This illustration of Cinderella by Margaret Evans Price is from the 1921 book Once Upon a Time: A Book of Old-Time Fairy Tales. One of the more striking elements of this illustration is how young Cinderella appears; she looks younger than the Cinderella portrayed in most of the other illustrations which could be a result of the later date of this publication. Perhaps as the story moved into more modern times Cinderella became younger (similar to what happened with Little Red Riding Hood in illustrations). Another striking element of the illustration is the portrayal of Cinderella's fairy godmother. Compared to earlier illustrations, the fairy godmother looks more like a sweet grandmother than the angel-like representation illustrations in earlier publications of the tale. Additionally, the combination of the fairy godmother's wand and the sort of magical orb above the pumpkin make the godmother's magic seem more fantastic and cartoon-like than in other illustrations. Thus, the magic portrayed appears to be more similar to that of the Perrault version of the tale, than to the sort of natural, pagan magic of the Grimms' version. This depiction of the fairy godmother is also interesting because her pointed hat and clothing would be more typical of that of an evil witch in modern culture. However, the kind expression on her face assures the viewer that she is indeed a kind fairy godmother as we have come to expect in Cinderella stories.
This illustration is from: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/illustrations/cinderella/pricecindy2.html
I also think its really funny that the fairy godmother looks like a pumpkin herself. she's so round and the dress make her look like a giant blue pumpkin.
ReplyDeleteI really like the fact that you picked up on the witchy appearance of the fairy godmother. She's missing the deformed nose, scaryness, and assorted warts that most illustrations use. It really does associate magic with witchcraft - although in this case, it's a good witch helping Cinderella.
ReplyDeleteMy image also depicted the fairy godmother in a "witchy" way. Both were created around the same time (although mine did not give an exact date) and I find this very interesting. Until we started looking at these images I've never seen anything depicting Cinderella's fairy godmother in a witch-like fashion. The images I have always seen never resembled this traditional witch look. They may have looked like images of Glinda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz but even that is debatable. I wonder if these witch-like images of the fairy godmother are symbolic of a society attempting to stigmatize all things magical.
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