Mankind has maintained a relationship with the arcane since first gaining the ability for abstract thought. To explain the things that confounded him, man developed religions, and as new religions developed, the old ones became mere "magic." In the western world, the greatest example of that was the long process in which Christianity replaced older, "pagan" beliefs. The fairy tale Cinderella, as told by the Brothers Grimm, can easily be seen as an allegory for this historic chain of events.
The allegory begins with the death of Cinderella's mother, and with it the passing of life as she had known it. On her deathbed, her mother admonishes her to be pious and pray, yet also tells her that she will be watching and helping her. This touches upon the pre-Christian belief that magical power and protection can be gained from one's ancestors. While strict Catholic doctrine holds that death ends all worldly connections, even when the deceased ascend to Heaven, many Christians to this day feel that their departed loved ones still hear them and look after them. With this in mind, it is pertinent to note that all of Cinderella's prayers are made by her mother's grave, as is all of her exclusively natural magic.
After her father remarries, a new way of life begins. The stepmother and sisters are outwardly beautiful, but inwardly quite selfish, and they live their lives without the help of pagan "natural" magic. They represent the coming of Christianity to supplant the old beliefs. While Cinderella has been taught the new religion and does pray to God, she actively refuses to completely renounce the old ways. When her father brings gifts, the stepsisters ask for fineries. Cinderella, instead, requests a branch that she grows into a tree at her mother's gravesite – a pagan symbol of life beside a scene of death. Her new family, for their part, does not ignore her. Instead, she is practically enslaved, placed on a lower social tier and denied her rights. Early Christians did much the same to those who hesitated to join them. Many pagans were converted by torture or murdered outright. If early Christians could not covert the pagans, they would subjugate them or destroy them. They were never treated as equals. Those that did convert would then sever past associations in order to fit into their new society, just as Cinderella's father neglects her after remarrying.
It is important to note that in this tale of transition, the number three can be seen several times. The family has three girls. Cinderella makes three daily trips to the tree for prayer. There are three nights of dancing and festivities, followed by three attempts by the Prince to find his bride. The number three has been of utmost importance in many pagan religions. The druids, for instance, would knock upon a tree three times to awaken the spirits. By the same token, however, the number is also central to Christianity, which worships the Trinity, one God with three aspects. It can hardly be a coincidence that a number so important to both the old ways and the new ways would appear so frequently in so short a tale. Especially important to the transition theme are Cinderella's three daily trips to the grave, in which she kneels by a pagan symbol of life to pray to the Christian Trinity.
The behavior of the sisters when trying on the slipper illustrated the behavior of many Christians and converts of the day. In attempts to curry favor, or perhaps merely to stay alive, they would demonstrate their Christianity by showing contempt for older beliefs, rather than through any actual piety. Certainly, the sisters didn't behave kindly toward Cinderella, the pagan, and were never said in the story to pray at all. Rather than be honest about the slipper being too small for them, they chose to make cosmetic changes like lopping off a toe or a heel in order to curry favor by appearing to be something they weren't. Certainly many pagans, as well as Popes, had to deal with those who didn't truly believe in Christ but were quick to seek favor by harshly condemning those who failed to convert.
In the end, however, it is the girl with one tiny, delicate foot in each world that curries the favor and marries the Prince. With the help of both natural magic and, presumably, God (who is mentioned several times but never takes an overtly active role in the story), Cinderella marries the Prince and goes on to a better life. She still does not change her ways completely, however, as her magical birds follow along and make sure her family troubles are over. The story ends without the slightest indication that the birds then leave or that she stops visiting her mother's grave or working natural magic. Yet, she is leaving that home and moving to a much more secure and loving environment.
Is this not also how it was with Christianity? It is well known that the dates on which Christmas, the birth of Christ, and Easter, His resurrection, are observed were chosen to coincide with common pagan holy days. Following scripture, it is more likely that Christ was born in the spring or summer, but the observance was placed in the winter because of the fairly ubiquitous winter solstice celebrations. Christians ultimately found it easier to replace one celebration of birth with another than to beat the love of God into the celebrants. The same holds for Easter and what we now call Halloween. Christmas trees and Easter baskets both have pagan origins, as do church bells. As Cinderella's and the Prince's problems were solved by a wedding between them, so did a marriage of sorts end the violent strife between the Christians and the pagans.
Whether or not the Brothers Grimm intended their version of Cinderella to allegorically tell the story of Christianity's rise, the tale certainly steps up to the task. Every character serves the allegory. Mother represents the old ways, the stepmother and sisters are the new ways, Father is a willing convert, Cinderella a hesitant convert, and the Prince is the religious establishment that all the others want smiling upon them. As many nursery rhymes and fairy tales throughout history contain a germ of history within them, so it is that the Grimm version of Cinderella can be seen to tell the story of a way of life's demise.
Works Cited
Brothers Grimm, The. "Cinderella." Retellings. Ed. M.B. Clarke and A.G. Clarke. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004. 5-10.
