Mid Sweden University

The intent with this essay was to perform a close reading of Basile’s Perrault’s, the Grimm brothers’ and Donoghue’s versions of the Cinderella tale, in order to compare and analyse the tales regarding patriarchal structure, relationships, gender and domesticity. The close reading and analysis of the primary texts revealed gender stereotypes and gender bias perspectives in the three earlier versions, as they depicted female characters as evil, envious and sinful, or, asBergström 25passive, obedient and submissive. Male characters could also display cruel and passive behaviour, but they were never represented as evil or bad characters. In contrast, they were always representations of authority and wealth, with a high social status. The patriarchal structure and domesticity in the earlier versions clearly depicted a male hierarchy where women were distanced from power and authority, and that marriage was the best and only option for women to succeed or access a higher status in society, all the while reinforcing the view of the household as a woman’s rightful place. The modern retelling, however, displayed gender challenging perspectives by including non-normative characters and subjects, thus breaking the heteropatriarchal structures, gender norms and stereotypes that are presented in the earlier tales.

This essay also set out to examine the potential of implementing these tales in the English teaching classroom in years 4-6 to create opportunities for language development and to enable pupils to critically analyse gender constructions and develop an understanding and awareness of gender stereotypes. The need to include fairy tales and critical literacy in English teaching, and for pupils to develop their ability to communicate and understand different social phenomena, is stated in the syllabus for English. The need to develop pupils’ ability to critically analyse and challenge gender patterns and stereotypes is central to the Swedish curriculum, as the notion of gender equality is one of the fundamental values of the Swedish national school system. This essay suggested that literature, specifically the chosen Cinderella tales, could function as useful tools in order to teach critical literacy in connection to the gendered discourse. A suggestion for further research is to carry out a similar investigation in an English teaching context, to provide evidence that strengthens the need to implement these primary texts in order for pupils in the years 4-6 to criticise and analyse gender constructions, at the same time as they develop their communicative skills in English.