Charles Perrault’s Donkeyskin – Literary Interpretation essay A Literary Interpretation moves beyond comprehension to offer a theory about the meaning of a

Charles Perrault’s Donkeyskin – Literary Interpretation essay A Literary Interpretation moves beyond comprehension to offer a theory about the meaning of a given story and uses evidence from the story to support that theory. Interpretation of written material is a skill you will use over and over throughout your lifetimes, not just in college writing.

Objectives:

To approach literature with an inquiring attitude because it can present more than one possible meaning.
To extract meaning from what was read as a practice of critical thinking.
To develop a unique, logical perspective and support that idea with evidence from the source story/text.
To write down a supported opinion on a particular story, so (potentially) others can respond to that interpretation.

Assignment:

Develop and write a literary interpretation of one of the fairy tales presented in the textbook. (You cannot choose the one used for your discussion lead.) Choose wisely. Think about a story that evoked a strong emotional reaction from you or a class discussion in which you were particularly engaged—now go back and figure out why.

Your interpretation will offer an original idea or thesis (you came up with it based on your own reading, thoughts, and analysis) that is fully supported by evidence from the fairy tale. There is no need for any outside research. Do not read about the story, as you may inadvertently take on someone else’s point of view.

Allowed source:

The only source you are allowed is the actual story: your opinion, supported by evidence found in the story you are analyzing. Do not use any other outside sources—do not read other essays or interpretations.

Rely on your abilities & our discussions. You have already done every part of this in our class discussions, but now you will give your ideas shape, formality, and put them on paper.

Aim for approximately 900-1000 words.

Include:

Brief, specific summary of the story (maximum of two sentences).
Clear, strong opinion (interpretation of what the story means).
Clear support (specific elements that support your main idea).
Correct incorporation of quoted material (inclusion, punctuation, & citation) Note: quoted material should be less than 20% of the essay—it’s there to support your ideas.
MLA, APA or Chicago Style.
Correct Works Cited (one source, full citation).

Elements of Essay

Assessment Criteria

Content/Organization

Is my paper well-defined, showing insightful analysis and interpretation? Does the format & structure of my essay work with my main idea? Balanced introduction and conclusion? Graceful and effective transitions?

Diction

Does my writing include compelling word choice, demonstrating insightful use of figurative language?

Sentence Structure

Are my sentences carefully formed and positioned with attention to emphasis, rhythm, and pace to engage the reader?

Grammar and Mechanics

Does my writing demonstrate a mastery of grammar, creating compelling prose, with few to no errors?

Research and Documentation

Are my included examples relevant? Are they accurately and skillfully quoted, included, and discussed as support of my ideas? Are my sources in correct MLA or APA format, both in-text and in the Works Cited? CINDERELLAS
160
wasting
great
scientific erudition to conclude that he was lovesick.
and saw her through the keyhole, she knew exactly what was hap-
pening. In these matters, women are so discerning and their eyes
their knowing it. I have no doubts, and I give you my word that
she was confident that her young admirer would accept the ring
that the cake tasted so good that if he had been just a little more fam-
No one had ever kneaded a morsel so dainty, and the prince thought
he saw the wonderful emerald and the narrow band of gold which
ished, he would have swallowed the ring along with the cake. When
revealed the shape of a finger, he was so moved that he felt incredible
became more serious, and the doctors observed how he was
joy in his heart. He put it by his bedside right away. But his ailment
away from day to day. Wise with experience, they used their
People may say bad things about marriage, but it is an excellent
remedy for lovesickness. The prince, it was decided, was to marry.
He took some time to think about it, then said: “I’ll be happy to get
married provided that it is to the person whose finger fits this ring.”
The
queen and the king were greatly surprised by this strange
demand, but their son was ailing so badly that they did not dare say
no. And so a search was undertaken to find the woman who would
be elevated to a high rank by the ring, no matter what her back-
ground. There was not a woman around who was not prepared to
present her finger, and not a one around who was willing to give up
the right to try the ring.
Since a rumor had been spreading that you had to have a very slen
der finger to aspire to marry the prince, every charlatan around, in
order to make his reputation, claimed to possess the secret of mak-
ing fingers small. One woman, following a strange whim, scraped
her finger as if it were a radish. Another cut off a small piece of it.
A third squeezed it so that it would become smaller. A fourth used
a certain kind of liquid to make the skin fall off so that her finger
would be smaller. There was not a single trick left unused by women
trying to make their fingers fit the ring.
The selection began with young princesses, marquesses, and
duchesses, but no matter how delicate their fingers were, they were
always too large to get into the ring. Countesses, baronesses,
all manner of nobility presented their hands one at a time, but they
presented them
in vain. Next came the working girls, whose fingers
pretty and slender (for there are many who are well-proportioned
seemed almost to fit the ring. But each time the ring, which rejected
maids, and peasant girls, in short, all the riffraff whose reddened
Finally they had to summon servants, scullery maids, chamber
and
everyone
s no need to
mains u
CHARLES PERRAULT
DONKEYSKIN
157
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These gifts so confused the child that she did not know what to
7 to her father, the king. Her godmother took her by the hand and
whispered in her ear: “You don’t have to stay on this lovely path. Are
these gifts that you have received really so marvelous when he has
a donkey that, as you know, continually fills his coffers with gold
coins? Ask him for the skin of that extraordinary animal. Unless
I’m badly mistaken, you won’t get it from him, since it is the sole
”
This fairy was very learned, and yet she was unaware that pas-
sionate love, provided that it has a chance, takes no notice of money
or gold. The skin was gallantly bestowed on the child as soon as she
asked for it. When the skin was brought to her, she was filled with
horror and complained bitterly about her fate. Her godmother arrived
and explained that as long as she did the right thing, she would not
have to be afraid. She should let the king believe that she was com-
pletely prepared to take her wedding vows with him, but at the same
time she must disguise herself and flee all alone to a distant coun-
try to avoid an evil destiny so certain and so near.
“Here’s a large trunk,” she added. “We’ll put all your clothes, your
mirror, your toilet articles, your diamonds and your rubies into it. I
will also give you my wand. If you hold it in your hand, the trunk
will remain hidden beneath the ground and follow wherever you go.
And if you ever want to open it, as soon as my wand touches the
ground, it will appear right before your eyes. The hide of the don-
key will be the perfect disguise to make you unrecognizable. Con-
ceal yourself carefully under that skin. It is so hideous that no one
will ever believe it covers anything beautiful.”
The princess put on her disguise and left the wise fairy while the
dew was still in the air. The king, who was just then preparing for
his joyous wedding feast, learned with horror of the dark turn of
events. Every house, road, and avenue was searched forthwith, but
it was all in vain. No one could imagine what had become of her. A
deep and dark sadness spread throughout the land. No more wed-
dings, no more feasts, no more tarts, no more sugared almonds. Most
of the ladies of the court were completely disappointed that they
were unable to dine, but the priest felt the greatest sorrow, for he
not only missed a meal but, what’s worse, nothing was put on the
In the meantime, the child continued her journey, her face dirtied
with mud. She put out a hand to anyone who passed by her, trying to
find a place to work. But these vulgar and unfortunate people saw
someone so disagreeable and unkempt that they were not inclined
to pay attention to her, let alone to take in a creature so dirty.
And so she journeyed farther and farther, and farther still, until
she arrived at a farm where the farmer’s wife needed a scullery maid
ing said
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7
CINDERELLA
156
can
your father
harm you so long as you follow my
extraordinary fairy, unrivaled in her art. There is no need to tell
you what a fairy was in those radiant days, for I am sure that your
loved ones told you about them when you were very young.
looking at the princess. “I understand the deep sadness in your heart.
“I know what has brought you here,” the fairy godmother said,
But with me by your side, there is no need to worry. Nothing
advice. It is true that
wants to marry you, and it would be a fatal mistake to pay attention to
him. Tell him that before you are willing to give your heart to him, he
his mad demand. But there is a way of refusing him without defying
must satisfy your desires and give you a dress the color of the seasons.
No matter how rich and powerful he is and no matter how much he is
favored by the heavens, he will never be able to fulfill your request.’
Trembling with fear, the young princess went right away to her
amorous father, who instantly ordered the most renowned tailors in
the land to make a dress the color of the sky without delay. If not,
they could rest assured that he would have them all hanged.
It was not yet dawn the next day when the desired dress was
brought in. The most beautiful blue of the firmament, even when it
is encircled with large clouds of gold, is not a deeper azure. Trans-
fixed with joy and with sorrow, the child did not know what to say
or how to get around the agreement. The godmother said to her in
a low voice: “Ask for a dress more brilliant and less commonplace,
one the color of the moon. He will never be able to give it to you.
No sooner had the princess placed the request when the king said
to his embroiderer: “I want a dress more splendid than the star of
the night, and I want it ready without fail in four days.”
The elegant dress was ready on the designated day, just as the king
had decreed. When the night unfurls its veils in the skies, the moon,
whose brilliant voyage makes the stars turn pale, was no more majes-
tic than this dress. The princess admired the wonderful dress and
was about to give her consent when, inspired by her godmother, she
said to the amorous king: “I can’t be satisfied until I have a dress
the color of the sun, but even more radiant.”
The king, who loved the princess with a passion beyond compare,
summoned a wealthy jeweler and ordered him to make a superb gar-
ment of gold and diamonds. He told him that if he failed to carry out
the work in satisfactory fashion, he would have him tortured to death
The king did not have to go to that trouble, for the industrious
worker brought him the precious work before the week was over. It
was so beautiful, vibrant, and radiant that the blond lover of Cly-
mene,’ who drives his chariot of gold along the arch of the heavens,
was not dazzled by a more brilliant light.
1. Reference to Apollo, the Greek god of light and of the sun
CHARLES PERRAULT • DONKEYSKIN
159
beauty of her soul.
ailment.
breath while he was gazing at her, so taken was he with her. No
matter what her dress was like, the beauty of her face, her lovely pro-
ness moved him a hundred times more. But most of all, his heart
file, her warm, ivory skin, her fine features, and her fresh youthful-
was captured by a wise and modest reserve that bore witness to the
Three times he was about to push her door open; but each time
his arm was arrested by the admiration he felt for this seemingly
divine creature. He returned to the palace, where, day and night,
he sighed pensively. He didn’t want to attend the balls, even though
he was the season of Carnival. He hated the idea of hunting or of
to pain him. A deep, lethal melancholy was at the root of his
going to the theater. His appetite was gone, and everything seemed
He made inquiries about the remarkable nymph who was living
in one of the lower courtyards at the end of a squalid alley where
you couldn’t see a thing, even in broad daylight.
“It’s Donkeyskin,” he was told. “There’s nothing beautiful about
her, and she is not at all a nymph. She is called Donkeyskin because
of the skin that she wears on her back. She’s the ideal remedy for
someone in love. Simply put, only wolves are uglier than she is.”
They spoke in vain, for he never believed them. The traces left by
love were so powerfully inscribed in his memory that they could
never be erased.
Meanwhile, his mother the queen, whose only child he was, wept
in her anguish. She urged him to tell her what was wrong, but it was
no use. He moaned, he wept, he sighed, but he didn’t say a thing
except that he wanted Donkeyskin to make him a cake with her own
hands. The mother had no idea what her son meant.
“Good heavens, madam,” everyone said. “Donkeyskin is nothing
but a black drab, uglier and dirtier than the most filthy scullion.”
“It doesn’t matter,” the queen said. “We must satisfy his wish, and
that’s all that counts.” His mother loved him so much that she would
have given him gold, if he wanted to eat that.
Donkeyskin took some flour that she had ground to make her
dough as fine as possible and mixed it with salt
, butter, and fresh
eggs. Then she locked herself up in her room to make the cake as
carefully as she could. First she washed her hands, her arms and
her face
. Then she put on a silver smock in honor of the work she
was about to undertake and laced it up.
It is said that she worked a little too hastily and that one of her
precious rings accidentally fell from her finger into the dough. But
those thought to be knowledgeable about the outcome to this story
I believe it, for I am sure that when the prince stopped at her door
claim that she put it in there with a purpose. As for me, quite frankly,
158
CINDERELLA
the trough for the pigs. She was put into a back corner of the kitchen,
who would be energetic enough to wash the dish rags and to clean
where the valets, those insolent scoundrels, ridiculed, attacked, and
mocked her all the time. They played tricks on her whenever they
jokes, and they jeered at her day and night.
ing done her chores early in the morning, she went to her room and
On Sundays she was able to get a little more rest than usual. Hav-
closed the door. She cleaned herself, then opened her chest, care-
fully set up a dressing table for herself, with her little jars
Cheerful and pleased with herself, she stood before a large mirror
and first put on the dress of the moon, then the one from which the
fire of the sun burst forth, and finally the beautiful blue dress, which
all the blue of the heavens could not match. Her only regret was that
there was not enough room on the floor to spread out their long
a hundred times more elegant than anyone else. This sweet plea-
sure kept her going from one Sunday to the next.
I forgot to mention that on that large farm owned by a
and
rails, guinea fowls, cormorants, goslings raised on musk, ducks, and
thousands of other types of exotic birds, each different from the
on top.
regal king there was an aviary. There, chickens from Barbary,
powerful
next, could fill with envy the hearts of ten whole courts.
After hunting, the king’s son frequently went over to that charm-
ing place to rest for a while and to raise a glass with the nobles of
the court. Even the handsome Cephalus? could not compete with
him, with his regal air, his martial bearing, which could fill the most
proud battalions with fear. Donkeyskin watched him with tender-
ness from a distance. She had the confidence to know that, beneath
the dirt and rags covering her, she preserved the heart of a princess
.
“What a grand manner he has, even though he is dressed casu-
ally. How agreeable he is,” she said to herself. “And how happy must
be the beauty who has won his heart! If he honored me with the
most modest dress
, I would feel myself graced far more than by all
the dresses I have here.”
One day the young prince was wandering aimlessly from one
courtyard to another and came upon an obscure path where Donkey-
hole
. Since it was a holiday that day, she had dressed up in elegant
skin had her humble abode. By chance, he put an eye to the key-
clothes, and her magnificent dress, which was made of fine gold and
looked at her and was at the mercy of his desires. He almost lost his
2. A hunter of Greek mythology who was carried
dawn.

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