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HelpRe: Cinderella
in reply to a message by Guest
Isn't it a nn in the fairy story? Ella, working as a housemaid and cleaning the fireplaces, becomes Cinder Ella. I dislike Ella, which seems very uninteresting, and Cindy has been used for many more domestic pets than humans in my experience. I'm not sure that the message of the Cinderella story is very encouraging: be downtrodden, let people dominate you and don't show any initiative, and perhaps you will be rescued by some or other outsider and not by your own efforts. I'd avoid it as a name.
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Though in the fairy tale the name is a nickname and not her original given name, Cinderella was never called "Ella" in the story until 1997. Most versions until recently never told you what Cinderella's original name was.
Here is a link to the column I wrote on Cinderella in March 2016. (Personally this is my favorite column of all those I've published.)
https://omaha.com/lifestyles/cinderella-her-real-name-like-her-shoe-is-lost/article_0754423b-19ce-5614-b6c4-1440c518342b.html
Here is a link to the column I wrote on Cinderella in March 2016. (Personally this is my favorite column of all those I've published.)
https://omaha.com/lifestyles/cinderella-her-real-name-like-her-shoe-is-lost/article_0754423b-19ce-5614-b6c4-1440c518342b.html
This message was edited 2/26/2023, 11:45 AM
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To my deep regret, I can't access your Cinderella article without signing up for a subscription I don't want and wouldn't use. Oh well. If I understand you correctly, it seems that the -ella suffix was more a female marker than an independent name. Which got me thinking: apart from Hansel and Gretel, fairytale characters tend not to have names, just identifying markers. Little Red Riding Hood; Goldilocks; Little Bo-Peep ... or their names had a meaning that is mostly forgotten, like Lucy Locket and Kitty Fisher. Very interesting: thank you!
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Yes, "Cinderella" was created as the version used in translations of French author Charles Perrault's version of the story, where her name was "Cendrillon".
If you send me an email address in a private message, I can send you a copy of the column as an attachment.
If you send me an email address in a private message, I can send you a copy of the column as an attachment.
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Received in good order, and read with incredulous delight! Scholarship with the lightest of touches. Thank you.
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You are most welcome, :)
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In the Italian version her real name is Lucia, and Cenerentola is the nickname the stepsisters give her.
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This is probably a recent Italian version, as in the original Italian version her name seems to have been Zezolla.
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