Aladdin and Cinderella Tales - Assignment Example

Aladdin and Cinderella tales Aladdin is a Chinese fairy tale told to reflect the ancient culture in china. The story focuses on the themes of magic, poverty, love, and wealth. Cinderella is also a famous fairy tale set in the ancient Greek and Egyptian set up. Similar to Aladdin, it portrays the themes of love, poverty, wealth, magic, and success. The two fairy tales depict the analogy of success after a long period of toil; neglect by society as well as obscurity. The two fairy tales display the popular culture practiced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The stories are told in a monarchial background where there existed a large drift between the rich and poor. This aspect created conflict between the two social classes which led to enmity and a struggle for success. As a result, magic became a popular culture in the ancient set. Cinderella is a story of a young Greek slave girl who falls in love with an Egyptian princess. The story begins with a widower who marries a naughty and proud woman. The couple gave birth to two daughters. However, the man’s first wife had given birth to a beautiful girl who was admired by many young men as a teenager.

She was given the name Cinderella which meant a person who achieves success after a certain period of neglect. The story presents the theme of jealousy depicted by Cinderella’s stepmother and her two daughters. The story of Aladdin also presents a similar notion as it begins with a poor tailor called Mustafa with his son Aladdin. Aladdin was a lazy young man who barely changes his way despite the poor environment in which he was raised (Philip, 671). This notion leads to his father’s death as he wanted the son to have a better life which could not be achieved without hard work.

The two fairy tales have their origin in the oral tradition. The Cinderella story is set in the ancient Egyptian context while Aladdin has its roots in the Chinese setup. They all present a series of good and evil characters in the plot. The story of Aladdin presents a wicked and cunning African magician who makes the princess disappear from the palace to keep her away from the people she loved. The magician also plotted to kill Aladdin in a cave. In the Cinderella story, Lady Tremaine plays the role of a wicked stepmother whose only wish is for good things to happen to her daughter.

She strives to make Cinderella’s life unbearable by preventing her engagement to the prince. Magic is also presented as a form of culture practiced in the ancient setting. Lady Tremaine uses magic to prevent Cinderella from marrying the Egyptian prince. The story about Aladdin presents an African magician who uses his powers to cause misery in the palace by sending the princess to Africa (Philip, 682). Both the Aladdin and Cinderella tale resent royalty characters. The role of a prince is depicted in both tales.

This aspect creates a folkloric notion that gives them the literature concept of narrating tale stories.