Cinderella Tellings

Stories by students of WLLC:2473, “Cinderella”

taught by Newell Ann Van Auken

Spring 2023, The University of Iowa

Over the course of the spring semester, the students in “Cinderella” read nearly fifty tellings of the Cinderella story from around the world, starting from the earliest recorded version, written in Chinese in the ninth century. We read folktellings from Vietnam, Tibet, China, Iraq, Brazil, Norway, Ireland, and elsewhere, fairy tales penned by Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, Madame d’Aulnoy, and

Giambattista Basile, and contemporary adaptations by Angela Carter, Aimee Bender, Tanith Lee, Susan Palwick, Peter Straub, and others. We read children’s picture books and visited Special Collections; we read poems by Anne Sexton and Roald Dahl. Some of the stories we read were familiar, but others were not, for example the Brazilian story in which the magical helper was the heroine’s sister, born as a snake wrapped around her neck, or the many stories in which magical helper was a cow, often a reincarnation of the heroine’s mother. The heroine in these stories isn’t always nice, and many stories are violent and surprisingly gruesome. In some tellings, the heroine forgives her abusers and all live happily ever after; in others, she takes revenge. As part of their final project, class members wrote stories inspired by our readings. We now invite you to enjoy these stories.

Sophia Considine

Set in Australia, Sophia Considine’s pair of stories follow the basic plot of the familiar Grimm and Perrault versions while drawing on tellings from other cultures, particularly tales such as “Yexian” (China, 9th c.) and the cognate versions from Southeast Asia that conclude with the violent destruction of the stepmother and sister(s). Also shared with these less familiar versions is the transformation of the heroine into a strong, smart woman who “makes her own magic” and succeeds in marrying the prince. “Facing the Fear” combines the fast-paced linear narration typical of fairy tales with the psychological growth of the main character that is more commonly seen in contemporary adaptations. The companion tale, “Spoiled to Death,” is the same story retold from the stepsister’s perspective. Sophia Considine is finishing her second year at the University of Iowa with a major in English and Creative Writing and minors in Communication Studies, News and Media Literacy, and Theatre Arts.

Facing the Fear

Spoiled to Death

Cahrina Chang

Cahrina Chang presents a playful version of Cinderella set way out West, with a mean stepfamily, farm chores, and a talking cow who is, of course, Ella’s late mother and her magical helper. Like the magical cows of other stories, Her Mother The Cow can talk, but unlike more traditional cowmothers, she has an iPhone and uses her hoof to order up the solutions to Ella’s chorelist from Shamazon and other stores with similar zany names. In the end, it’s the John Deere heir’s cowboy hat (not the glass boot, which must be returned to Shamazon!) that allows Ella to reunite with her beloved and start their tractor ride into the sunset. Cahrina Chang hails from Fairfield, Iowa, and is finishing her third year as a 3D Design major.

Farmer Ella and the Glass Cowboy Boot

Moriah Lee

Moriah Lee’s “Figments of the Heart” draws inspiration from the familiar Brothers Grimm telling “Ashputtle” and a Chinese telling, “The Avenging Black Cow,” and incorporates the full array of elements shared by various Cinderella tales the dead mother, the hazel tree, the abusive stepmother and sisters, the cow and dove as magical helpers and the slaughter of the cow, the mysterious appearance of fancy clothes enabling her to attend a ball lulling us into a comforting sense of familiarity. But as the story progresses, the line between fantasy and reality begin to blur, and we may slowly begin to wonder how reliable our heroine’s point of view really is. Moriah Lee is an English & Creative Writing major from Berryville, Virginia finishing her first year at Iowa.

Figments of the Heart

Elsa Richardson-Bach

In “And So He Took His Vorpal Sword in Hand,” Elsa Richardson-Bach has adapted an Irish tale called “The Bracket Bull,” which features a dragon-slaying hero as Cinderella, instead of the more typical heroine. This story too features a dragon, a hero, and a princess, along with a lost boot, but it is set in a modern-day amusement park. Elsa Richardson-Bach is from Marblehead, Massachusetts, and is about to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in English & Creative Writing with a focus on publishing. She is not a robotics engineer, but if anyone reading this is, a big metal dragon would be a super cool thing to build. Just a thought.

And So He Took His Vorpal Sword in Hand

Raegan Pallas

Raegan Pallas sets her telling at a medieval European banquet. The heroine’s father is the storyteller, and between bites of such delicacies as hedgehog meat pastries and stuffed dormice, he narrates his daughter’s interactions with and subsequent marriage to the prince. But the tale ends with an unexpected twist. Raegan Pallas is from Phoenix, Arizona, and is completing first year at Iowa, with majors in English & Creative Writing and Linguistics and an Arabic Studies minor.

The Storyteller

Grace Shipley

Grace Shipley’s delightfully illustrated telling is primarily a revision of “Dona Labismina,” but she also draws on Japanese telling “Nukabuku, Komebuku” and “The Princess in the Suit of Leather,” since in both these stories, the protagonist has friends who are not magic, but simply helpful. This is a story for children, but (perhaps unlike some of the lessons perpetuated by the more familiar Cinderella story) the lesson of friendship and kindness is one we’re happy for children to learn, and in the end, it is not the heroine but the magical helper who is transformed. Grace Shipley is from Davenport, Iowa and is currently finishing up her fourth year at the University of Iowa, majoring in Geography.

The Princess & the Snake: A Tale of Transformation and Friendship

Evalyn Harper

Evalyn Harper observes that the first time she encountered “Donkey Skin,” she was puzzled that the fairy hadn’t simply used magic to directly protect her goddaughter. Seeking to answer this question for herself, Harper imagines a conversation between the Lilac Fairy our heroine’s “fairy godmother” and a seamstress working on a commission for the royal family, in which the fairy recounts her version of events leading up to those of the Perrault tale. Harper draws inspiration from Aimee Bender’s “The Color Master,” but her telling is considerably darker. Originally from Stillwater, OK, Evalyn Harper followed her love of storytelling to Iowa and will soon be graduating with her BA in English and creative writing and certificate in Event Management.

The Lilac Fairy

Kendyl Green

Kendyl Green’s telling is a response to Charles Perrault’s “Donkey Skin,” with elements inspired by Aimee Bender’s “The Color Master” as well as influences of Perrault’s more romantic “Cinderella” and various Southeast Asian retellings, which give the heroine agency to right the wrongs and destroy those who have abused her. Kendyl Green is from Apple Valley, Minnesota, and will be graduating with a major in English & Creative Writing and a minor in Translation for Global Literacy.

Skinned: A Donkey Skin Retelling

Isabelle Friedman

Isabelle Friedman’s pair of retellings take inspiration from “Donkey Skin,” but the heroine Cindy’s source of help is her elder sister Sophia. In “The Cinderella Support Group,” Cindy shares her traumatic story of loss and escape with a supportive gathering of “Cinderellas” from multiple tales. The companion story, “Sophia’s Revenge” is narrated from Sophia’s perspective, showing how her actions are driven by her rage at her father’s evil plan and her late mother’s hubris, and her desire to protect her younger sister. A native Iowan from Polk City, Isabelle Friedman is finishing her first year at the University of Iowa, majoring in English & Creative Writing with a minor in Criminology.

The Cinderella Support Group

Sophia's Revenge

Gabby Johnson

Gabby Johnson’s telling is a script for a puppet show, combining basic plot elements from the familiar “Cinderella” tale but with a cow as magical helper and bringing in elements from other Cinderella tellings as well. Gabby Johnson is from Davenport, Iowa, and is finishing the first year at Iowa, on track to major in Business Management and Theatrical Design.

Cow Hooves, Wool, and Cardinal Feathers

Rachel Clark

In her story “A Charming Fool,” Rachel Clark tells the familiar “Cinderella” story from the perspective of the prince but offers a welcome transformation. Departing from more familiar stories, with their shallow

depiction of the prince and his fixation with a shoe, this story narrates the prince’s first encounter with the heroine and how he slowly discovers her true self beneath the facade. Rachel Clark is from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and is an English and Creative Writing major, finishing her second year at the University of Iowa.

A Charming Fool

Aleah Heims

Aleah Heims’s story is a companion tale to a Cinderella adaptation by Tanith Lee telling entitled “The Reason for Not Going to the Ball (a Letter to Cinderella from Her Stepmother),” in which the stepmother attempts to justify her abuse of Cinderella. Aleah’s story is Cinderella’s challenging response to that letter. Aleah writes that she loves letters for their “honesty and vulnerability,” and by presenting Cinderella’s story in a letter, she gives new insight into Cinderella’s character. Aleah Heims hails from Manchester, Iowa, and she is completing her second year at Iowa majoring in English and Creative Writing with minors in Business Administration and American Sign Language.

Reasons for Going to the Ball (a Response to her Stepmother from Cinderella)

Emma Gullen

Emma Gullen’s story is an eclectic retelling inspired by “Kerri Woodencoat” and drawing on Aimee Bender’s “The Color Master.” She brings in the frogs of the African tale, “The Maiden, the Frog & the Chief’s Son,” and many other elements as well. Originally from New Hampshire, Emma Gullen grew up in Georgia and Florida. She is finishing her second year at Iowa, with majors in English & Creative Writing and Ancient Civilization and a minor in Korean Studies.

Braken Queen

Valerie Burke

Valerie Burke’s retelling of the “Armenian Cinderella” is set in contemporary America. Unlike most “Cinderella” tellings, this one features a biological family no stepmother or stepsisters and no lost item. Valerie notices that this is one of the few versions that is actually romantic, since the prince loves “Cinderella” and finds her without an identifying token. Rather than dancing at a ball, Valerie’s protagonist and her love interest are teammates on a hockey team. Valerie Burke is from New Jersey and is in her third year at Iowa, majoring in English & Creative Writing on the publishing track.

Puck'er Up

Reem Elamrani

Reem Elamrani takes inspiration from the canonical Perrault telling along with “The Princess in the Suit of Leather,” an Arabic folktale that closely resembles (and perhaps inspired) Perrault’s “Donkey Skin.” There’s a dead mother, an often-absent father, abusive stepmother and stepsisters, a mysterious helper, and there’s about to be a ball ... but then there’s a twist. Reem Elamrani hails from is from San Diego, California, and is finishing her junior year at Iowa, with a major in English & Creative Writing student and a minor in French minor

With Dreams of Leather and Rings

Amy Ha has retold a Brazilian Cinderella tale, “Dona Labismina.” In the original, the heroine’s helper is her sister, born as a snake wrapped around her neck who goes to live in the sea. To transform her sister into a princess, the heroine must call out her name at her wedding but she forgets! What if she’d remembered, and the snake had been transformed into a beautiful princess what would have happened then? This is the story Amy tells us. Amy Ha is from Sioux City, Iowa, and is about to graduate with majors in International Studies and Translation, and a minor in Chinese.

Dona Labismina