“Ella’s Fairytale” by Catherine Aragona is a rather tragic and drastically different retelling of the classic Disney version of the old tale of Cinderella. The story shows the Tremaine family- Lady Tremaine and her daughters, Drizella and Anastasia- as respectable, practical women, even if they aren’t the most beautiful. However, Lady Tremaine has a stepdaughter by the name of Ella who, after her father’s death, retreated into a world of her own creation. While Ella imagines that they despise and mistreat her, the Tremaines want nothing more than to help Ella and do, in fact, care for her.
This intriguing idea is unprecedented and unique. Instead of showing a cruel stepfamily and a miserable girl forced to work as a slave for her faux relatives, this story depicts an unstable, probably mad young girl who is convinced that the well-meaning Tremaines ridicule her and make her their maid. The idea that everything that happens to Cinderella- from talking mice to a fairy godmother’s magic to a royal meeting- is all a figment of an insane girl’s imagination creates a deep, desperate, and ultimately desolate mood. We sympathize for Ella, but also for the Tremaines, who try to do what they can to care for Ella, but it’s hard when she is convinced that they hate her. As readers, we see many different points of view, and we know how different reality is from Ella’s dream. It’s devastating for us, but deeply moving. This piece is mind-altering, causing the reader to think about the basis of the tale from an entirely new perspective. I couldn’t be more glad to have discovered this gem of a story, for it is truly magnificent.