There are approximately 3,000 different versions of the Cinderella story from many cultures worldwide, dating back over 2,000 years with roots in ancient Greece and China. In fact, it follows one of the seven major basic story arcs: “rags to riches.” In this archetype, described in a book by Christopher Booker, the protagonist is poor, in that they lack wealth, beauty, love, or power. They find what they seek, lose it, and then gain it back again. In the case of the Cinderella story, the society within which the story is set is defined by a social stratification that makes the protagonist poor in wealth, love, and power. “Happily ever after” is defined by having achieved marriage: love and wealth, which would mean a higher social status.
Sociologists define social class as a stratification or grouping of people in a hierarchy based on certain characteristics including wealth, education, occupation, and income. Social class also is highly influenced by whether the person conforms to the dominant social norms, including gender expression, religion, political affiliation, etc. Generally, those with more power are of a higher social class, and those with less are of a lower one. The organizing principles of social stratification have shifted and changed over the millennia, yet most civilizations have had social groupings that are in part divided by wealth, education, occupation, and income.
For much of history, in many cultures across the world — and certainly during Rossini’s day — a woman was considered property and obligated to be under the care of a man, usually her father, until she married. Cinderella cannot not amass personal wealth, and her wealth automatically becomes the property of her guardian. Her social value comes from her upbringing (which likely included some education), her youth, and her beauty. Many versions of Cinderella — in the Western world, at least — describe the character as coming from a higher social class and being forced to live an impoverished life at the hands of a stepparent whose family is living beyond their means. Cinderella’s inheritance has been squandered and she is essentially held captive. A message of Cinderella is that if women are beautiful, intelligent, patient, and kind, they will find security and wealth through true love and a higher social class (financially secure) marriage, exhibiting true virtues ascribed to aristocrats and royalty and thus proving themselves worthy of such a marriage.
German philosopher Karl Marx developed a social theory in the mid-19th century during the Industrial Revolution defining social class in relationship to the economy. In his theory, the working class is in inherent conflict with the owners and profiteers of industry, and the government exists to protect the wealthy over the common good. Marx was a strong supporter of the arts because they influenced culture as subversive propaganda and could potentially incite revolution. He posited that if resources were distributed evenly, then the conflict between classes would resolve.
Many have applied his theories to literary analysis of the Cinderella story, asserting that the central conflict of the story stems from classism. Cinderella is poor even though she lives in a household with her family who are not poor. They oppress her. As a woman, she has no claim to wealth of her own; thus she is forced to be working class, while her stepfamily is middle class, and the royal family has the highest social status. Cinderella is in conflict with her stepfamily because they each want to increase their social class status with a chance at marrying into royalty. In the end, however, Cinderella’s virtue is rewarded over her stepsisters’ seductions and ambitions of social climbing, demonstrating what society values most in women.
In order to attend the ball, Cinderella must “fit in” with her clothes, which Marx would assert relates to commodification and consumerism. In Rossini and Ferretti’s adaptation, even though the prince (in disguise) already met Cinderella and recognized her virtue, he doesn’t initially think of her as “marriage material,” because she is a maid. Cinderella is ashamed of her social status and tattered clothing in their first meeting. In the story, wealth is equated to power in terms of social status and the ability to influence society. Therefore, when the prince does choose Cinderella for her virtue and beauty, he has the power to quickly elevate her social status, freeing her from her oppression in spite of the lower status she was forced into by her stepfather.
BLO’s production is set in present-day Boston. Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States and has a long history with social class. The class systems have shifted over the centuries, yet some of the old structures remain. Much of Boston’s social class system is defined by “who came first” in colonizing the land and building the city.
“Boston Brahmin” is a term used to describe approximately 66 family lines, many of which are recognizable because New England towns, buildings, businesses, streets etc. are named after them. These “old money” Boston families were the first European families — most, originally middle class — who built their fortune as merchants and businessmen in the early days of Boston’s history and have since amassed much of the wealth in the city by owning land, buildings, and businesses; and by holding influence in the philanthropic and political sectors. These early white Protestant settlers also captured and enslaved Native Americans and brought captured Africans to Boston to be enslaved as early as 1638. These enslaved peoples labored to build wealth for the “Boston Brahmin” families that has lasted over four centuries.
As Boston grew, new waves of immigrants arrived as poor and working class. They faced discrimination and worked for the upper classes through agricultural, service, and industrial labor. The Irish formed the first major wave of immigration in 1820, along with Canadians, Germans, and English, followed later by the Portuguese and Cape Verdeans. In the next fifty years, immigrants arrived from China, Italy, Russia, and Armenia. Immigrants came to Boston for many reasons, but all were striving for a better life with freedom to work, worship, and build safe communities. As generations became more established and amassed generational wealth, those that had settled earlier slowly rose in social status to be middle class, and in some cases upper class, while newer immigrants filled working-class jobs and neighborhoods.
Newer waves of immigration continued throughout the 20th century, making today’s Boston home to people from all over the world, including people from Syria, Lebanon, Haiti, Vietnam, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Central America, South Asia, Brazil, Jamaica, Columbia, and many more places. Since its founding, Boston has been a sought-after destination as a welcome place of asylum for refugees worldwide since the 1600s, and especially since World War II which, in part, has contributed to the rich diversity we see today.
Generally, those that live within the City of Boston today are made up of middle-class, upper-middle class, and wealthy residents known as the “Creative Class” and neighborhoods of “Service Class” residents who are lower class and often work jobs that serve the “Creative Class.” Those who are lower middle and middle class “Working Class” tend to live outside the city and commute, if necessary, as the cost of living has forced them outside the city’s limits.
The “Rags to Riches” archetype still resonates in today’s stratified cultural landscape, for while actual royalty is all but a thing of the past, the wealthy still hold immense power and influence, and a marriage may change a person’s social standing. Cinderella’s fairytale says that if we have high moral standards, in the end, it will transcend our social status. There’s a reason why this story endures across time and place. We still adore and retell it today, be it via Disney’s Cinderella, Pretty Woman, or Ella Enchanted – to us, it represents the romance of the American Dream.
Rebecca Ann S. Kirk, M.Ed. is Boston Lyric Opera’s Director of Community & Learning. She holds degrees in Education and Sociology.