This illustration grabbed my attention, not because of Cinderella, but because of her fairy godmother. It was created by Paul Woodroffe sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. The fairy godmother looks nothing like I have always pictured her in my mind. In this illustration her image looks much more like a witch than a fairy godmother. She is dressed almost entirely in black and dons what is clearly a witch's hat upon her head. The little color she does have in her outfit is blood red and her face is as white as a ghost's. Any child viewing this image would probably feel a sense of fear and/or concern for Cinderella, who looks to be lost in thought and completely innocent by the fireplace.
Cinderella's fairy godmother appears to be anything other than a benevolent guardian sent to help her. For this reason I the illustration was probably created for adults who could understand that outside appearance and inner goodness are not necessarily connected. I cannot help but wonder if the artist was attempting to comment on social structure at the time.
I agree that it is very interesting that the fairy godmother looks more similar to the modern portrayal of a witch rather than a sweet, grandmotherly godmother (such as in the Disney film). It also is interesting that the fairy godmother appears to performing magic behind Cinderella's back without her knowledge. I wonder if this sort of concept of the fairy godmother was common in this time or if the illustrator was depicting his own commentary on the tale.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the portrayl of the grandmother is quite interesting and that we could link the pic to the idea that outside appearance and inner goodness are not necessarily connected. In one of the stories we read the girl falls into a well and meets an ugly and scary looking woman who is surprisingly a good fairy. In the story the Cinderella becomes homesick so maybe the girl is thinking about her family. Also the painting reminds us that witches and fairies maybe related. Lucifer was an angel that got kicked out of heaven. Maybe witches are fairies gone bad and kicked out of fairyville. Maybe witches are fairies that refuse to follow the rules and are condemned to "the pit of fire." Interestingly a number of the witches that have been punished are punished by fire.Maybe fairies are the pagean equivalent to angels.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that the fairy godmother is depicted in a less than amiable way, I don't think that angels play a part in this equation. Also, witches were typically considered to be real people of a different (and potentially evil, in reference to the witch hunts) worship. Fairies, on the other hand, are of the realm of fairy tales and not pagan"ville", and hence hold special relevance to Cinderella. Perhaps the connection could be made, instead, between the the artist's rendition as a realistic portrayal of the story, thus substituting the fanciful element of the fairytale with a more human godmother. This realism would blend nicely with the realistic lighting effects and artistic rendition of the scene
ReplyDelete