Compare and contrast - Essay Example

of the Literature of the Teacher 15 May Compare and Contrast The two fairytales that are “The Cinder Maid” and “The Story of Tam and Cam” have many similarities. In both these fairytales, the main character is a girl who is treated badly by her stepmother. Besides, in both the fairytales, the girl has step sisters who are not kind to her. The other similarity in these two tales is that the main character in each of them ends up getting married to a royal person. She is helped in this task by some supernatural power.

The other thing that is common in both the tales is that the royal person is able to seek this girl with the help of a shoe left behind by her. “The Cinder Maid” differs from “The Story of Tam and Cam” in the sense that in it the father of the girl is alive, while in “The Story of Tam and Cam”, the father of the girl dies after marrying her stepmother. In “The Cinder Maid” the girl has two step sisters, while in “The Story of Tam and Cam” the girl has only one step sister named Cam.

The other difference between the two stories is that in the European tale the girl is helped by a magical bird, while in the Vietnamese tale the girl is helped by Buddha. “The Cinder Maid” ends after the marriage of the girl to a prince, while “The Story of Tam and Cam” continues after the marriage of the girl to a king. In “The Cinder Maid” the girl never dies, while in the Vietnamese version, the girl dies and once again meets her husband, the king, in her second birth. Besides, unlike “The Cinder Maid”, in “The Story of Tam and Cam” the wicked step sister Cam dies in the end.