Cinderella
The Brother's Grimm
Genre: Fairytale
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm known as
The Grimm Brothers were born at Hanau in Hasse-Kassel,
Germany. Jacob Grimm the second son, was born on January 4, 1785 and Wilhelm
Grimm the third son, was born on February 24, 1786. The Grimms were a large family of nine
children, eight boys and one girl. Their father was a lawyer and after his
death they set out to Kassel to attend law school and to follow in their
father’s footsteps.
The Grimms had been collecting fairy tales from the people of Hesse since the early 1800’s.
The Grimms had been collecting fairy tales from the people of Hesse since the early 1800’s.
In this version of Cinderella The
Grimm brother’s tell a similar story with a darker ending
leaving the step-sisters blind for mistreating Cinderella.
A rich man’s wife became ill and
died. He later remarried a woman with two daughters. The daughter’s were cruel
and mean to Cinderella. Cinderella wept and prayed at a tree where a white bird
granted her wishes. The king had a 3 day festival for his son to find a bride
and invited all the ladies of his land but the two stepsisters and her
stepmother did not allow her to go She wept at the tree and the white bird
threw down a beautiful dress each day
for the festival and slippers embroidered with silk and silver. She danced each day with the Prince but each evening ran back home. On the 3rd
night the Prince set up a trap and her left slipper got stuck on the
stairs. The Prince told his father that
no woman shall be his wife except for the woman who fit the golden shoe.
The
step-sisters were happy to hear this and one cut off her toe and one cut off
her heel so fit the shoe but when the Prince noticed the blood coming out of
the shoe he left them behind. The Prince asked the father if he had another
daughter and he said just a deformed daughter from my previous wife. The Prince
insisted on seeing Cinderella and having her try on the shoe. The shoe fit and
he carried her off to marry her. The two step-sisters arrived to the castle for
the wedding to use her good fortune but the birds were upset with their
falsehood and pecked their eyes out.
Provoking Questions:
Do you think the way the step-sisters treated Cinderella is considered bullying?
What do you think the father should have done differently to help Cinderella?
How would you describe the step-mother?
What was your favorite part of the story?
Activity:
Have students write their own version of Cinderella.
Work Cited:
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm.
"Cinderella." 1999. National Geographic.com. 3 July 2003 http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/cinderella.html
INFOSIS (2014). Cinderella, The
Brother’s Grimm.
Bibliography:
Grimm, J., Grimm, W., & Owens, L. (1996). The complete Brothers Grimm fairy tales. New York, NY: Gramercy Books.
Have the student become the fairy godparent and have them describe how the would dress Cinderella and even draw how she would look today.
ReplyDeleteThe children after they write their own Cinderella stories have them put on a play with their own stories.