Reinventing Cinderella

One of my favorite novels is Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix. I received a copy as a gift when I was about nine, and I've read it multiple times since then. It's a reworking of Cinderella, everybody's favorite fairytale.

Haddix's version takes place after Ella has been carried off to her happily-ever-after by Prince Charming. Contrary to what she had expected, her life becomes an endless round of tedium and conformity. She's expected to be a docile social ornament without any personality. She's not supposed to care about-- or even be aware of-- the unsavory aspects of life, be it boar hunting, poverty, or even the process of lighting a fire. Prince Charming himself has no personality or cognitive ability, and Ella comes to realize that this happily-ever-after isn't what she wants for herself, after all. She makes a daring escape from the castle (dungeon) and decides to do what she wants with her life.

As a nine-year-old, I was a bit unhappy with the ending. It was unsettling to think that Prince Charming and fairytale happily-ever-afters might not be the way Disney portrays them. Given that, I don't know why I read the book more than once. But I did, and I think it's arguably the best treatment of Cinderella that I've ever read.

One of the things you have to come to terms with as you grow up is that fairytales aren't real. There's no guy on the planet who can measure up to the ideal of Prince Charming, and even if he did exist, one would still have difficult times after marriage. Real life doesn't have twittering bluebirds and rainbows all the time.

As sad as it is at first to realize that fairytale endings don't exist, upon further reflection I find that that's a good thing. As Just Ella demonstrates, things aren't always as they appear. Things that look like perfection always have a not-so-perfect side. If you box yourself into this idea that certain things in your life are your set-in-stone destiny, you're setting yourself up for unhappiness. People change, situations change. You may find that something that you thought would make you happy doesn't at all, and that you really want something else. Most importantly, it's your choice what to do with your life. Your fairy godmother isn't going to give you a happily-ever-after; you have to make it yourself, and furthermore, you decide exactly what constitutes happily-ever-after for you. If you don't want to marry Prince Charming, don't. It's up to you.

As William Ernest Henley put it in his poem Invictus: "I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul."