Everlasting Story by Carol Bedner

Talk about staying power!  The story of Cinderella has circulated from 1st. century BC through 700-plus renditions in 45 countries, twelve operas, seven ballets, seventeen musical theater productions, over 50 films, 70-plus novels, 36 songs, as well as comics, video games and a jump rope song.  The story is well known to us all: a persecuted good and beautiful heroine who has help from magical friends, goes to a ball and meets prince charming who falls madly in love with her, loses a slipper which then only fits her, marries the prince and they live happily ever after. 

The Cinderella story has preserved over centuries in multiple settings and retellings.  Why?  Perhaps the answer lies in that it is a love story, has good and bad characters, good over evil triumphs and justice prevails, and a lower life position could become royalty.  Maybe it is as simple in that we want a happy ending in our life and look forward to the excitement of it.  Whatever it is, the phenomena has embraced many men, women and children to look for the "silver lining" in our lives.

 

One response to “Everlasting Story by Carol Bedner”

  1. Diana Lucente Avatar
    Diana Lucente

    Very interesting, Carol. I never realized just how ubiquitous the Cinderella story is! It’s funny that you mention the story inspiring a jump rope song because I clearly remember singing one as a child while jumping rope with my friends. It went something like this: “Cinderella – dressed in yellow – went upstairs to kiss her fellow -made a mistake – and kissed a snake – how many doctors will it take? One, two, three, four…”. The jump rope song I learned as a girl makes me laugh now but also, on a more serious note, makes me think that perhaps, a song like this is a subtle warning to little girls not to take the “Cinderella Story” too much to heart – to take care to look for the real princes out there, and to beware of mistaking those snakes for the real thing.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *