Assignment #4- A Cinderella Story

2. The Cinderella formula: In "Lois the Witch," do you see some sort of take on the Cinderella formula? How is the formula the same and how is it different? Is there a prince? Does he save the heroine? What message do you see women writers making women getting caught up in fairy tales--the passivity of waiting for a man to "save" them. Does beauty in weakness serve women well or does it contribute to their downfall? We'll get into this more when we finish Jane Eyre.

In "Lois the Witch," I see many similarities, but also many differences between the short story and Cinderella. It is similar to the fairy tale in these ways: Lois is taken from her home during her adolescence after her parents dramatically pass away. Like Cinderella's evil step-mother, Lois also encounters an unfriendly guardian in Grace. Both are never quite excepted as part of the family. There is a prince figure in Maneassah, but unfortunately, he never fully gets the chance to save her like the prince did with Cinderella. Though there are these similarities, there are more differences between the two tales. Lois is defeated by the evil nature of the community. Her "evil step-sister" Prudence goes far enough to cast Lois in jail and eventual lead to her conviction, and later death, of being a witch. Though Lois outshines the evil in her heart and stays true to her character like when nursing Natee after being beaten by stones, she is never saved by her prince-- saying this, Lois' prince could be God, her Savior; therefore, she is in fact saved because she is true to her religion. I don't believe Lois to be a weak figure like many fairy tale princesses are-- she stays true to herself and doesn't resemble a soft spoken, passive woman.