I shall tell 你 the truth: I've been a bit militant in my liking of Cinderella. Negatives opinions made me feel stressed and I have been stubborn and rude. What made me change my point of view and see the wrong of my ways was when I saw link: "I think 灰姑娘 is both overly passive and a doormat, because it's one that leads to the other. In this way, I can sort of relate to her because I'm very passive and shy of confrontation. However, I'm not saying this makes her less of a valid 或者 interesting character. Sometimes its nice to watch a heroine who isn't all assertive and kick butt, at least for me, because I can see a bit 更多 of myself in the former."

I blinked and finally understood that seeing 灰姑娘 as a doormat is just another form of seeing a fictional character. I shouldn't take everything so personally, and I apologize to everyone I've been rude, mean 或者 disrespectful to, especially MacytheStrange. I'm sorry, Maisie, and I hope 你 can forgive me.

But I would like to dedicate a short 文章 telling 你 guys why I don't think 灰姑娘 is a doormat, 或者 someone who can't say "no" 或者 the sort. This is just my way of seeing things, my interpretation of the character and 你 are not obliged to agree with it. I just want to clear my thoughts on that, so I can be in peace with myself.

Why I don't think 灰姑娘 is a doormat:

I don't think 灰姑娘 could run away from home. This doesn't have to do with historical accuracy, because 迪士尼 电影院 aren't really historically accurate. I'm basing this of excerpts from the movie where I view as implying that she couldn't run away from home. Sorry if it's hard to understand what I meant.

1) The society where 灰姑娘 lives seem to work on a patriarchal basis. Based on 语录 and actions from Lady Tremaine, the stepsisters and the King we can tell that the woman's "job", per say, is marrying and bringing up her husband's children. It doesn't seem like there is much opportunity for a single woman to find a proper job and live on her own.

2) Cinderella tells Bruno after he admits dreaming of chasing Lucifer: "So if 你 don't want to lose a warm, nice bed, you'd better get rid of those dreams." A metaphor for her own situation, perhaps? Not far-fetched to assume, since the struggles between the mice and Lucifer are metaphors for Cinderella's own struggles with the Tremaines.

3) When 灰姑娘 walks into Lady Tremaine's bedroom, a prison bars-like shadow is cast over her (pictured below). And what's a prison, after all? A place where 你 (supposedly) can't escape. See the comparision I'm making here?



Of course, much is left to intepretation about Cinderella's motives, and I'm just coming up with my own conclusions. 你 can think she chose to stay because she wanted to honor her father's memory 由 keeping his state in order. 或者 maybe she didn't leave because she wanted to take care of the mice and the other animals. Perhaps Lady Tremaine warned her fellow upper-class members about her, saying her stepdaughter is "just an imaginative child", quoting from the movie (I borrowed this argument from the page I already linked). 或者 maybe she was afraid of her stepmother. Lady Tremaine wouldn't let her go easily, because she doesn't have money to afford a servant, so she need Cinderella's free housekeeping services.



It's always good to leave something vague about the character, because it leads the viewer/reader to use their imagination amd fill in the blanks. In the end, the character becomes 更多 relatable 或者 personal to them. Belle, for example, has her "more than I can tell", and in Sleeping Beauty we are left wondering why Aurora went back to the castle: maturity 或者 lack of backbone (I go with the first)? And Elsa is the perfect exemple: look at how many people managed to imprint their mental illnesses, depression and anxiety in her! With 灰姑娘 we are left wondering why she didn't leave the chateau.

Now, I think there are a lot of reasons some might dislike Cinderella: to be honest, I don't find her the most interesting princess to watch (though I don't find her the least interesting and she manages to hold my attention), and she can sound hypocritical when she reprimands Bruno and tells him to stop dreaming, among other reasons. But in the end, she is my 最喜爱的 princess because she's the one who inspires me the most and has a wonderful personality.

Besides, I can't help but be seduced 由 her honey-like words: "No matter how your 心 is grieving, if 你 keep on believing, the dream that 你 wish will come true".

Thank 你 for reading. I hope 你 enjoyed my simple words. And remember: