According to famous Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, there exists something called an archetype. An archetype is “an innate universal psychic disposition that forms the substrate from which the basic symbols or representations of unconscious experience emerge.” An easier way to say this is that an archetype is a mold shared by everyone and that the variances come from personal experiences. This can be applied to mythology as well. A lot of cultures share myths that have similar forms and overall story lines but have variations in details and setting due to the culture that the myths come from. To explore this in greater detail we will compare and contrast two Cinderella type myths and the cultures that they belong to.
Although a version of the Cinderella myth is present in almost every culture throughout history, we’ll look specifically at a Cinderella myth from the African culture and one from the Native American culture. Both of these myths already share the connection of both belonging to tribes people. Because most of us are familiar with the American version of Cinderella, we’ll avoid looking at that version in this paper, but it wouldn’t hurt to keep it in mind and draw your own parallels. The African version of the Cinderella myth is called “The Maiden, the Frog, and the Chief’s Son” and the Native American version is called “Oochigeaskw-The Rough-Faced Girl.
Before looking at the myths, we’ll start by first looking a bit at the cultures that they come from. Most African tribes during the 19th century when “The Maiden, the Frog and the Chief’s Son” began circulation did not have written languages. Because of such this myth circulated orally within and between tribes. Most tribes were also polytheistic which is why magical traits get attributed to animals in a lot of their mythology. There was also a hierarchal system in place for most tribes so there was a chain of command and those that were in the top tier were often allowed multiple wives. The chief and his son(s) were also allowed concubines. The last important thing to note about African tribes during the 19th century is that is was a very war-torn time, so although many tribes received money from agriculture and trade, warrior actions were favored and revenge was on everyone’s minds.
The Native American tribe responsible for “The Rough-Faced Girl,” is an Eastern United States tribe called the MicMac Indians. The MicMac Indians were divided into 7 different regions and each region had their own government -which consisted of Chiefs and other tribal members- that controlled their population and territory. During the 19th century, the Micmac Indians came into contact with French settlers and found themselves at odds with the French customs of taking from nature and ravaging the landscape. Their disgust for this practice can be seen in a lot of their mythology which heavily relies on needing to be one with nature and to be respectful in order to be prosperous. As we will see, their version of the Cinderella myth is no different and there are a great many aspects of caring for nature, connecting with the universe and reverence woven through out it.
“The Maiden, the Frog, and the Chief’s Son” is an African myth that remained in circulation orally for a little over a hundred years before finally being published in 1911. According to this version there is a father that has two wives and each has a daughter. The wife that he dislikes dies and he sends her daughter that he doesn’t like to go live with the other wife and her daughter who treat her like a slave and make her do all the work. They feed her scraps which she shares with the frogs in a pond by her house. One day the frogs are waiting for her and tell her that they will help her since she has been kind to the,. The king frog swallows her and then spits her up looking like a princess. He tells her to go to the dance of the Chief’s Son and to leave one of her gold slippers behind. She goes to the dance and the son is smitten with her. After the dance, she leaves her gold shoe behind and the prince tries to find the owner of the shoe and finds her and marries her. The frog visit’s the maiden again and tells her to treat the son’s other wives and concubines in a friendly manner but to tell her half-sister that it is awful there. Sure enough her step-mother shows up and takes her and they ask her how it is and she replies accordingly. The step-mother decides her daughter will take her place and the maiden tells the step-sister that she must be mean to the wives and concubines or they will treat her foully. The step-sister does so but the wives and concubines realize because of this that it is the wrong girl and the prince goes and hacks her to pieces. He then finds his real wife, hacks the step-mother to pieces for lying and then takes the maiden back to his compound to live happily for the rest of her days.
Oochigeaskw- The Rough-Faced Girl” is a Cinderella version told orally by Native Americans in the Eastern woodland areas of the United States. According to this version in an Indian village there lived an invisible man that all of the women tried to see because whoever could see him would get to marry him. Also in the village lived a father with three daughters, the youngest of which was frail and always sick. The oldest sister was mean to her and burned her flesh which scared and made everyone call her the rough-faced girl. The eldest daughters tried to see the invisible man one night by going to his sister for the usual test. She asked them what he was wearing and what his things were made of and they answered but like everyone else who lied, they were wrong. A few days later the rough-faced girl decided to try since she was the last girl in the village who hadn’t. When the sister asked what his bow was made out of she replied a rainbow and when she asked what his belt was made out of she replied the milky way. The sister knew then that the burnt-faced girl had seen him. She took her back to her wigwam and as she bathed her she grew healthy, the scars healed and she became the most beautiful woman in the world. That night the burnt-faced girl became the wife of the majestic invisible man.
Although the above two myths are quite different, we can also see similarities in them. Both myths have a female as the leading character whose mother is absent. In the African version, the young girl’s mother dies and in the Native American version, the mother is never even mentioned at all. Without the mother figure both girls are treated cruelly by the remaining family members aside from the fathers who show little to no interest in the girl. In the African version, after the mother dies, the girl is sent to live with her step-mother and step-sister who treat her like a slave by making her do the extensive cooking and fetching the water and in return they reward her only with burnt scraps of food and harsh words. Throughout this whole myth, the step-mother repeatedly calls the young girl a slut despite there being no mention of any of her sexual exploitations. Also, after the beginning mention of the father in this myth, he is not brought up again. In the Native American version, the mother is mentioned as being gone but that is it. The young girl is treated cruelly by her two older sister who make fun of her for being sick, feed her their scraps and burn her. The father in this version is called a nice man because he asks about the burns and physical appearance of the youngest daughter but the older girls just say it is because she is clumsy and the father lets it go. He plays a very inactive role in the youngest daughter’s life. The only time that he is mentioned again is to give her a pair of his old moccasins that persuades the girl to try to see the invisible man.
These variations in the first part of the myths are due to cultural differences. In African tribes it was common for men to have two wives which is why the man in the myth does. In the MicMac Native American tribe, women’s roles were primarily familial which explains why her absence leaves the two oldest daughters mean, the youngest daughter sickly and why the father plays a very inactive role.
In both stories there is also, an important and revered man whom all the women in the village try to get the attention of but through some magical intervention, the motherless girl is the one who ultimately gets his attention. In the African myth, the important man is the Chief’s son and all of the women try to get his attention at a dance thrown in his honor. In the Native American version, the man is an invisible hunter that all of the women try to see so that they can wed him. In the African version, the young girl has a magical encounter with frogs that swallow her up and spit her back out in the finest clothing so that she can be presentable at the dance. These magical frogs also coach the young girl and tell her what she must do in order to win the son’s heart at the dance. In the Native American version, the young girl’s magical intervention is being able to see a man that is made out of the universe. The fact that he has a rainbow bow and a milky way belt, is quite magical and keeps the other girls in the village from ever being able to guess the answers to the sister’s questions correctly without actually knowing. We can also see the magical aspect of this myth by the sister bathing her after she has seen the invisible man. During the bath her scars fade away, her hair grows long and she becomes beautiful.
These variations as well can be explained through cultural differences. African tribes valued hard work and cunning which is why their version of the Cinderella myth has the young maiden doing heavy chores as part of hardships and it is why the maiden must also be clever and wise in order to execute the frogs instructions correctly. The frog, as well as other animals, are always highly appreciated in African tribes which is why the magical element of this myth comes in the form of frogs. In the Native Indian culture, being one with nature and the universe is of high importance to them which is why the magical element came in the form of being able to see the invisible man’s connection to the rest of the universe. It is also why the maiden is rewarded for being one of the only people able to do so. Their belief in the peace that being one with nature can bring is also seen in the transformation of the burnt-faced girl after her bath. Because she was able to see the universe connected through the invisible man, her inner beauty began to radiate and reflect itself outwardly.
In both myths there is also a test for both girls to go through and due to certain personality traits, they pass that test and get to wed the important male figure. In the African version the test comes to the maiden in two parts. The first test is that she must follow the frogs’ instructions when at the son’s dance and that she must leave behind her gold slipper so that he will become enthralled with her and know how to find her. The second test is that she must follows the frogs’ instructions on how to behave to the son, his concubines and his wives after he weds her and that she must also follow the frogs’ instructions on coaching her step-sister in her treatment of them when she tries to take her place. In the Native American version, the brunt-faced girl must pass the test of being able to see the invisible man even after psychological jeering from the rest of the people in the tribe.
The variation in this aspect of the two myths also come from different significant cultural beliefs. A lot of African tribes worked on a hierarchal system, so it was important for members of the tribe to be able to carefully follow instructions. This is part of the reason why the young maiden’s test consisted heavily on following instructions for her success. Women in a lot of African tribes were also supposed to be submissive towards male members of the tribe which is partly why her cunning instructions came from frogs rather than being thought up by her (since animals were revered it was less of an affront to cultural beliefs to have a women act in a manipulative manner) and why it was important for the young maiden to follow the instructions of her test wisely. By doing this she was able to wed the Chief’s son, manipulate the son, concubines and wife to stop her step-sister from taking her place and to manipulate the son to build a well so that she could live out the rest of her days with the frogs near by. Women in African tribes were also expected to be respectful and have a tender heart which is why the young maiden receives all of this benefit because of her kindness towards the frogs and her step-mother and step-sister are hacked to pieces for their cruel natures and deceptive ways.
As we’ve discussed before, the MicMac Native Indian tribe placed a high importance on interconnectedness with the surroundings. We can see this in the details about the girls preparation for her test to see the invisible man. Because she has been treated cruelly by her sisters and over-looked by her father, the burnt-faced girl has scaring, seared hair and scraps of clothes. In order to prepare herself for her test, she goes off into to the woods and uses things that she finds in nature in order to make clothes for herself. Although the tribe people laugh at her for this, the myth states that the sister was not put off by the appearance because she knew that appearances didn’t always reflect what was on the inside or what was true and because of this the burnt-faced girl’s appearance didn’t really matter.
Another important cultural variation to the Native Indian version is that the young girl in this version is often referred to as sickly and weak many times in the first part of the story to illustrate the MicMac principal of being able to rise to great status within the tribe even when you have limitations if you are connected with nature and the universe. The last difference to note is that most African tribes served warrior related functions while the MicMac tribe was mostly peaceful. This is why at the end of the myth, in the African version the step-sister and step-mother are hacked to pieces and punished for their negative character traits while in the Native Indian version, the cruel sisters are not punished -and in fact- not mentioned again after the burnt-faced girls achieves happiness.
Since we have now noted the similarities in the two myths and noted some of the variations in them because of cultural differences, we’ll lastly look at some of the cultural similarities which might explain the circulation of similar myths. Both myths comes from cultures that are tribe oriented with set leaders. During the time that these myths circulated, both cultures were also experiencing a time of cultural reformatting. The African Tribes were experiencing warring and the MicMac tribes were experiencing colonization. The oral language was also highly developed and used in both cultures since most African tribes didn’t have a written language and the written language for the MicMac tribe was not commonly used. Nature was also connected to both tribes since the MicMac tribes were in reverence with it and the African tribes were in awe of it. These cultural similarities help to explain why myths that had a natural based component in them, favored characters with good, strong characteristics, were easily communicated orally and were structured, were strongly valued and highly circulated.
As we can see both myths share the framework for the Cinderella myth in which a young motherless girl is treated cruelly by her family and then by magical intervention is able to wed a man that everyone else wants to and live happily afterwards. We also see that cultural differences attribute to the different details and styles of the myth. Because of this we can conclude that the Cinderella myth is an archetypal myth.
