A Question of Chastity and Abstinence before Marriage in Cinderella Fairy Tale

“Cinderella” was written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the late 1700’s in Germany. The Cinderella story is a fairy tale. The target audience of Jacob and Wilhelm’s “Cinderella”, however, was primarily adults and teenagers. The primary focus of the Fairy Tale genre is to entertain, it preaches a moral, and it represents and expresses the cultural views of the time. Grimm’s “Cinderella” is a type of wish-fulfilment story that conveys that chastity and abstinence before marriage will get you a happy life, but sex before marriage guarantees that your life will be miserable and full of hatred.

A common idea during the victorian and medieval era is that sex defines your character, which unfortunately is still a common idea to this day. The ideal that abstinence was the only way to guarantee a successful marriage was heavily enforced by christians at the time, and there is a lot of symbolism pertaining to this in both of these stories. “A white bird came to the tree every time, and whenever she expressed a wish, the bird would throw down to her what she had wished for.” “Cinderella”, Page 2 Line 25. Besides the obvious biblical connotations, the color white is something commonly seen when concerning Cinderella. White represents purity, innocence and virginity. Birds represent freedom and flight, but are also considered the bridge between Heaven and Earth. Because they are able to talk to god, per say, this helps to enforce the Christian belief that abstinence is the only way to ensure a good marriage. “It [the shoe] was small and dainty, and of pure gold.” “Cinderella” Page 6, last line. In many ancient civilizations, shoes were a symbol of the vagina, and the smaller your foot, the smaller the vagina. A small vagina was desired in females, and in Chinese families would often bind the feet of their daughters so they could fit into smaller shoes. “On his way home, as he was riding through a green thicket, a hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his hat.” “Cinderella” Page 3 Line 16. In ancient tree lore, hazel trees were associated with love/marriage, female sexuality, and fertility, among other things. The fact that she planted the twig on her mother’s grave symbolizes her dedication to remain pious and good, and she is allowing her mother to witness her dedication.

Alternatively there is much symbolism to show that sex before marriage is a disdainful and horrible thing, and those who commit this crime should be miserable forever. The stepsisters were great representations of this. “Cut off your toe, when you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot.” “Cinderella” Page 7 Line 6. There is some interesting symbolism here. Though it is not stated which toe of which foot she is referring to, it can be assumed that it is the big toe of one of her feet. In toe readings, the big toe is called the Ether Toe, the right ether toe is associated with life purpose and career, while the left is associated with the connection with spiritual and emotional connection to oneself. In both cases, the step sister is sacrificing part of herself to fulfill her stepmother’s wishes. When the prince and the sister ride by the hazel tree, he discovers blood in her shoe. This represents the loss of virginity at some point in her life, and he immediately takes her back to her family. “Cut off a piece of your heel. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot.” “Cinderella” Page 8 Line 21. In Ancient Greece, the heel was often considered a blind spot for man because it is the farthest away from the senses. In this case she lost herself in the mother’s dark desires, and when she and the prince ride past the hazel tree, he discovers blood staining her stocking, representing the loss of her virginity. Both of these quotes and the fact that the blood represents a loss of virginity, could represent rape. The fact that the stepmother forces them into a situation that they may not particularly be willing to participate in could suggest that the stepsisters were raped at an earlier time, thus leaving them out of the marriage pool for life. Alternatively, it could be referencing the rape of their innocence. As they are thrust into these situations, they slowly become more and more deplorable, and eventually they become the horrible monsters portrayed in the story.

“Cinderella” is an incredibly fascinating tale in terms of the symbolism used. The Grimm brothers were truly magnificent in this regard. Their impeccable twisting of ancient and modern symbolism to create such an incredible tale with such a rich undertone is remarkable, and authors in this day and age are hardly able to recreate such wonders.