Uninvited, she was clearly put out, but a fairy godmother helped her with the details and soon it was ball time. Little wonder that she’d also pine for something as fun as a great ball. A young woman who grew strong from her chores, meeting people at the marketplace, understanding the logistics of keeping everyone fed. A girl who worked while her stepsisters flounced. We all know the classic story of Cinderella. Want to look at Cinderella through the mores of the 21st century? I suggest pairing yourself up with an artist that’s been dead for 80 years. It’s a reinterpretation of Cinderella, but done in such a way that’s fairly original. That’s what’s so interesting about Rebecca Solnit’s Cinderella Liberator. There’s nothing particularly original or kicky about these, and half the standalone feminist fairy tales do the same thing but in picture book form. Generally what happens is that you’ll get a collection of tales, and each one will be a familiar fairy tale but with a modern twist. Now we’re doing it again and the results are decidedly mixed. What child wants to be spoonfed some moral lesson couched in fairy tale trappings? A bit ironic, I guess, since there was a period back in the day when fairy tales were separated from their semi-sociopathic, very adult, beginnings and given a quick coating of moral teachings. The fun is important because that’s pretty much the only reason kids like fairy tales in the first place. At their worst, they can be preachy, didactic, and not very much fun.

At their best they can provide an innovative, sly commentary on everything that’s wrong with the Disney model. They aren’t a particularly new concept but in recent years there’s been a distinct increase in their numbers. I’ve been thinking about fairy tales a lot recently.

Arthur rackham cinderella illustrations