Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Would this make a good feminist story?

Its a Cinderella-like story; it takes place in 17 century England, London was under Patriarchal Puritanism, they weeded out all Catholics and Pagans and destroyed statues of the Virgin Mary and the Goddess. And here is were the Cinderella character comes along, her mother died giving birth to her while under the statue of the Virgin Mother/Goddess in some sort of shrine/graveyard. Her Puritan Father married again to an unkind woman with two most beautiful but arrogant and self-righteous daughters, and the Father soon died from an unknown illness, and the Stepmother married again to a slow-witted but a more harsh man. The women of this time were looked down upon, they were expected to follow their Husbands/Father's guidance and advice. Calvinistic Men called Women 'daughters of temptation' which might explain why the stepmother seemed so cruel even to her own kind, but mostly to her stepdaughter. While her own daughters were obedient, domestic and (sanctimoniously) pious, the stepdaughter was headstrong, aggressive, stubborn and (in her stepmother's mind) not Biblically feminine. She would beat and strap her until her back was blue and bloody. The step-family left for a holiday to look at the handsome prince/king of some rich country. While the stepsisters were trained in manners, silence, submission and virtue, the stepmother forbade the stepdaughter to come and if she was rebellious, she would threaten her to send her to a brothel; and if she ran away, she would have her chased as a thief and whore. The daughter ran towards the graveyard to cry, and she found the Virgin Mother/Goddess statue and wept underneath it. Until, a very ugly old woman dressed in black and in the company of owls and black cats appeared and frightened her. She thought she was a pagan witch, but the Pagan woman helped her in a fairy godmother way, but as the girl turned around to thank the Pagan woman, she saw the statue of the Virgin Mary/Goddess winked at her.

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