The Cinderella Complex: Investigating the Subversive Fairytale in Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion And Charles Perrault’s Cinderella

Abstract

Fairytales act as a cultural repository for societies. This repository does not just contain motifs of just one society, but binds various cultures together. The Cinderella character type is no exception. Cinderella does not remain a simple fairytale character, but becomes a symbol for how patriarchal societies treat a victim of abuse. I argue that such a character type, a woman’s rags to riches story, not only fascinates Western countries like France and England, but also Eastern countries like Pakistan. I compare Eliza from Bernard Shaw’s English play Pygmalion with Cinderella from Charles Perrault’s French fairytale, all the while arguing how this fairytale relates to Pakistani women. This is done by using Stith Thompson’s Motif Index of Folk Literature. By drawing on fairytale stock characterslike Cinderella, Shaw creates certain expectations for the audience before flipping them. Perrault’s Cinderella may have escaped her abusive family by following patriarchal standards, but Shaw’s Eliza rebels against them. This comparative analysis aims tosee how certain fairytale motifs transcend borders, subversively criticizing each society they visit. Such a study becomes pertinent to patriarchal societies like Pakistan’s where women may relate their own struggles to a character like Cinderella. In this fashion, the fairytale can even empower marginalized communities like abuse victims.