The Psychoanalysis of Charles Perault and His
Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper.
Charles Perault reveals much of his core value, upbringing, personal experiences and
subconscious addenda’s in his work Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper. The psychoanalysis of this story reveals many details of the life of Charles Perault’s. Further more, Perault uses his writing to help children, but also subconsciously advocates his personal addenda’s from his life experience.
The psychoanalytic approach of looking into an authors writing gives great insight into much of the past experiences and subconscious musings of the writer. With this approach the piece will be examined for details that could “express the secret unconscious desires and anxieties of the author” (Delahoyde, 2011). This analysis is based on the theories, and ideas of “Harold Bloom, Jacques Lacan, Sigmund Freud” (AIO, 2011). Typically when reviewing a story most look to the characters and try to decipher how the author is attempting to express themselves through an individual character. This however is typically not the case in the Psychoanalytic approach as the author is assuming identities in all characters, elements and happenings in story and they are in turn all projections of the writer. As the text is examined the reader searches for key components that point to unresolved emotions, guilt, or conflicts that position a subconscious expression from the writer. Then considering the author’s personal upbringing and traumatic experiences from family, addictions, sexual confusion, and the like stresses that are tucked away in the characters of the piece of literature. This is unpackaged and revealed by using technique of symbolism, condensation, and displacement.
One of the key elements in the psychoanalytic criticism is the analysis is never attempts to identify the author’s underlying intension for the piece. Rather, it is a probing search to find what the author never intended to reveal in their work, the details of their past. The text is evaluated, searched, and scrutinized for the details that are repressed or buried in the subconscious memory the authors mind truly looking to reveal.
Looking at the background of the author Charles Perault, several details are useful as the as the analysis begins. He was born into a wealthy family that lived in Paris, France. He always was looking to gain more knowledge and went to the best schools where he would achieve top rankings in his classes. The most interesting fact about him is that his fairy tales did not come about till the end of his life. “He was almost 70 years old when he wrote his first fairy tales in 1697” (Unknown 1, 2011). Another very critical detail about Perault, is that his wife passed “in 1678” after 6 short years of marriage (Unknown 2, 2011).
In reviewing Cinderella, or the little Glass Sipper, one thing is very evident using the psychological analysis is we see the writer has an understanding of wealth. The story is about kings, balls, hopes and dreams. This indicates that author has experienced this wealthy life. At the same time, he also shows us that he has an understanding of the working class that supports the upper class. He has communicated a definite attitude against those who have had the wealth handed to them, verses those who have had to work for it. It would be easy to see how he has buried himself in the Cinderella character, as he had to go to school and work for his success. He understood the upper class, but also expresses an undertone of disenchantment with those who did not have to work for their status.
Considering also how the main character Cinderella is treated, it begs the question of the opposition Perault must have faced in being successful in school. Seeing that he has created this character that is so good, yet faces so much opposition points to his great success, and possibly feeling that he never was giving the recognition he truly deserved.
The author also places himself in the character of the Godmother. This is truly what the story is about, his gift to children. Consider his age, and how long it had been since he had experienced the wonder and excitement of his childhood. The Godmother in this story brings the gift of experience to the main character Cinderella. Consider then how Perauslt has placed himself in that character as he has revealed wonder, and excitement to children through his story.
Another aspect to consider in Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper is the hidden addenda in his communication of characters in this story. “His tales were intended to train young girls in how to become ladies” (Unknown 3, 2011). Being raised with the upper class Perauslt learned quickly what a lady was. He admired the true beauty of a woman with class. His story addresses true beauty and attempts to put his values of what it takes to be a beautiful woman. Consider the moral. “Beauty in a woman is a rare treasure that will always be admired. Graciousness, however, is priceless and of even greater value. This is what Cinderella's godmother gave to her when she taught her to behave like a queen. Young women, in the winning of a heart, graciousness is more important than a beautiful hairdo. It is a true gift of the fairies. Without it nothing is possible; with it, one can do anything.” (Lang, 1891).
Taking Perauslt’s projection of a beautiful refined young woman and how they behave a step further, consider how much of his imagination of beautiful young women is represented in his fantasy in his fairytales. Consider his wife dieing at such a young age, and how he used his stories to carry on his idealism of his deceased wife. This technique is a coping mechanism as well as a technique to fulfill his romantic drive.
By using the Psychoanalytic approach to examine the work of Charles Perauslt, it is clear there he is expressing his subconscious messages through the story. These messages give the reader insight about his values, personal views, struggles, childhood and loss in life. These subtle messages in his stories were not an intentional effort, especially as he was writing to young children, but the subtle elements are key indicators of his personal history and life experiences are much of his work. Some might judge Perauslt with revealing these elements in his work, but the truth of the matter is that every writer expresses their deep-rooted emotions and values in their work. After it all it is their life and experiences that have shaped the individual into who they are. With creating and writing Perauslt was bound to reveal himself in his stories. Even if it was not intentional, his values, character, childhood and personal perception made him into the author that was able to write so many classic tales. He could not have written any other way.
Works Cited:
AIO Classroom, Children's Literature | ENG4010 P01. Week 1, Web. 26, November
2011.
Delahoyde, Michael. Psychoanalytic Criticism. Washington State University - Pullman,
Washington. Web. 05 Dec. 2011. .
St. Martin’s, VirtuaLit: Critical Approaches. Default. Web. 05 Dec. 2011.
.
Unknown 2, "Charles Perrault | Fabulous Fairy Tales." Welcome | Fabulous Fairy Tales.
Web. 07 Dec. 2011. .
Unknown 1, The Story of Charles Perrault. Perrault Fairy Tales. Web. 06 Dec. 2011.
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Unknown 3, "Charles Perrault." Perrault Bio. Web. 06 Dec. 2011.
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