Where does Cinderella come from?
In short: No one place owns Cinderella. The oldest written versions we know come from the ancient Greek and Egyptian world (the story of Rhodopis, told by the geographer Strabo about two thousand years ago) and from China (Ye Xian, written down around 860). The pumpkin, fairy godmother and glass slipper came much later, from the French writer Charles Perrault in 1697.
East or West?
It depends what you count. Rhodopis, in which a bird carries a girl's sandal to a king, is recorded earlier than the Chinese tale. Ye Xian, about a kind girl helped by a magical fish, is a very close cousin and is told in a text from the 9th century. Folklorists therefore speak of a family of tales found across Eurasia rather than one inventor.
What stays the same
- A girl who is treated unfairly at home.
- A magical helper: a fairy, a fish, a tree or a bird.
- A small, special shoe or slipper that proves who she is.
- A fair ending, in which kindness is noticed.
What Europe added
The Italian Giambattista Basile printed a version in 1634, Perrault gave us the pumpkin coach, the fairy godmother and the glass slipper in 1697, and the Brothers Grimm published Aschenputtel in 1812, with a hazel tree instead of a fairy. You may have heard that the glass slipper is a mistranslation of a fur one; many scholars doubt this.
What about the Americas?
Similar stories exist in Indigenous North American traditions, for example the Algonquian tale of the Rough-Faced Girl. Scholars disagree on whether such tales grew independently or were influenced by European telling, so it is safest to say they are relatives of the Cinderella family.
Timeline
- Around 1st century BCE–1st century CEStrabo records the story of Rhodopis and the sandal.
- Around 860Ye Xian is written down in China by Duan Chengshi.
- 1634Basile prints Cenerentola in Naples.
- 1697Perrault adds the pumpkin, fairy godmother and glass slipper.
- 1812The Brothers Grimm publish Aschenputtel.
Questions
How many versions of Cinderella are there?
In 1893 the folklorist Marian Roalfe Cox collected 345 variants, and more have been found since.
Is the Disney Cinderella the original?
No. It follows Perrault's French version of 1697, which is itself a retelling of older tales.
Sources and further reading
- Strabo, Geography (the story of Rhodopis).
- Duan Chengshi, Youyang zazu (about 860).
- Perrault, Histoires ou contes du temps passé (1697); Grimm, Kinder- und Hausmärchen (1812).
- Marian Roalfe Cox, Cinderella: Three Hundred and Forty-Five Variants (1893).