What is the moral of Cinderella?

What that actually means

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.

What happens in the story

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.

Questions to ask afterwards

The lesson lands better when a child works it out themselves.

1. Why do you think Cinderella kept being kind, even to people who were unkind to her?
2. What would you have said to the stepsisters if you were her?
3. The godmother says be home by midnight, and does not say why. Why do you think she gave a rule with no reason?
4. Do you think the prince would have found her without the slipper?
5. At the end Cinderella forgives her stepsisters. Was that the right thing to do?