Variations of Cinderella

There are many variations of Cinderella stories. Although they come in many forms, they illustrate shared commonalities as well as their own uniqueness within each tale. However, Alan Suddon's version of Cinderella differs due to its unique descriptions of settings along with characters.

Charles Perrault's version of Cinderella; Cendrillon was introduced in 1697 and aimed towards an aristocratic audience. The focus of this variant was directed to the descriptions of the settings and character's attire rather than Cinderella's loss and the envy of the step sisters. In contrast, Jacob and Wilhem Grimm's version, Aschenputtel, which was published in 1812, captured the voice of bourgeoisies. The idea of domestic work of the common people was highlighted through Cinderella's role. Cinderella continued to live on with the power from the spirit of her beloved mother to carry responsibilities of household tasks and chores. In 1969, Alan Suddon's version of Cinderella was published. Compared to Perrault and the Grimm brother's version, detailed text descriptions representing different classes can be seen through Cinderella's old dress and kneeling before the king's feet. While sharing a similar story line with others, Suddon incorporated a sense of modern allusions within the tale by adopting terms such as shopping, scrubbing bathtubs, and riding bicycle.

The idea of hierarchy is presented within many popular Cinderella variations, and it is no different in Suddon's version. However, Suddon created a theme of detailed text descriptions throughout the story towards specific content in representation of the different classes.