Cinderella

In Short

Henry W. Hewet's retelling of Cinderella presents a timeless narrative of resilience, patience, and sudden transformation. After her mother dies and her father remarries a tyrannical widow with two ill-tempered daughters, young Cinderella is forced into household drudgery. When a royal ball is announced, her family abandons her, but a fairy godmother intervenes with magic. By rewarding the girl's steady goodness, the story has endured for generations as a clear moral lesson that true virtue triumphs over cruelty and spite.

The Story

The tale begins with a gentleman, his wife, and their young daughter. When the girl is only nine years old, her mother falls terminally ill and urges her to remain good and patient through life's hardships. Following her mother's death, the father attempts to ease his sorrow by marrying a widow who possesses a proud and tyrannical temper. This stepmother brings along two daughters of identical bad dispositions. Once the wedding concludes, the stepmother forces her stepdaughter to perform the household's heaviest drudgery, washing dishes, scrubbing stairs, and sleeping in a wretched garret while her stepsisters enjoy elegant chambers with full-length mirrors. The father, utterly devoted to his new wife, offers no defense, leaving his daughter to sit quietly among the hearth's cinders.

Opportunity arrives when the king's son hosts a grand ball for the nobility. Cinderella is made to prepare her stepsisters' fine garments, starching ruffles and styling their hair without complaint. Though mocked when asking if she might attend, she graciously assists them until they depart. Left alone crying in the kitchen, Cinderella is interrupted by a knocking at the door. She welcomes a hobbling beggar-woman inside, offering her a dry crust of bread and a place by the fire. The visitor reveals herself as the Queen of the Faëries and Cinderella's godmother.

Using her magic wand, the godmother scoops out a large pumpkin to form a gilt carriage, transforms six pantry mice into dapple-gray horses, turns two rat-trap rats into a postilion and coachman, and converts six garden lizards into liveried footmen. She then changes Cinderella's rags into a magnificent gown complete with elastic glass slippers. Warning Cinderella that she must leave the ball before midnight—lest everything revert to its original form—the godmother sends her to the palace.

At the ball, Cinderella's beauty and graceful dancing entrance the crowd, the king, and the prince. She converses kindly with her stepsisters without revealing her identity and departs punctually at eleven forty-five. The following night, she returns in even greater splendor. Entanced by the prince's attentions, she loses track of time and flees at the first stroke of midnight, dropping a glass slipper as she runs. The prince proclaims he will marry whoever fits the slipper. After every lady of the court fails, Cinderella tries it on; it fits perfectly, and she produces its match from her pocket. Transformed once more by her godmother, Cinderella forgives her repentant stepsisters, moves into the palace as the prince's bride, and marries her sisters to two court lords.

How It Unfolds

The loss of home A dying mother instructs her nine-year-old daughter to remain good and patient despite future troubles. After her death, the father remarries a haughty widow whose two cruel daughters help force the girl into domestic servitude.

The hearth and the ball Nicknamed Cinderella from sitting in the cinders, the girl is forced to prepare her stepsisters' elaborate gowns for a royal ball. She does their hair with great taste and bears their insults without seeking revenge.

The beggar at the door Left weeping in the kitchen, Cinderella shares her humble supper with a hobbling beggar-woman. The visitor turns out to be the Queen of the Faëries and Cinderella's godmother, who promises to send her to the palace.

The midnight mandate The godmother transforms a pumpkin, mice, rats, and lizards into a grand carriage with servants, dressing Cinderella in jewels and glass slippers. She issues a strict warning that the spell breaks promptly at midnight.

The flight and the slipper Cinderella captivates the court on two consecutive nights, but on the second evening, she stays past the hour and must flee in rags, leaving a single glass slipper behind.

The kingdom search The prince issues a proclamation that he will marry the woman whose foot fits the slipper. After courts and noblewomen fail, Cinderella tries the shoe, revealing her true identity and forgiving her step-family.

The People

Cinderella She desires peace, affection, and the fulfillment of her dying mother's wish to remain steadfast and kind. Suppressed by her stepmother's demands and forced into hard labor, she preserves her gentle nature. Her patience pays off when she receives magical aid, marries the prince, and shares her newfound royal wealth with her repentant sisters.

The Stepmother Driven by pride and tyranny, she wants to elevate her own daughters while suppressing Cinderella's obvious superior grace. She stands as the main obstacle in Cinderella's daily life, enforcing total isolation and heavy labor. She ends up outmaneuvered when Cinderella's true identity is revealed before the royal court.

The Stepsisters They seek social status, fine clothes, and admiration at court. Their vanity and bad tempers prevent them from treating Cinderella with basic human decency. Ultimately humbled when Cinderella becomes princess, they receive her unmerited forgiveness and are wed to court lords.

The Prince He seeks a genuine connection and is indifferent to the pretentious women of his court. Hindered by Cinderella's mysterious disappearance and her initial low station, he persists until the glass slipper uncovers her identity, leading to their marriage.

In Its Own Voice

"Finding her death coming on, she called her child to her and said to her, 'My child, always be good; bear every thing that happens to you with patience, and whatever evil and troubles you may suffer, you will be happy in the end if you are so.'"

This initial deathbed counsel establishes the foundational moral logic that governs Cinderella's choices throughout her trials.

"I have only part of my own supper for you, Goody, which is no better than a dry crust."

Cinderella offers her meager food to a hobbling beggar, demonstrating the innate charity that prompts her fairy godmother to intervene.

"She rose hastily, and flew away like a startled fawn."

As the clock strikes midnight on the second evening, Cinderella breaks away from the prince, leaving behind only the single glass slipper.

What It's Really About

Beneath its magical transformations, the narrative is an exploration of quiet endurance versus aggressive vanity. It argues that moral character cannot be concealed by ragged clothes, nor can arrogance be disguised by velvet dresses and gold brocades. The story frames patience not as passive surrender, but as an active strength that preserves one's dignity under unjust treatment. By contrasting Cinderella's willingness to share her dry crust with her sisters' excessive self-absorption, the text demonstrates that genuine generosity earns lasting loyalty and fortune, while cruelty inevitably leads to humiliation.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate classic folklore will enjoy the directness of Henry W. Hewet's nineteenth-century presentation. The prose moves briskly through iconic beats—the transformation of the garden vegetables and pests into carriage equipage, the suspense of the midnight deadline, and the dramatic fit of the glass slipper. The reading experience offers a charming look at period editorial sensibilities, where explicit narrator commentary often pauses the action to remind young readers about the rewards of diligence and truthfulness.

While modern audiences may find the story's heavy-handed moralizing and stark division between good and evil somewhat simplistic, these elements reflect the instructional goals of early children's publishing. The text is entirely accessible, free of dense dialect, and brief enough to read in a single sitting. What remains compelling is the sheer satisfaction of the plot's resolution: the triumph of humility over arrogance, made permanent through a simple act of mercy when Cinderella welcomes her former tormentors into her new life.