The Evil Stepmother vs. The Negligent Father

Evil Stepmother and Cinderella in Disney’s “Cinderella”

The “evil” stepmother is a common character found in fairy tales ranging from “The Juniper Tree” to “Cinderella”. This portrayal of the stepmother not only causes children to fear the possibility of their father remarrying, but it also implies that when women are in charge of making decisions for their family, chaos frequently occurs. Whether the stepmother makes the decisions because of the father’s death or simply because the father fails to stand up to her, this is the implication. What about the fathers? Was it not “evil” that the miller gave up his daughter to the King just so he could benefit? If the father would have stood up to the stepmother in “Hansel and Gretel”, would the kids have been put in danger in the first place? You get the point. The overlying question is this: who is really more “evil” in these stories?

Illustration of Cinderella and her father

Let’s first look at The Grimms’ version of “Cinderella”. While Cinderella’s mother was deceased in this story, her father was very much so still alive. However, this didn’t stop him from allowing the stepmother to treat his daughter so terribly. Cinderella’s father is only mentioned a few times throughout the story, but when he is mentioned, he is most certainly not defending or protecting his daughter. Sure, he fulfills her request for the first branch that brushed against his hat on the way home (Tatar 149), but he also refers to his daughter as “puny little Cinderella” and his “dead wife’s daughter” (Tatar 153). Not to mention, he absolutely does not believe that Cinderella could be the beautiful girl the prince was dancing with. Cinderella’s father is not mentioned when the stepmother and her daughters are endlessly laughing at her and making her life as miserable as possible, but there is also no evidence in the story that the father was doing, or had done, anything to stop it. So, going back to the original question — is it really more “evil” that the stepmother and her lack of conscience mistreated Cinderella, or that her own father allowed it to happen and even contributed to it? Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means saying that the stepmother wasn’t awful for how she treated Cinderella. I am simply questioning why the actions of the father are overlooked, and the stepmother is the only “evil” one.

Father and Mother in
Nietzchka Keene’s film adaptation of the story

Now, let’s look at a retelling of “The Juniper Tree” — “The Brother and the Bird” by Alissa Nutting. In her explanation for writing this retelling of “The Juniper Tree”, Nutting explained that she wanted to keep “the father’s ignorance” as well as to show that “although the children accept their father, his emotional distance has rendered him unnecessary in their lives” (Bernheimer 40, 41). This retelling, while a more contemporary version of the original, does just this. The father, like we noticed in “Cinderella”, was nowhere to be found when the stepmother was abusing his children, and even when he was there, he was too blind and unattached to notice anything. When the father realized his son might not be returning, he did express his sadness, but this did not stop him from “searching for some trace of either wife below” (Bernheimer 40) when his beloved son miraculously returned home. If this doesn’t show the father’s neglect for his children, then I’m not sure what does. Again, just like with “Cinderella”, I am not saying that the father’s lack of attention excuses the stepmother from her wrongdoings, but it certainly does contribute to them. If the father had taken time to focus on his children, would the stepmother have been able to abuse the children as she did?

Nick and Meredith from The Parent Trap

Moving away from fairy tales, let’s look at the classic movie, The Parent Trap. When twins Hallie and Annie finally meet and develop a plan to get their mother and father to fall back in love, their agenda is ruined when their father announces his engagement to Meredith Blake, the “evil stepmother” in this story. Hallie continuously explains her doubts about Meredith to her father, but he never believes her and continues to see Meredith. Pretty similar to the two previous stories, right? Well, the difference is that Nick, the girl’s father, finally realizes on his own that Meredith is not the person he thought she was. After she provides Nick with an ultimatum — her or his daughters — he immediately cuts off the engagement. As a result of this, Nick and Elizabeth, the mother of the twins, remarry each other and the family lives a very happy life together. What would have happened if Nick decided to ignore Meredith’s red flags and continue their engagement? Based on the stories we discussed previously, we can assume that he would eventually become absent from his daughters while Meredith made their lives miserable.

After analyzing these three examples, I hope you will attempt to set aside the stereotype that the stepmother is the only “evil” one in these stories. To reiterate a final time, I am definitely not saying the stepmother in these stories is only “evil” because of the father. What I am saying, however, is that negligence can oftentimes be “evil” on its own.

Links:

The Classic Fairy Tales (Second Edition) (Norton Critical Editions)

The Parent Trap (1998) - IMDb

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me