¶ … Grimm and Disney approached the Cinderella story. Inherent in those differences are very concepts of social construction of knowledge as well as necessary concessions to their respective time periods. Grimm's treatment is a reflection of medieval influences and an emotionally sensitive protagonist who shares a loving relationship with her father and symbiosis and harmony with the natural world. By contrast, Disney's Cinderella presents the protagonist as a tortured soul. Meanwhile, the thematic influences cater to modern sensibilities in the absence of the harsh medieval realities of punishment and physical mutilation.
The plots also reflect significant changes as between the two treatments. In that respect, the contemporary version of the story also had the benefit of multiple adaptations to incorporate modern audience sensibilities. Disney introduces an entirely new character to replace the wench by the fire. The...
Grimm employed subtly whereas Disney exploited visual media, such as by distinguishing Cinderella from her sisters in their physical appearance rather than by the beauty in their hearts in Grimm's style. Meanwhile, Grimm's original version would have been regarded as morbid by later film audiences, whether in connection with the emphasis on the death of Cinderella's mother and on harsh consequences eventually suffered by her sisters. Grimm's original and the subsequent versions produced in the same time period also reflected links to geopolitical conflicts of the era as well as the general preoccupation with the theme of goodness vs. evil inherent in the psyche of most people within predominantly Christian society.
In T.S. Eliot's The…
