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Cinderella (Poem)
Sylvia Plath (Born October 1932 - Died 1963) was a American poet, short story writer and novelist. She had several published works such as The Bell Jar and The Colossus and Other Poems. She married fellow poet Ted Hughes in 1956 and had two children. Plath suffered with depression for the majority of her adult life and committed suicide in 1963.

Her poem Cinderella is a short adaptation of the original fairytale story which focuses on the moment Cinderella dances with Prince Charming at the ball. This poem was written during Plath's time at Smiths College and was written with several others as class assignments. The poems were published after her death in the volume The Collected Poems. Most of these poems were not initially published, and as Plath's husband Ted Hughes wrote in his introduction to the The Collected Poems, she had put them "firmly behind her and would have certainly never published them herself." However, he believed they "are always lit with her unique excitement" and have a sense of "deep mathematical inevitability in the sound and texture of her lines.". The original fairytale was published by The Brothers Grimm in 1812.

The poem appears to be set in a more modern time than the classic fairytale is usually, with the mentions of scarlet heels instead of glass slippers presenting a more sensual view of Cinderella. A character usually associated with kindness and gentility, the use of imagery and language in this poem presents her as somewhat more adult than in the tale familiar to us today. The setting of the dance with the prince is the focus, but rather than having a fantastical element such as fairy godmothers and the like, the events are ‘cocktail talk’ and holiday revel, and Cinderella is described as guilty and pale as midnight approaches. This is not at all a common view of the princess made famous by Disney in 1950, and perhaps the poem is more pleasing to read with that in mind. The language shows the beginnings of Plath’s masterful use of imagery and metaphor, creating an atmosphere of light and abundance, using phrases such as ‘gilded couples’ and ‘gliding into light like wine’.

The theme of time is present, and though subtle, the idea of ‘caustic’ ticking making the magic spell that she is under more ominous rather than a wish come true. All of the more pleasant imagery is overshadowed by the clock. Cinderella is described as strange rather than beautiful or kind, and her garb is far more modern and aligns more with reality than the magical fantasy of the original tale. She does not flee the ball as in most adaptations and rewrites, but clings to the prince in a show of weakness that is not at all synonymous with the gentle strength that is one of the defining traits of the Disney princess.

The contrast of the modern fairytale with a sense of darker reality is becoming a popular theme as seen in television shows such as Once Upon a Time, and even more adult adaptations such as Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. Sylvia Plath is very much known for the darker tone of her writing, and her take on the fairytale poem shows this in a more subtle manner. As seen by works such as The Bell Jar, Plath does not shy away from exposing the harsher truths of reality, and this is very much present in this poem as well.

Sylvia Plath was also known for her preoccupation with issues such as feminism, and what can be considered the ‘contradictory notions of femininity that circulated through American culture in the 1950s: sexual decorum in conflict with desire; vocational achievement at odds with heteronormative romance'. This can be seen in the altered ideal of Cinderella that is presented in the poem, and reflects the changing views of women in society in the time that she was writing.