Donkeyskin

I have to admit, Charles Perrault’s version of Cinderella, Donkeyskin, is one of the weirdest stories I have ever read. But, I think that’s what kept me so interested in it. I can’t decide what had me so weirded out by it.. maybe it was the fact that the King wanted to marry his beautiful daughter? Or maybe it was how she got away by hiding herself under Donkey skin. The kings previous wife had him promise that he wouldn’t marry anyone that was less beautiful or wise than her. The king thought he had it all figured out when he decided that only the princess filled that role. She tried her best to get out of the marriage. She told her father that she would not marry him unless he made her beautiful dresses and got her jewelry. When all of this didn’t work, the fairy god mother came up with a more elaborate plan. Although this donkey was the most disgusting thing in the land, it had a special gift. It could poop gold. The princess knew her father would never kill the donkey since it was his main source of income, so she did this.

“‘You don’t have to stay on this lovely path. Are these gifts that you have received really so marvelous that 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 its the sole source of his wealth'” (pg 111). 

Well, the fairy godmother was wrong. He decided to kill the donkey and give her the skin of it to show how in love with her he was. The fairy god mothers next elaborate plan was to have her escape.

“She should let the king believe that she was completely prepared to take her wedding vows with him, but at the same time she must disguise herself and flee all alone to a distant country to avoid an evil destiny so certain and so near” (pg 111). 

She grabbed the donkey skin that was brought to her as a gift from her father, and threw it over herself as a disguise. She then left her life behind and went to a foreign land where no one knew her. Until one day a prince saw her in her room covered in all of her jewels and beautiful dresses that she managed to sneak out of her old life. He promised himself to marry her. Although everyone that he was crazy because she was a disgusting person, covered in donkey skin, he kept his word and one day everyone saw her for who she actually was. The beautiful lost princess. The prince and princess were married, and the father attended the wedding happily and not crazy anymore.

Donkeyskin was one of my favorite readings so far. It started with love between the king and queen, and ended with love between the prince and princess. And in between it had a plot line that made me want to keep reading to see what would happen next. It was so much more different than the regular Cinderella that every child reads.