Cinderella
Told by Charles PerraultFranceTale type ATU 510A
- Age
- 4 to 9
- Reading time
- 8 minutes
- Scariness
- 1 of 5Mild tension, resolved at once
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The story
Once there was a girl whose mother had died, and whose father married again. The new wife brought two daughters of her own, and the three of them looked around the house and decided who would be doing the work in it.
It was not going to be them.
So the girl swept the floors and lit the fires and carried the water and mended the clothes, and when the day was finally finished there was nowhere warm left for her to sit except the stone hearth beside the dying fire. She slept there, among the soft grey cinders, and in the morning there was always ash in her hair.
The stepsisters thought this was extremely funny. "Cinderella," they called her, and laughed, and the name stuck to her the way ash sticks to everything.
She did not argue. She had learned that arguing only gave them something else to enjoy. But she was kind to the birds that came to the kitchen window, and kind to the old woman who sold eggs at the gate, and kind to her stepsisters too, which cost her the most and which nobody noticed at all.
Then one morning a man in a fine coat came up the lane with a letter.
The prince was giving a ball. Every young woman in the kingdom was invited. Every single one.
The house went off like a kettle. There were ribbons to choose and shoes to argue about and hair to be pinned and unpinned and pinned again, and Cinderella did all of it, for both of them, for three days.
"You must wish you were coming," said the elder stepsister, in front of the mirror.
"I do," said Cinderella.
Both of them laughed until they had to sit down.
On the night of the ball the carriage rolled away down the lane, and the house went very quiet, and Cinderella sat down on the hearth in the ashes and cried. Not loudly. She had got out of the habit of being loud.
"Well," said a voice. "That won't do."
There was a woman standing in the kitchen who had certainly not come through the door. She was small and round and slightly out of breath, and she was holding a thin wand as though she had only just remembered where she put it.
"I am your godmother," she said. "I have been meaning to visit. Fetch me a pumpkin."
Cinderella, who had learned not to ask questions, fetched a pumpkin.
The godmother tapped it, and it swelled and gilded and stretched until a golden carriage stood in the yard with its wheels turning gently in the mud. Six mice from the trap became six grey horses. A rat from the water-butt became a coachman with magnificent whiskers. Six lizards from behind the watering can became six footmen, who looked rather pleased about it.
"And you," said the godmother, and tapped her once.
Cinderella looked down. The ash-grey dress was gone. What she was wearing now moved like water when she breathed, and on her feet were two slippers made of glass, which should have been impossible, and which fitted perfectly.
"Go and enjoy yourself," said her godmother. "One rule. Be out of that palace before the clock finishes striking midnight. Not while it strikes. Before."
"Why?"
"Because I said midnight," said her godmother, "and I am not going to explain myself in my own kitchen. Go."
At the palace, everybody stopped talking when she came in. The prince crossed the whole length of the hall to reach her and did not dance with anyone else all evening. He asked her name four times and she changed the subject four times, and each time he laughed as though she had done something clever.
Her stepsisters, who were standing right there, did not know her at all. Cinderella brought them oranges and asked how they were enjoying the ball, and they said it was the finest night of their lives, and they told this stranger all about their terrible sister at home who was probably asleep in the fireplace.
Cinderella said she was sorry to hear it.
Then the clock began to strike.
She was down the staircase before the second stroke, with the prince calling after her and the whole hall turning to watch, and somewhere between the top step and the bottom one of the glass slippers came off her foot and stayed exactly where it fell.
On the twelfth stroke, in the dark of the palace gardens, a girl in a grey dress was walking home with a pumpkin under one arm and six mice in her pocket and one glass slipper in her hand.
The prince did a thorough job of looking for her. His men went to every house in the kingdom with the slipper on a cushion, and every young woman in it tried to put her foot into a shoe made of glass, which is a thing that either fits or very obviously does not.
When they came to Cinderella's house, the stepsisters tried first. They pushed and they curled their toes and the elder one said the shoe had shrunk, and it had not.
"Is there anyone else?" the man asked.
"No," said the stepmother.
"There is me," said Cinderella, from the kitchen doorway, with ash in her hair.
The stepsisters started to laugh, and stopped, because Cinderella had sat down and put on the slipper as easily as putting on a slipper, and then reached into her apron pocket and brought out the other one.
Nobody in that room said anything for quite a long time.
And here is the part that most people forget. When Cinderella went to the palace, she took her stepsisters with her. She said that they had not been kind, and that she was not going to pretend otherwise, and that they were coming anyway, because she was not going to become someone who left people behind.
They were so surprised that they behaved beautifully for the rest of their lives.
What is the moral of Cinderella?
Being kind when nobody is watching is still worth it.
It is tempting to read Cinderella as a story about being rescued, and plenty of retellings have made it one. Perrault's version is stranger and better than that. Cinderella is not rewarded for waiting quietly; she is rewarded for having stayed a decent person under conditions that would have made most people bitter. When she finally has power, the very first thing she does with it is forgive her stepsisters, which is the part nobody remembers and the only part that is really about character.
Talk about it
- Why do you think Cinderella kept being kind, even to people who were unkind to her?
- What would you have said to the stepsisters if you were her?
- The godmother says be home by midnight, and does not say why. Why do you think she gave a rule with no reason?
- Do you think the prince would have found her without the slipper?
- At the end Cinderella forgives her stepsisters. Was that the right thing to do?
Who is in the story
Cinderella
protagonist · human
The daughter of the house, put to work in it by the people who moved in. She sleeps on the hearth and is named after the ashes.
- Kind
- 10 out of 10
- Brave
- 7 out of 10
- Clever
- 7 out of 10
- Honest
- 9 out of 10
- Curious
- 6 out of 10
- Patient
- 10 out of 10
The Stepmother
antagonist · human
Arrived with two daughters, looked around the house, and decided who would be doing the work in it.
- Kind
- 1 out of 10
- Brave
- 4 out of 10
- Clever
- 7 out of 10
- Honest
- 2 out of 10
- Curious
- 3 out of 10
- Patient
- 8 out of 10
The Stepsisters
antagonist · human
Two sisters who invented the name Cinderella, found it hilarious, and never once wondered whether it was.
- Kind
- 2 out of 10
- Brave
- 3 out of 10
- Clever
- 3 out of 10
- Honest
- 4 out of 10
- Curious
- 5 out of 10
- Patient
- 2 out of 10
The Godmother
helper · human
Turns up in the kitchen without using the door, slightly out of breath, and starts asking for vegetables.
- Kind
- 9 out of 10
- Brave
- 8 out of 10
- Clever
- 10 out of 10
- Honest
- 8 out of 10
- Curious
- 5 out of 10
- Patient
- 3 out of 10
The Prince
deuteragonist · human
Throws a ball to meet everyone in the kingdom, meets one person, and then spends a considerable amount of effort finding her again.
- Kind
- 8 out of 10
- Brave
- 7 out of 10
- Clever
- 6 out of 10
- Honest
- 9 out of 10
- Curious
- 9 out of 10
- Patient
- 8 out of 10
In a nutshell
A girl is made to sleep in the ashes by her stepmother and stepsisters while they go to the ball. With help from her godmother she gets one night out, one beautiful dress, and one warning: be home by midnight. She very nearly is.
Scene by scene
20 moments from the tale.
- Scene 1The Kitchenquietly unfair
The name they gave her
Cinderella sleeps on the hearth because it is the only warm place left, and wakes with ash in her hair. Her stepsisters find the name they invented for it very funny.
They made up the name. It stuck
- Scene 2The Kitchenbleak
Three days of ribbons
Cinderella spends three days dressing her stepsisters for the ball, pinning and unpinning hair, and is asked whether she wishes she were going.
She did their hair for three days
- Scene 3The Lanecarefully neutral
Every single one
A man in a fine coat brings a letter up the lane and goes away again. The stepmother reads it at the gate, and Cinderella, standing a step behind her with a basket, hears the one word that matters.
Every young woman. Every single one
- Scene 4The Laneleft behind
The carriage rolled away
The stepsisters climb into the carriage in a cloud of ribbons and elbows, entirely delighted with themselves, and Cinderella holds the door for them and wishes them a good evening and means it.
Don't wait up
- Scene 5The Kitchenquietly heartbroken
Not loudly
The house is empty and there is nothing left to carry or mend or sweep. Cinderella sits down on the hearth in the cinders and cries, and the story is careful to tell us she does it quietly.
She had got out of the habit of being loud
- Scene 6The Kitchenstartling
Well. That won't do.
A voice comes from a kitchen that was empty a moment ago. There is a small round old woman standing in it, slightly out of breath, patting her pockets for a wand she has only just remembered the location of.
She had certainly not come through the door
- Scene 7The Kitchensudden and warm
Fetch me a pumpkin
Cinderella is crying on the hearth when a small round woman who did not use the door tells her that this will not do, and asks for a vegetable.
She did not come through the door
- Scene 8The Kitchendelighted
Six mice and a rat
The pumpkin swells and gilds and stretches into a carriage. Then the godmother works through the kitchen like somebody doing an inventory: six mice from the trap, the rat from the water-butt, and six lizards from behind the watering can.
The lizards looked rather pleased about it
- Scene 9The Kitchentransformed
It moved like water
The godmother taps her once. The ash-grey dress is simply gone, and what Cinderella is wearing instead moves like water when she breathes, and on her feet are two slippers made of glass that fit perfectly.
Which should have been impossible
- Scene 10The Lanefirm
Not while it strikes. Before.
There is exactly one condition, and the godmother is extremely precise about it: out of the palace before the clock finishes striking midnight. Not during. Before. When Cinderella asks why, she gets no reason whatsoever.
I am not going to explain myself in my own kitchen
- Scene 11The Palace Ballroombreathless
Everybody stopped talking
She comes in and the room stops. The prince crosses the entire length of the ballroom to reach her, in front of everybody, and does not dance with another person for the rest of the evening.
He crossed the whole length of the hall
- Scene 12The Palace Ballroomdelighted
He asked four times
He asks her name four times over the course of the evening and she changes the subject four times, and every single time he laughs as though she has done something clever rather than something evasive.
She changed the subject four times
- Scene 13The Palace Ballroomwickedly funny
They did not know her
Cinderella brings her stepsisters oranges and asks if they are enjoying the ball. They do not recognise her, and tell her all about their dreadful sister at home.
They told her all about her awful sister
- Scene 14The Palace Ballroomsudden
Then the clock began to strike
The first stroke of midnight goes through the ballroom like a dropped plate. Cinderella's whole face changes, and she is already moving before the prince has understood that anything is wrong.
She was gone before the second stroke
- Scene 15The Palace Staircaseurgent
Midnight on the staircase
The clock begins to strike and Cinderella runs. One glass slipper comes off on the staircase and stays exactly where it falls.
She was gone by the second stroke
- Scene 16The Laneoddly peaceful
A pumpkin under one arm
On the twelfth stroke, in the dark of the palace gardens, everything goes back to what it was. A girl in a grey dress walks home with a pumpkin under one arm, six mice in her pocket and one glass slipper in her hand.
Six mice in her pocket and one glass slipper in her hand
- Scene 17The Kitchenstraining
It has shrunk, and it had not
The slipper comes to the house on a cushion. The stepsisters push and curl their toes and the elder one announces that the shoe has shrunk, and the story notes flatly that it had not.
Which is a thing that either fits or very obviously does not
- Scene 18The Kitchenquietly triumphant
There is me
The stepmother says there is nobody else in the house. Cinderella says there is, sits down, puts on the slipper, and takes the second one out of her apron pocket.
Then she took out the other one
- Scene 19The Kitchenlevelling
And then the other one
She sits down and puts the slipper on as easily as putting on a slipper, because it is hers. The stepsisters start to laugh and stop. Then she reaches into her apron pocket and brings out the other one.
Nobody in that room said anything for quite a long time
- Scene 20The Laneunexpectedly generous
She took them with her
When Cinderella went to the palace she took her stepsisters with her. She told them plainly that they had not been kind and that she was not going to pretend otherwise, and that they were coming regardless.
The part most people forget
Where it happens
The Kitchen
room
The warmest room in the house and the only one where Cinderella is allowed to sit down.
The Lane
country road
The road the carriage goes down without her, and the road she walks home along.
The Palace Ballroom
hall
Where everyone in the kingdom is invited and where exactly two of them notice each other.
The Palace Staircase
staircase
Where the clock catches up with her, and where the slipper stays behind.
How they are connected
A woman who never raised her voice and never needed to.
CinderellaThe Stepsisterssibling
Two sisters who made up a cruel nickname, and the girl who let them keep using it because arguing made it worse.
CinderellaThe Princefriend
He asks her name four times. She changes the subject four times. He finds this delightful.
CinderellaThe Godmothermentor
Someone who promised to look after her a long time ago, arriving very late and in a hurry.
Things you might not know
The glass slipper may be a translation mistake. Some scholars argue the original was a fur slipper (vair in French), misheard as glass (verre). Others think Perrault chose glass deliberately, because unlike fur it cannot stretch to fit the wrong foot.
Cinderella is one of the most widespread stories on earth. Versions have been recorded in China as early as the ninth century, roughly eight hundred years before Perrault.
Folklorists file the story as ATU 510A, and there are more than five hundred recorded variants across Europe, Asia and Africa.
In Perrault's original, Cinderella forgives her stepsisters and finds them husbands at court. The stepsisters only get punished in the Grimms' much later and much darker version.
Perrault published the tales under his son's name. Writing fairy tales was not thought a serious occupation for a senior government official.
The oldest written Cinderella is Chinese. Ye Xian was recorded around the year 850, and in it a magic fish takes the place of the fairy godmother.
In the Grimms' German version there is no fairy godmother. A hazel tree grows on her mother's grave and birds bring her what she needs.
Rossini's 1817 opera removes all the magic. No godmother, no pumpkin, no glass slipper, and it is still one of the most performed operas in the world.
What things stand for
- The ashes
- Where she sleeps, and the name they gave her for it. The one thing about her nobody can wash off, right up until it stops mattering.
- The glass slipper
- A shoe that cannot stretch. It either fits or it very obviously does not, which is why it works as evidence and why the stepsisters cannot cheat.
- The pumpkin and the mice
- Everything she needed was already in that kitchen. The godmother does not bring anything with her; she uses what is lying about.
- Midnight
- A rule with no reason attached. The godmother refuses to explain it, and Cinderella follows it anyway, which is the difference between her and her stepsisters.
- The second slipper in her apron
- She kept it. All that time in the ashes she had proof in her pocket and never once produced it, because nobody had asked.
The same story elsewhere
Folk tales are not owned by whoever wrote them down first.
Ye Xian
China, c. 850
Written down eight hundred years before Perrault. A magic fish helps her, and she loses a tiny golden shoe.
Rhodopis
Greece and Egypt, c. 1st century BC
An eagle carries off a slave girl's sandal and drops it in the pharaoh's lap. Often called the oldest Cinderella of all.
The Cat Cinderella
Italy, 1634
Basile's version, in which Cinderella murders her first stepmother with a trunk lid and acquires a second. Considerably darker.
Aschenputtel
Germany, 1812
The Grimms' version. No fairy godmother but a hazel tree on her mother's grave, and the stepsisters cut off parts of their feet to fit the shoe.
Where you might already know it from
Most children meet a screen version first. Here is what those changed.
Cendrillon
opera, Jules Massenet, 1899
First performed at the Opera-Comique in Paris on 24 May 1899 and based on Perrault. Prince Charming is sung by a woman, and the fairies draw the two of them together under a magic oak in an enchanted forest before the slipper ever does.
Cendrillon
ballet, Sergei Prokofiev, 1945
A full-length ballet written during the Second World War. The stepsisters are comic roles, traditionally danced by men.
La Cenerentola
opera, Gioachino Rossini, 1817
Removes the magic entirely. There is no fairy godmother and no glass slipper, only a bracelet and a philosopher, and Cinderella forgives everyone at the end.
Questions parents ask
- What is the moral of Cinderella?
- Being kind when nobody is watching is still worth it.
- What is Cinderella about?
- A girl is made to sleep in the ashes by her stepmother and stepsisters while they go to the ball. With help from her godmother she gets one night out, one beautiful dress, and one warning: be home by midnight. She very nearly is.
- What age is Cinderella for?
- Cinderella suits ages 4-9.
- How long does Cinderella take to read?
- About 8 minutes read aloud.
- Where does Cinderella come from?
- Cinderella is a traditional tale from France.
Sing it
Every story here has its own song. This one is warm, patient, quietly hopeful, about 92 beats a minute.
Ash in My Hair
gentle acoustic folk waltz
There is no recording yet. The words are here so you can sing it yourself.
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