The Cinderella Story
October 23, 2007
A few days after finishing Pamela I was babysitting my neice and watching Cinderella when I realized how the two stories are alarmingly similar. No, Prince Charming does not seem as ravenous and aggressive as Mr. B; however, the ideology is implicitly alligned. Prince Charming uses his social stature and political power to foster his desires: he employs the kingdom to find the woman of his lustful thirst. Likewise, Mr. B is in a position as a member of higher society that he is justified in achieving his goal through any means.
Prince Charming and Mr. B both objectify women and their pursuits are oriented through the body. Mr. B is attacking Pamela’s virtue through his physical attacks upon her body. Prince Charming is not quite as devious as Mr. B, but he is trying to force women to fit perfectly into his image of what a woman should be; he is trying to force someone to fit into his glass slipper.
Despite the fact that Cinderella is a fairy tale and disney movie, it offers a more dismal and perverted vision of female ambition than Pamela. The females throughout the story have no self, but are trying to achieve an identity that can only be defined through the masculine: the dreams of most women and girls is to marry Prince Charming and be HIS Queen. In fact, the only women who seems to transcend society is the fairy godmother: a character that could never exist and is only there to help Cinderella be found by the Prince. Cinderella is not a self made woman, but a man made woman -evidently, there is no escape from the social constraints.
Pamela offers a similar rags to riches social transcendance that ultimately fails. Pamela initially upholds her virtues against the onlsaught of Mr. B and social hierarchy, but later fails by accepting his proposal. Mr. B maintains the hierarchy and still gives her orders as if she were his servant despite being “in love”: he explains to Pamela what he expects and requires of a wife in a business-like manner.
Cinderella and Pamela enforce the old stereotypes of both the masculine and feminine spheres. It is just lucky that the implicit ideology of Cinderella is more subtle than Pamela’s provocation or I am sure I would have had a lot of explaing to do to my neice.
