This paper will review the theories of a resurrection and spiritual enlightenment as presented in the classic fairy tale Cinderella. The paper will review classic symbols and their relationships to spiritual concepts, demonstrating how Cinderella comes from a worldly place to a place of renewal and transformation from a spiritual perspective. Major characters that contribute to this transformation include the mice that assist Cinderella, the fairy Godmother, and the prince and castle that Cinderella visit. Symbolism relating to time and hour will also be reviewed and their relevance to transformation and resurrection as a new person.

This perspective distinguishes this paper from traditional translations and interpretations of the classic fairytale, which tend to focus on themes of love, beauty, and character that typify fairy tales including Cinderella. While these themes are important, it is also critical to look at Cinderella’s transformation and entry into enlightenment, or entry into the Kingdom of Heaven, which the castle may represent. There are many potential sources that may be explored for purposes of this paper, including spiritual representations of the Kingdom, including the Baghavad Gita, the Bible and other fairy tales, and other works of interpretation on the fairy tale of Cinderella. It will be important to look at works of interpretations that look at classic zymology. In this way it will be possible to interpret the glass slipper, the house that Cinderella lives in, the Castle, the fairy godmother, the stepmother and sisters, the mouse, the prince and other relevant characters in a new light, and with regard to their role and relevance to Cinderella.

It will be critical to look at multiple interpretations of the symbols, and analyze them with regard to enlightenment, resurrection, and transformation. In doing so, it will be possible to identify their relevance to Cinderella’s spiritual transformation from a place of darkness to light. One may consider Cinderella a classic inspirational character. I am interested in this topic because most people look at princess figures and other fairy tales in classic terms, but more and more it is important to see the transformational qualities and hero-like qualities these classic fairy tales represent. There is something deeper that each of these fairy tales brings to life that I believe resonates deep within each of the main characters. Once this deeper meaning is understood, it is easy to see how each of these fairy tales may be a story-like interpretation of classic resurrection or transformation folk tales reinterpreted to meet the needs of young children and girls, or even boys in many cases. This will help inspire deeper reading and interpretation I hope, into other fairy tales and classic stories. My goal is also to help understand symbology better, as there are many deep symbols relevant to the Cinderella story that may easily be applied to other fairy tales. These symbols may be common and interpreted in many ways.

To narrow the view of this paper I hope to limit the literature review to a few key titles. In this way, the information gleaned from sources will not prove overwhelming. After reviewing the literature I will choose the symbols and characters that I am able to find the most information on, in order to provide quality details for the paper. Questions I have include: (1) what is Cinderella’s current state of being at the beginning of the story? (2) What characters achieve enlightenment or are resurrected, apart from Cinderella? (3) What clues suggest that spiritual sleep exist in the beginning of the story? (4) Who does the Fairy Godmother really represent in the story? In researching these topics I look forward to developing a solid thesis and answers to these questions.