“CINDERELLA”: A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts

[Editor’s Note: Having read several variants of “Cinderella,” you may have wondered what it is about this story that has prompted people in different parts of the world at different times, to show interest in a child who’s been debased but then rises above her misfortune. Why are people so fascinated with “Cinderella”? Depending on the people you ask and their perspectives, you’ll find this question answered in various ways. As a Freudian psychologist, Bruno Bettelheim believes that the mind is a repository of both conscious and unconscious elements. By definition, we aren’t aware of what goes on in our unconscious; nonetheless, what happens there exerts a powerful influence on what we believe and how we act. This division of the mind into conscious and unconscious parts is true for children no less than for adults. Based on these beliefs about mind, Bettelheim analyzes “Cinderella” first by pointing to what he calls the story’s essential theme: sibling rivalry, or Cinderella’s mistreatment at the hands of her stepsisters. Competition among brothers and sisters presents a profound and largely unconscious problem to children, says Bettelheim. By hearing “Cinderella,” a story that speaks directly to their unconscious, children are given tools that can help them resolve conflicts. Cinderella resolves her difficulties; children hearing the story can resolve theirs as well: This is the unconscious message of the tale. Do you accept this argument? To do so, you have to agree with the author’s reading of “Cinderella’s” hidden meanings; and you’d have to agree with his assumptions concerning the conscious and unconscious mind and the ways in which the unconscious will seize upon the content of a story in order to resolve conflicts. Even if you don’t accept Bettelheim’s analysis, his essay makes fascinating reading. First, it is internally consistent--that is, he begins with a set of principles and then builds logically upon them as any good writer will. Second, his analysis demonstrates how a scholarly point of view--a coherent set of assumptions about the way the world (in this case, the mind) works--creates boundaries for discussion. Change the assumptions (as Kolbenschlag and Yolen do) and you’ll change the analyses that follow from them. Bruno Bettelheim, a distinguished psychologist and educator, was born in 1903 in Vienna. He was naturalized as an American citizen in 1939 and served as a professor of psychology at Rockford College and the University of Chicago. Awarded the honor of fellow by several prestigious professional associations, Bettelheim was a prolific writer and contributed articles to numerous popular and professional publications. His list of books includes Love is Not Enough: The Treatment of Emotionally Disturbed Children, The Informed Heart, Surviving, and The Uses of Enchantment, from which this selection has been excerpted. Bettelheim died in 1990.]