Fairy Tale Endings

A lot of little girls (and big girls for that matter) dream of fairy tale endings.  The problem with fairy tale endings is that they are almost always preceded by really awful beginnings and really difficult middles.

Let's look at Cinderella (real version please... no Disnification on my watch).  The story starts with the death of her beloved mother and goes downhill from there.  She is degraded to the lowest position of servant and is reduced to sleeping in the ashes.  I imagine that this is enforced by beatings and that she never really gets enough to eat.  That's a freaking bad start.

So she goes and cries at the grave of her mother and an otherworldly spirit shows up to help her out.  You probably don't think this part is so hard, but her mother is dead and now she must decide how seriously to take this spirit.  There's no indication that she's had any experience with this so far.  Nature plays a huge roll. She gets her dress from the hazelnut tree that she's planted by the grave of her mother and watered with her tears.  I have to admit that it's more than most people get with their tears.  Birds are sent to pick the lentils out of the ash, etc, etc.  You have to be in a pretty strange stage of mind to think these things are okay.  And all the sneaking around and running away trying not to get caught.  Then being locked up when the prince is finally trying to find you.  And the whole thing about your sisters cutting bits off their feet... I think this is a hard middle of the story even though you know she's turned a corner and is headed toward the happy ending.

How happy is the ending anyway?  Was it worth what she went through to get there?  Does she think it was worth what it took to get there?  She arrived at this "happy end" with an oldness inside her.  Does she feel guilty about the doves that pecked out her stepmother's eyes?  Or does she feel avenged?  If she feels avenged is she the queen we want?  One that thinks in terms of vengeance?  Is she kind to her servants or has someone just replaced her in the ashes?  I think she feels guilty, even though she isn't the one who wrote her story.  I think she feels weary.  I think that when she looks at her handsome prince, there is a little sadness behind her eyes.  The rest of the world sees the palace and the jewels and the husband and thinks, "What a lovely ending," without a thought about the journey as a whole.