful, and elite and therefore faces few reprocussions for his actions and violence against Lotta. He uses his wealth and his party as a method to lure women to his home and views Cleis as a sexual object. Prince Charming is representative of the ways in which social and economic privilage are leverage within the  justice system. Additionally, Lotta and Regan serve as examples of internalized sexism and the ways which society pits women against each other. The step sisters view Cleis as an obstacle and a bother. Finally, our modern conceptions of Cinderella depict her as the epitome of idealized eurocentric beauty. In the short story, Prince Charming wants Cleis because she is blonde and fair, showing how beauty standards are also couched in racism.