Cinderella and the Brave Little Tailor

Cinderella: And so they were condemned to go blind for the rest of their days because of their wickedness and falsehood. This tale is so brutal and different from the Disney versionI was shocked when the sisters started hacking bits of their feet offbut this line at the end really conveys a certain grittiness that a lot of these tales convey. The fact that the birds peck out their eyes at the end of the story as punishment for their cruelty just shows how bloody this story is. Its like a horror story for mean people. I like this about the story, though. I think it is much better than the other versions, which are nicer and prettier in a way. I like that there is something horrific in the tale, as it really makes you think, Okay, I should not be like that mean step-sister. Its as though the moral is reinforced by the punishment, which is brutal.

Pullman: One thing they did not do was walk the countryside, seeking out peasants in their fields and cottages and taking down their stories word by word. I was surprised to learn that the Grimms did not compose these stories themselves but rather relied on others to send them in, as happened with The Juniper Tree and others, which were told to them. I was under the impression that the Brothers wrote these stories, but it seems that they simply collected them and maybe touched them up here and there. Maybe that explains why so many of them are so different. But that also works in their favor, because what makes these stories great is that they reflect something real about that time and place from which they came. They were known and loved because they touched people. The Grimms saw the value in this and took them as they got them, at least so it seems in many cases.

References

Brothers Grimm. Cinderella. https://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/aschenputtel