Good Versus Evil in Two Iterations of Cinderella

pictures of the battle between good and evil in their respective Cinderella stories, which is important because it shows the different ways in which this conflict can be iterated.

In Grant’s Cinderella story, the protagonists and ant

Lee, on the other hand, shows magic to be a tool of the wicked used to destroy. Unlike Grant’s story, magic is commanded by the main character rather than an unexpected assistant, a twist that shows the main character to be insidious and scheming, and taking an active role in her participation in the ball and ultimately her own success. Through the entirety of the story Ashella practices the dark arts, from the tutelage of her mother through her time at the ball, demons are her guide and magic her evil weapon of choice. It was employed when she was presented the cross to “kiss it and prove herself blameless” (Lee 610), emphasizing that magic was used to help her in her quest for vengeance. Additionally, and again in contrast to Grant’s version, rather than having magic be used by a third party desirous to assist the protagonist magic, magic is used by Ashella and a host of demons that “bathe her… and… anoint her” (Lee 615), showing that magic was a weapon used by the evil ones in this story to prepare an assault rather than to assist the good in spirit. Moreover, after an evening of captivating the prince, Ashella “[said] a spell to bind [him to her]” (Lee 617), a spell that would leave the prince bitter, madden and ultimately dead, again showing magic to be a tool of the wicked in the battle of good versus evil. Finally, the glass slipper that Ashella left behind as a final insidious tease for the prince was the most sinister of the magic employed that evening because it “constantly changed itself… in order that no one, save one could ever be got into it,” (Lee 618), illustrating that the magic would continuously torment the prince with its false promise of finding the one that so captured his heart that fateful night.

In Lee’s “When the Clock Strikes”, the line between good and evil is blurred and it is difficult to ascertain which groups of characters are good and which are evil. Unlike in “Walt Disney’s ‘Cinderella’”, the protagonist of this tale is a witch, a class of people traditionally associated with evil. However, again contrasting with the overly-simplistic “Walt Disney’s ‘Cinderella’”, the main character, Ashella, is “astonishingly beautiful” (Lee 609), an odd occurrence indeed because Ashella is conspiring and scrupulous, personality traits usually not seen in the protagonists of fairy tales. Also, again conflicting with Grant’s tale, the step sisters and step mother are “swee

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