While reading the wikipedia entry for Cinderella I came upon the following titbit of interpretation:
Another interpretation of verre/vair (glass/fur) suggested a sexual element - the Prince was 'trying on' the 'fur slipper' (vagina) of the maidens in the kingdom, as a 'droit de seigneur' right of sexual possession of his subjects. The disguised Cinderella's 'fur slipper' was of unique appeal to the Prince who sought her thereafter through sexual congress (a variety of sources including Joan Gould).
I thought this was a bizarre and slightly fascinating variant. I'm now imagining the Prince (played by Chris Pine, as in Into The Woods) as a sort of genre-savvy mastermind who just wanted to get his leg over a few times before settling to marriage and so invented this whole 'I must sleep with all the maidens in the land' method. Rather than, say, recognising the woman you danced with for three nights in a row! Googling Joan Gould led me to the book above, which looks pretty interesting. I've added it to my amazon wishlist, so expect a review in future.
No comments:
Post a Comment