In Ena Lucia Portela’s story, there is a simultaneous representation of and divergence from the norms of fairy tale story telling. The deviation from the norms ultimately works to tell a story of female empowerment. The big division from norms of fairy tales that we see in this telling of Cinderella, is the absence of the fairy godmother character. In this version of the story, Cleis is the one who provides the means for herself to attend the party, by buying her own dress (page 3). The absence of a magical character that solves all the problems of the heroine is a clear choice in displaying the capability of Cleis, and places more responsibility on her choices and actions. Further representing this independence and power in Cleis free will comes her ending. She accomplishes her initial dream of being an actress, and play the role of the villainess (page 2). This too diverges from genre norms, in the desire of the main character to be bad instead of good.
Both of these help to create a new kind of heroine, if we can even call her that. This new kind of character abides by her own free will, apart from the stepmothers control – but even then is still acting in accordance with her own agency, but now walks the line between hero and villain. This transition creates an idea that in order to be an independent woman, you must be a little bit of a villain. All villains work for their own motive and end goal, in order to be a strong willed woman, you too must be just a little bit of a villain inside.
Hi Julia, I love how you said women who are strong willed have “a little bit of villain inside them.” As I grew up, I started empathizing with villains more than the heroes/heroines in stories because they were often portrayed as more complex and had motives that made a lot of sense. It’s interesting how society expects women to be obedient and kind, but anything outside those norms is viewed as the “wrong way to behave.” Yet Cleis has legitimate reason to want to leave her toxic household, so I wouldn’t necessarily call her a villain for standing up for herself, because like you said, there’s no fairy godmother to help her. Yet, these actions are what constitute a villain arc in stories because they can be selfish and deceiving, but it doesn’t account for a situation that involves the so called villain’s survival.
Hi Julia, you bring up a great point on Portela’s shift away from some of the magical elements in favour of a more realistic, albeit grimmer, version of the Cinderella story. I found the absence of a fairy godmother, or a helper character as Propp describes them, to be especially interesting; when I heard the story growing up, Cinderella’s magical transformation was the part that most stood out to me. As you point out, this choice deviates from genre norms and allows Cleis to act more freely—perhaps this moment of ‘transformation’ could be seen as her escape from the town, a train acting as a replacement for the traditional pumpkin carriage.
Hi Julia,
I think the absence of a fairy godmother also highlights the individualism and lack of solidarity in the story. In the Disney version, Cinderella is only able to have her dreams come true due to the fairy godmother; she is also aided by her mouse friends. In this version, however, she doesn’t receive help from anyone. Not even Regan, who quietly supports her, does anything to help her. She is able to earn money; however, this is not due to the charity of others but rather the economic value of her housekeeping skills (pg. 1). Perhaps this is a reflection of both her capability and the lack of solidarity in her society.