Cinderella: A Different Rags to Riches Story
We’ve all heard of the term “rags to riches” when referring to a story in which a person literally goes from being destitute (or at least from being in the lower class) to wealthy. The same can be said for the Disney animated version of Cinderella; however, if you haven't watched the film for a long time (like me before last year), you can easily overlook or forget the fact that Cinderella is not a typical rags-to-riches story. Rather, it is a riches-to-rags-to-riches story, and this is confirmed by several words spoken by the narrator during the prologue. They include the following quotations and rich-related terms in bold text:
- Young Cinderella is first mentioned to live in a “stately chateau” with her father, who is “a widowed gentleman.”
- Cinderella’s father is said to be kind and devoted man, since gives his beloved daughter “every luxury and comfort.”
- After he dies, Lady Tremaine takes over the estate and squanders the “family fortunes” upon her own vain, selfish daughters.
In terms of explaining the bolded terms, Cinderella’s father being referred to a gentleman means that he is an aristocrat, or a person of high nobility, most likely a lord or a count. This is further proven by the mention of the chateau, as such a grand manor house would be owned by someone of great wealth, the fortunes, which refers to the fact that he is rolling in money, and that he provided Cinderella with luxury, which clearly refers to expensive, maybe even private, possessions he provided for her.
Anyway, while Cinderella’s father was implied to have spoiled her, she was not too spoiled (completely unlike her stepsisters), which appears to be evident due to the narrator saying that she remained “ever gentle and kind” as she grew up. The fact that he is mentioned to be “kind and devoted” tells me that he didn’t just give her everything she ever wanted so he wouldn’t have to deal with her. He wanted her to live a happy, comfortable life, most especially after her mother died, but he also taught her to be a kind, gentle person. He genuinely loved Cinderella and did all of that out of love, but he made sure she was grateful for what she had, too.
After her father passes away, the Tremaines take control of Cinderella’s home, leaving her outnumbered and overpowered. They take away her own room and force her to live up in the tower. They take away all of her fancy clothes, making her wear simple, servant clothes, and just about every other material possession she has ever owned. Although she is allowed to keep her pets, unlike Lucifer sleeping in his mistress’s room, Bruno is not allowed to sleep with Cinderella in her room. After they let go of all of the staff the chateau likely ever had, the Tremaines force Cinderella to do any and every single task or chore for them, and anything else that requires work. They further treat her like dirt by refusing to let her attend parties or gatherings with them, and they probably flat-out refuse to let Cinderella even eat meals with them. In short, having all of her things literally taken from her, being forced to become her stepfamily’s sole servant, and not being allowed to do whatever she wants whenever she wants is how Cinderella goes from riches to rags.
Lady Tremaine further takes control of the estate by hoarding the remains of her late husband’s money. Although it is possible that he may have made a will in which everything would be left to Cinderella, it is also possible that Lady Tremaine may have gotten a hold of it and destroyed it to make sure everything would be handed over to her instead, and without question. If that was done, then no one could stop her from spending up all of the money on herself and her daughters. On the other hand, even if anything was supposed to go to the Tremaines, Cinderella would still have her own inheritance, but Lady Tremaine would undoubtedly do everything in her power to make sure Cinderella did not have access to it and had NOTHING materialistic! She wanted to do all she could to make it look like she and her daughters were still part of the upper class, but that Cinderella no longer was.
What further makes her situation interesting to me is that, Cinderella appears to have had little human contact with the outside world ever since her father’s death, with no human friends or additional blood relatives. She may have been a child of an aristocrat who legally owns the chateau and has her own inheritance, but her word is against those of the Tremaines. In other words, without a present will or other human family and friends to back up her claims, Cinderella cannot prove to outsiders that she is not truly a servant girl. The Tremaines appear to be the only ones who know the truth about her background, but because they do not want her to be happy or succeed before them, they would just deny any and all claims Cinderella would make, or attempt to make, to lawyers or other important people. It is a further example to show how Cinderella’s attempts to stand up for herself against her stepfamily would ultimately prove to be futile.
So again, Cinderella was not always a servant girl, but truly born and once belonged to a wealthy family, and I think this fact can easily be and is often overlooked. Of the three original Disney Princesses, Cinderella is the only one who is not born of royalty. But due to her original, wealthy background, she is also the only one (out of all of them) who is not a mere peasant or ordinary girl like some of the other Disney Princesses who are also not born of royalty (e.g., Belle, Tiana). If we keep this fact about Cinderella in mind, we can realize that the film is not just about a hardworking underdog, but a strong, diligent heroine who rightfully regains everything that was taken from her.