I’ve
struggled trying to put my finger on Cynthia Rylant for some time now. I’ve mentioned in my previous two posts on The Old Woman Who Named Things and If You’ll Be My Valentine, that I just
couldn’t define her as a writer. I know
that she is a household (er—classroomhold?) name, and that she has great
descriptive writing, but I just wasn’t feeling it completely. I’m a girl who judges things on the way they
make me feel, so I liked her, but I wasn’t yet in love with her. After reading her Cinderella, I. Finally. Get. It.
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The concept of Cynthia Rylant’s Cinderella (published 2007) is pretty brilliant. Mary Blair was the person who originally painted the Cinderella pictures for Walt Disney’s film. The people at Walt Disney gave Cynthia Rylant the pictures, and told her to write the story of Cinderella. This version of Cinderella is all about the love. It even tells you on the very first page that “This is a story about Love.” Poor Cinderella’s father died, leaving her with an unkind stepmother, unkind sisters, and nothing else but “her beauty and a wish for Love.” It seems that love is all she thinks of. Likewise, the Prince has yet to find a wife because he has yet to fall in love with anyone. His father wants to retire from the throne, and so they host the famous ball. Cinderella is, of course, not invited, and so she cries. Those tears cause a fairy godmother to appear, who allows Cinderella to go to the ball and enter onto her destined path.
This is
my new favorite version of Cinderella. I’m left with a feeling of complete
satisfaction and happiness for what occurs.
After reading several traditional fairytales over the past week or so, I
have been left with a certain taste for them in my mouth—I’m not sure it’s one
I like. Every single fairytale features
nothing but weak women, weird men who fall instantly in love and do things like
offer to buy a dead girl’s casket (I should mentioned she was in the casket. Does that make it better or worse?), and
these horrible archetypical characters. There
has been zero depth to any of the characters that I have been reading
about. I found that aside from the
sorceress in Rapunzel, who I am desperate to learn more about, I have not cared
about a single character. I don’t think
the author(s) of these traditional folktales really wanted you to care
either. The traditional folktales seem
to be focused on morality, justice, and everyone getting their come-uppance. I find that in the end of these traditional
fairy tales, I’m more fascinated by the fact that I have never heard of
Cinderella’s sisters getting their eyes pecked out or Snow White’s stepmother
having to dance to death in red hot shoes, than I am worried about any of the
characters.
Cynthia
Rylant has changed this for me. It may
be because I’m a girl. It may be because
I’m from a different era. It may be
because I’m a big sappy. Or it could be
because I’m a sappy girl from a different era, but I appreciate her emotional
take. In all the other fairytales, the
princes kind of creep me out. This prince,
though, is “a fine son, a son with integrity and courage and loyalty and honor.” No other fairytale I have read has been
concerned about the courage, loyalty, and honor of the prince. And the poor prince just wants to find
love!
Cinderella, too, spends her life
looking for love. When they finally
meet, the next four openings are just magic.
I love them so much, I have to retype them here: First opening when Cinderella goes to the
ball: “Who can say by what mystery two people find each other in this great
wide world?” Second opening when
Cinderella goes to the ball: “How does a young man find his maiden? His heart leads him. He finds her in a room. He asks her to dance. And when he touches her, he knows.” Third
opening when Cinderella goes to the ball: “Cinderella and the young prince
danced into a private world all their own.”
Here comes the real kicker, people.
Are you ready for it? Fourth
opening when Cinderella goes to the ball: “In silence, Love found them.” So may other fairytales have our prince/young
maiden meet, and the prince immediately falls in love and whisks her away. In
this one, they fall in love together. It
somehow feels real on these few pages.
Most fairytales also have the women
as weak, subordinate, and fairly boring.
Granted, this Cinderella does
spend her days wishing for love and doing what other people ask of her, but
there is one critical difference for this Cinderella. (I know it is in the movie as well, but I
love that Cynthia Rylant preserved it.)
In most of the versions, Cinderella’s father or the manservant find
Cinderella and make her try on the shoe.
In this version, Cinderella approaches the duke on her own, and asks if
she can try on the shoe. I appreciate
this Cinderella who takes her destiny into her own hands!
I didn’t think I would like the
pictures, because they aren’t what I remember from the movie. That being said,
I do love them. Looking at these
pictures, I feel like I am glimpsing into history. The idea of Cynthia Rylant and Mary Blair
being connected across the generations amazes me. Folktales are always changing and adapting,
and I like taking something old, like the original paintings that Mary Blair
did for the movie, and making it into a modern, yet timeless tale. It’s incredible, and I think Cynthia and I
can be best friends now.
I haven't seen Rylants version of Cinderella yet, but I will definitely look for it now. My favorite of her books are the Mr Putter and Tabby series, HUGE favorites also with my kids. They are so beautifully written, funny, with so much heart. I also love the writing in When I was Young in the Mountains.
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