The role of traditional gender stereotyping is a main element that is present in all fairytales in one way or another. Whether the story is confronting these stereotypes, or conforming to them, they always play a large part in the stories psychologically on young girls. They center on a narrative of romance and marriage with some sort of social conflict in between. Reading Children's Literature: A Critical Introduction says that most of the famous Disney films end in romantic pairings, or even marriage. (Hintz and Tribunella, 387) This is not limited to Disney however, this underlying theme started long before in original fairytale stories written by the Brother’s Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. June Cumming’s writings in 1995 say, “While one may argue that Disney is not responsible for this tendency because fairy tales have always relied on the romance plot, it is possible to see that in fact Disney magnifies the romantic element of its versions of the tales” (Hintz and Tribunella, 388). Along with the romantic elements in these stories comes gender stereotyping. What makes up a fairytale is often the similarities of the main characters, which include a delicate princess needing saving from a man in some sort of way whether it is physical, emotional, or social. Most of these stories were written in a time before the feminist movement when these stereotypes were a very real part of social life. “These films (or stories), which constitute part of the common culture of generations of audiences, also depict powerfully influential images of what it means to be a man or a woman and how men and women should view each other” (Hintz and Tribunella, 388). Recently, there have been more stories being written that confront these gender stereotypes and praise female heroines and protagonists. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, is one of these stories. Initially, Ella Enchanted conforms to traditional gender stereotyping by expressing Ella’s enchantment of obedience as a “gift”, but it eventually resists the stereotype that women should be obedient and submissive when Ella saves her love, Prince Char, from what she views as a curse and breaks free of the spell placed on her by relying on her own strong will.
Ella Enchanted is set in the imaginary land of Frell. At the beginning of the story, Ella is born and is put under a spell/gift of obedience by a prideful fairy named Lucinda. Because of this, Ella has to do everything she is told whether she wants to or not, or whether it is dangerous or not. At the beginning of the story the obedience spell is described as a “gift”, conforming to gender stereotypes by having a positive connotation of the word. This is usually seen in older fairytale stories when men wanted to shape young girls’ minds to grow up to be a certain way. Throughout the book however, the seriousness of Ella’s “gift” is often accentuated by expressing how little control Ella has over her life. The book starts to describe the gift of obedience as a curse, which is the first sign of confronting gender stereotypes saying, “Anyone could control me with an order. […] against an order I was powerless” (Levine, 1). This is showing that being completely obedient without a choice and not having a say in one’s own life can actually be dangerous to them. This challenges the stereotype of submission and obedience in most fairytales. As the story goes on, this curse proves to be impossible to live with so Ella leaves her finishing school to try and find the fairy, Lucinda, to lift the curse. On this journey Ella falls in love with a prince named Char, which addresses the romantic element in most fairytales. However, they fall in love over a period of time while building a deep friendship unlike other fairytales where the “love at first sight” theme is promoted. More difficulties arise on her quest and when she finally reaches Lucinda at a masked ball the fairy refuses to lift the curse. The Cinderella plot of the story is seen clearly at this ball because Ella has to return home by midnight and she loses a glass slipper, which allows Prince Char to find her in the end. Ella’s fairy godmother and evil stepsisters, which are other elements in the Cinderella story, are present throughout the novel, however. Eventually, when Prince Char does find Ella because of the glass slipper, she tells him that she does not love him and does not want to be with him because she is afraid of what the curse could do to him. She says, “I’m cursed. You wouldn’t be safe if I were your wife” (Levine, 227). By telling the truth about her curse and defying the promise that she made to her mother not to tell anyone, it broke the curse and Ella was free. Although, this story conforms to the romantic element of fairytales, Ella saves herself and her love from the dictating power of the curse instead of Char saving her. She says, “I had been able to break the curse myself. I’d had to have reason enough, love enough to do it, to find the will and the strength” (Levine, 228). This story tells a love story in the way that it is supposed to be. There is mutual respect between Char and Ella and true love and sacrifice is shown by both of them for each other. They do not fall in love at first sight and Ella is not using him to escape her social status and unloving family. This theme challenges traditional fairytale stories alone. Feministic views do not always mean that one should not fall in love and get married it just means that there should be a mutual respect and that each person should work together to make each other happy.
Along with the more realistic love story elements, Ella defies most fairytale gender stereotypes just by being who she is. She is clumsy, smart, and very strong willed. On many different occasions we are told that Ella is excessively clumsy. “My heavy black gown tripped me and I fell” (Levine, 11). This is one reason that her father sends her to finishing school so that they can try to teach her to be a lady and not so clumsy. Although it is never mentioned that Ella is unattractive, it never says that she is enchantingly beautiful like most princesses in fairytales. Instead, she relies more on her intelligence. When she is at finishing school she proves to be very intelligent and kind and makes true friendships there. She uses her intelligence and wit to escape many dangerous situations caused by her curse. She escapes an ogre-infested forest along with other challenges at finishing school and saves many people she loves along with herself. We are told that Ella is very stubborn, which completely defies gender stereotyping of the timid, submissive princesses of traditional fairytales. By challenging this obedience aspect as a curse, Levine clearly makes a theme of the importance of free will out of it, especially when Ella breaks free of it in the end.
Feminists usually oppose traditional fairy tales because they support the thinking of a patriarchal society by encouraging girls to behave like the stereotypical helpless woman and wait for a charming and usually wealthy prince to take charge and save them from whatever it may be that they need. In response to this, many authors such as Gail Levine have tried to reshape the motives of fairy tales for girls especially in recent years after the feminist movement. In the article, "Ella Enchanted: A (mildly Feminist) Chick Lit Wednesday Review" Emma Carbone says, “These retellings feature active protagonists who are not scared of taking charge and do not need princes to save them” (Carbone). Ella Enchanted addresses many specific feminist issues, especially fighting the “curse” of obedience, the importance of female friendships and, learning to rely on yourself as an independent woman. The book is also full of great role models for girls. “All of the female characters are strong, self-aware women–things seen far too rarely in the fairy tale genre” (Carbone). Lastly, the story is narrated in Ella’s voice, which makes it easy to see how strong Ella is as a character, especially when she is narrating the main conflict at the end of the story when she finally breaks the spell. (Carbone) This book is the perfect balance between strong female characters and still finding true love and being happy with another person without needing them, but instead choosing them.
The feminist values that are being seen more in recent fairytale stories are encouraging to young girls to build their own lives by being who they are; not who someone says they should be. God made each of us the way we were supposed to be to contribute to the world, and to each other, in different ways. If every woman were beautiful and timid that would make for a very ineffective race of women. However, if every woman was strong willed and did not want to find love ever, there would not be enough caring mothers in the world. God made man and woman to be compatible with each other and make up for what each other lacks. When this is done right, men and women can work together to achieve greater things. When one side takes advantage or overcompensates their part, stereotyping and disrespect is created and mutual respect is lost. The Bible says, “And a new commandment that I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another” (John 13:34).
References:
Carbone, Emma. "Ella Enchanted: A (mildly Feminist) Chick Lit Wednesday Review." Miss Print. WordPress.com, 5 Dec. 2007. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. http://missprint.wordpress.com/2007/12/05/ella-enchanted-a-mildly-feminist-chick-lit-wednesday-review//
Hintz, Carrie, and Eric L. Tribunella. Reading Children's Literature: A Critical Introduction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1997. Print.
Ella Enchanted is set in the imaginary land of Frell. At the beginning of the story, Ella is born and is put under a spell/gift of obedience by a prideful fairy named Lucinda. Because of this, Ella has to do everything she is told whether she wants to or not, or whether it is dangerous or not. At the beginning of the story the obedience spell is described as a “gift”, conforming to gender stereotypes by having a positive connotation of the word. This is usually seen in older fairytale stories when men wanted to shape young girls’ minds to grow up to be a certain way. Throughout the book however, the seriousness of Ella’s “gift” is often accentuated by expressing how little control Ella has over her life. The book starts to describe the gift of obedience as a curse, which is the first sign of confronting gender stereotypes saying, “Anyone could control me with an order. […] against an order I was powerless” (Levine, 1). This is showing that being completely obedient without a choice and not having a say in one’s own life can actually be dangerous to them. This challenges the stereotype of submission and obedience in most fairytales. As the story goes on, this curse proves to be impossible to live with so Ella leaves her finishing school to try and find the fairy, Lucinda, to lift the curse. On this journey Ella falls in love with a prince named Char, which addresses the romantic element in most fairytales. However, they fall in love over a period of time while building a deep friendship unlike other fairytales where the “love at first sight” theme is promoted. More difficulties arise on her quest and when she finally reaches Lucinda at a masked ball the fairy refuses to lift the curse. The Cinderella plot of the story is seen clearly at this ball because Ella has to return home by midnight and she loses a glass slipper, which allows Prince Char to find her in the end. Ella’s fairy godmother and evil stepsisters, which are other elements in the Cinderella story, are present throughout the novel, however. Eventually, when Prince Char does find Ella because of the glass slipper, she tells him that she does not love him and does not want to be with him because she is afraid of what the curse could do to him. She says, “I’m cursed. You wouldn’t be safe if I were your wife” (Levine, 227). By telling the truth about her curse and defying the promise that she made to her mother not to tell anyone, it broke the curse and Ella was free. Although, this story conforms to the romantic element of fairytales, Ella saves herself and her love from the dictating power of the curse instead of Char saving her. She says, “I had been able to break the curse myself. I’d had to have reason enough, love enough to do it, to find the will and the strength” (Levine, 228). This story tells a love story in the way that it is supposed to be. There is mutual respect between Char and Ella and true love and sacrifice is shown by both of them for each other. They do not fall in love at first sight and Ella is not using him to escape her social status and unloving family. This theme challenges traditional fairytale stories alone. Feministic views do not always mean that one should not fall in love and get married it just means that there should be a mutual respect and that each person should work together to make each other happy.
Along with the more realistic love story elements, Ella defies most fairytale gender stereotypes just by being who she is. She is clumsy, smart, and very strong willed. On many different occasions we are told that Ella is excessively clumsy. “My heavy black gown tripped me and I fell” (Levine, 11). This is one reason that her father sends her to finishing school so that they can try to teach her to be a lady and not so clumsy. Although it is never mentioned that Ella is unattractive, it never says that she is enchantingly beautiful like most princesses in fairytales. Instead, she relies more on her intelligence. When she is at finishing school she proves to be very intelligent and kind and makes true friendships there. She uses her intelligence and wit to escape many dangerous situations caused by her curse. She escapes an ogre-infested forest along with other challenges at finishing school and saves many people she loves along with herself. We are told that Ella is very stubborn, which completely defies gender stereotyping of the timid, submissive princesses of traditional fairytales. By challenging this obedience aspect as a curse, Levine clearly makes a theme of the importance of free will out of it, especially when Ella breaks free of it in the end.
Feminists usually oppose traditional fairy tales because they support the thinking of a patriarchal society by encouraging girls to behave like the stereotypical helpless woman and wait for a charming and usually wealthy prince to take charge and save them from whatever it may be that they need. In response to this, many authors such as Gail Levine have tried to reshape the motives of fairy tales for girls especially in recent years after the feminist movement. In the article, "Ella Enchanted: A (mildly Feminist) Chick Lit Wednesday Review" Emma Carbone says, “These retellings feature active protagonists who are not scared of taking charge and do not need princes to save them” (Carbone). Ella Enchanted addresses many specific feminist issues, especially fighting the “curse” of obedience, the importance of female friendships and, learning to rely on yourself as an independent woman. The book is also full of great role models for girls. “All of the female characters are strong, self-aware women–things seen far too rarely in the fairy tale genre” (Carbone). Lastly, the story is narrated in Ella’s voice, which makes it easy to see how strong Ella is as a character, especially when she is narrating the main conflict at the end of the story when she finally breaks the spell. (Carbone) This book is the perfect balance between strong female characters and still finding true love and being happy with another person without needing them, but instead choosing them.
The feminist values that are being seen more in recent fairytale stories are encouraging to young girls to build their own lives by being who they are; not who someone says they should be. God made each of us the way we were supposed to be to contribute to the world, and to each other, in different ways. If every woman were beautiful and timid that would make for a very ineffective race of women. However, if every woman was strong willed and did not want to find love ever, there would not be enough caring mothers in the world. God made man and woman to be compatible with each other and make up for what each other lacks. When this is done right, men and women can work together to achieve greater things. When one side takes advantage or overcompensates their part, stereotyping and disrespect is created and mutual respect is lost. The Bible says, “And a new commandment that I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another” (John 13:34).
References:
Carbone, Emma. "Ella Enchanted: A (mildly Feminist) Chick Lit Wednesday Review." Miss Print. WordPress.com, 5 Dec. 2007. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. http://missprint.wordpress.com/2007/12/05/ella-enchanted-a-mildly-feminist-chick-lit-wednesday-review//
Hintz, Carrie, and Eric L. Tribunella. Reading Children's Literature: A Critical Introduction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1997. Print.