Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination

by Vigen Guroian

Perrault’s Cinderella is most certainly good, but she also is inherently passive. Things happen to or for Cinderella. Her triumph is brought about by the unilateral intervention of a fairy godmother who suddenly appears, without explanation, except that she has observed Cinderella in tears. By the mere tap of her magical wand, this fairy godmother provides Cinderella ex machina with all that she needs to attend the royal ball and capture the prince’s attention. By contrast, the Grimms’ Cinderella forges her own destiny, though not without crucial assistance. And she exhibits independence right from the start: “After her mother’s death the maiden went every day to visit her grave and weep.”2 Cinderella makes these visits on her own initiative, whereas her father does not once visit his wife’s grave. Later she decides on her own, despite the obstacles thrown before her, to go to the royal festival in which a bride will be chosen for the prince.