Cinderella Before the Brothers Grimm

The story of Cinderella has been told many times for almost 400 years, with the latest being a Disney live-action film that came out in 2015. The earliest version of the story was called “Cenerentola” written by Giambattista Basile. The Neapolitan soldier and government official wrote the story as part of the book of stories Pentamerone in 1634. In this earliest version the lead character is a girl named Zezolla, the daughter of a widowed prince. She is watched over by a beloved governess who uses Zezolla to convince the prince to marry her. After the governess and the prince are married she brings her six daughters into the house who spend their time abusing Zezolla, forcing her to act as a servant in the house.

During a trip away from home, the prince goes to the island of Sardinia and meets a fairy who gives him gifts for his daughter, including a golden spade, golden bucket, silken napkin, and a date seedling. Zezolla raises the tree, taking great care of the gifts, and when the king throws a ball she goes to it clothed resplendently in a dress made by a fairy who lives in the date tree. The king falls in love with her but she runs away before he can learn who she is. She eludes him twice then his servants manage to find a slipper that she left behind. The king invites all the maidens to a feast and shoe-testing event, intent on finding the wearer. After she arrives the shoe actually leaps from the king’s hands and lands on Zezolla’s foot then they get married.

The second version of Cinderella was called “Cendrillon,” written by Frenchman Charles Perrault in 1697. In his story a widower with a daughter who was sweet and kind marries a proud woman who has two daughters, both selfish and extremely vain. The stepmother and her daughters treat Cendrillon as a servant forcing her to do chores night and day. They make her live in a cold, secluded room sleeping near the fireplace to stay warm leading them to call her Cinderella since she’d often wake up covered in cinders. Despite this foul treatment she does not complain about her situation or tell her father about the abuse because his wife had complete control over him.

One day the prince invites all of the maidens to a ball in his search for a wife. The stepsisters meticulously plan their outfits all the while mocking Cinderella, saying that maids and servants are not invited to attend. When the sisters leave for the ball Cinderella cries in hopeless despair, unintentionally calling forth her Fairy Godmother. She transforms Cinderella’s raggedy clothing into a lovely gown and shoes into a pair of glass slippers, then sends her to the ball turning a pumpkin into a golden carriage, mice into horses, a rat into the coachman, and use lizards as the footmen. The Fairy Godmother warns Cinderella that she must be home by midnight when the spell will be broken.

When she arrives at the ball everyone is mesmerized by her beauty. Unlike the Disney version, at this first ball Cinderella remembers to leave on time and gets home before midnight. When her stepsisters get home all they talk about is the beautiful woman at the ball because they didn’t recognize her. Another ball is held the next night and Cinderella is able to attend with the help of her Godmother. During the second ball Cinderella and the prince fall in love with each other. She loses track of time and has to rush to her carriage at the stroke of midnight losing one of her glass slippers in her rush to get away. The prince asks the guards outside the palace where she went but all they saw was a simple country girl. The prince finds the slipper and vows to find her. He seeks all the women in his kingdom to find the wearer and when he arrives at Cinderella’s home her stepsisters try their best to woo the prince to no avail. Cinderella asks if she can try on the slipper, despite being mocked by her stepsisters. Of course the slipper fits and she produces the other slipper. The stepsisters beg for forgiveness and Cinderella agrees to let things go then marries the Prince.