The castle is shown twice, to accentuate its importance. Cinderella’s dream is to escape from her life of servitude and live happily, and she dreams of how wonderful life would be at the castle. The final image is the path that Cinderella and the Prince walk on outside when they leave the ball together. This path signifies the journey she is taking to follow her dreams and escape her current life. This opening sequence helps to build expectations for the viewer. An enchantingly harmonious song is heard throughout the opening credits, also. It is clear that multiple people are singing it, acting as a chorus. This chorus acts as narrators, with the lyrics of the song serving to prepare the action of the storyline for the viewers. Narrators are able to provide objective information since they are not affected by the actions of the characters. It is important for the viewer to listen to the words of the choral narrators and recognize that they are providing the first description of Cinderella. The choral narration gives the first view into the unrestricted narration of the film (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013, p. 87). Unrestricted narration explains that the viewer will be able to put together information gained from multiple characters and their respective viewpoints in order to have the best understanding of what is motivating the narrative. In this instance, the chorus is sharing
Lastly, the woman who serves as a featherduster is transformed into a feather- duster. She is Lumiere’s love interest, and acts a tease throughout the film. These household objects are honest representations of themselves in every form. They care for each other, help strangers when possible, and defend the castle when it is under attack by the villagers. These objects are strong characters who are to be judged solely on their inner goodness and beauty. THEME OF RESCUE ACTIVITY AND FLOW OF STORY INFORMATION Throughout the film, many characters show their bravery by attempting to rescue others. The theme of rescue activity is employed in two ways. First, it is part of the overall adventure format of the story. The act of putting oneself in danger, in order to save someone else is inherently selfless and reminiscent of something the hero in a story would do. These characters accept the necessary sacrifices as consequences and they choose to help, out of the pure goodness of their hearts, perpetuating the theme of inner goodness. The other significance of this theme is to show the unrestricted narration of the story. According to Bordwell and Thompson, unrestricted narration gives the audience complete depth and breadth of knowledge regarding the story (2013, p. 87). The characters are given varying degrees of knowledge. When faced with a lack of information, they choose to act based on their knowledge and educated assumptions about the situation. As discussed in
sings, “Here’s where she meets Prince Charming, but she won’t discover that it’s him ‘til chapter three.” Although the audience is aware that the Beast is a prince, Belle is not. Once she is living at the castle, Belle and the Beast spend the majority of their time together and it is apparent that there is a connection forming between them. Belle is confused by the tenderness she is feeling since the Beast had previously been mean and harsh, but now he is showing his softer side. Upon this change, she sings, “True, that he’s no Prince Charming, but there’s something in him that I simply didn’t see.” The audience is aware that he is a prince and eagerly awaits the moment when she realizes that he is her Prince Charming. The final instance of foreshadowing occurs in the first scene of the film. As the narrator is describing the conflict of the story, he makes the situation sound hopeless to the viewer. In his final line, the narrator asks the rhetorical question, “For who could ever learn to love a beast?” As if to answer this question immediately, the next image is of Belle walking out of her house and a song about her ensues. Within this song the townsfolk continuously claim that she is different from the rest of the society. As the viewer quickly learns the ideals of the society, it is apparent that being different is an asset to her personality. Her rejection of Gaston, who is considered to have the perfect appearance, proves that she is not superficial, and would be able to look beyond physical appearance to
cultural and societal constraints by which she would be bound in the nineteenth century. (As described on p. 11-12, it is assumed to be in this time period due to the filmmaker’s decisions about mise-en-scene). As an unmarried woman, with no family or status, she would be denied many rights, such as the ability to obtain a job outside the home, or obtain property. Cinderella was trapped in this awful situation, living as servant to her stepmother and stepsisters. It is admirable that she remained strong, optimistic, and kind through their unrelenting cruel treatment. Although Cinderella’s kindness and trustworthiness are essential to her good heartedness, which earns her the support and friendship of the mice, this leads to her most apparent character flaw: her naivety. Because she is good- hearted, she cannot believe that anyone would purposely do harm to her. After many years of mistreatment by her stepmother, she was quick to believe that Lady Tremaine would allow her to go to the ball. Cinderella should be aware of her stepmother’s maliciousness, and not just accept her word. The role of Lady Tremaine in Cinderella is significant when judged from a critic’s perspective. She is described as a “woman of good family”, which means she had a degree of wealth and status in this society. However, once Cinderella’s father passed away, Lady Tremaine used all of his money and her own, attempting to cure Anastasia and Drizella of their horrible awkwardness. With no male in the family to earn money, Lady Tremaine has