Cinderella Tales: Comparison Chart

Cinderella Tales: Comparison Chart

Story Element	Cinderella--Grimm	Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters--Steptoe	Other
father ?	Remarried after only 6 months to a mean stepmother	Supportive, Caring, Proud, Ignorant, Loved both daughters equally	Married an old widow soon after his wife dies.  Absent from Pear Blossom’s  life
mother ?	Dies at the very beginning of the story	No present mother figure	The mother died when Pear Blossom was very young
setting	Part of the story takes place at the fireplace in the kitchen.  The hazel tree and the festival are also settings in this story. Winter and Spring	A village in Africa and the beautiful city where the king lived. Forest, Garden, Palace	A village in Korea.  The rice field, river, and festival.  Spring
others —antagonist(s) / traits	Stepmother 2 Evil Stepsisters Greedy, Selfish, unfair	Manyara Jealous, selfish, mean	Stepmother 1 Stepsister Jealous, greedy, mean, and cruel
Cinderella character / traits	Shy, loyal, determined, sad, and lonely	Kind, Caring, and loving	Meek, kind, humble, and loyal
prince or king character / traits	Determine, caring, tricky, and strong willed	Wise	Wise and determine
event(s)—what events and how many?	Mother died, father remarried, Cinderella made to pick lentils out of the ashes twice, visits the hazel tree twice to get clothing for the festival, trying on of the shoe, and the wedding	Nayasha works hard in the garden, passes test given to her by the king on the way to the city, becomes queen and is welcomed into the royal family, Manyara fails the tests she’s given and becomes the queens servant	The mother died, father remarried, Pear Blossom was forced to do lots of chores by stepmother, Fill water jar, pick up rice grains, and pull weeds out of the rice, lost shoe running away from prince, he found her and said she was to be his wife
test—Is there a test for the characters?	Yes, the test is to see who’s foot fits in the golden shoe.	Old lady, little boy, trees, and snake	The strew sandal must fit the princess
magic — What is it? Where does it come from?	The hazel tree is magical.  Whenever Cinderella wishes for something from the tree doves come and bring it to her.	The kind changes forms throughout the different test in the story to see how the girls will treat the people they will be serving.	Frog, ox, and sparrows all help Pear Blossom do her chores so she can go to the festival.
artifact (shoe  & material made from) and events around artifact ?	The small shoe is made of gold.  The slipper got stuck in the tar the prince put out when Cinderella tries to run away from festival.	Food that she gave the boy and the women. Snake- Nyoka	Straw sandal- Pear Blossom tried on show at festival and price  said she was the woman he would marry
resolution — How does the story end? What happens to Cinderella? To antagonists?	Cinderella marries the prince and the two step sisters get their eyes plucked out by the pigeons.	Nayaha marries the prince and the mean sister has to be her servant	Pear Blossom marries the prince.
message or moral?	Don’t treat others mean and cruel because your actions will come back to you.    What it means to be good.	Be kind to everyone you meet no matter if you think they will make a difference in your life or not.	Don’t treat others mean and cruel because your actions will come back to you.