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Mahadeo Singh
FIQWS 10105
Professor von Uhl
October 6, 2016
The Females of Literature
Throughout various pieces of literature, there are female protagonists that portray unique
qualities that are significant to the story. In particular, creators of fairy tales use the female
protagonist to create the morals and ideologies behind the tale. In doing so, they showcase the
characters inner strength that are set aside from the story itself. The revelations of the characters
characteristics create a sense of urgency and optimism for readers everywhere. As portrayed in
the Grimms fairy tales, it is a violent world becausethis seems to be the lesson of the
Grimmsevil is objective presence in the world (Berman). This magical or mythical world is
created to showcase, good vs evil in society through the use of individual actions by the
characters themselves. The story of Draupadi, written by R.K. Narayan and Cinderella by the
Grimms, showcase the female protagonists by portraying them in an indigenous way. Draupadi
and Cinderella are shown in their stories through their comparisons, characteristics and gull,
which eventually lead to the two characters fortitude and boldness through the use of plot
development.
There are noticeable differences between the writing of Cinderella compared to the
original writing of Draupadis character. One thing is for sure, Cinderella got her prince
charming and Draupadi got her five husbands by obeying the wishes of her mother-in-law.
Unlike Draupadi, after the ball Cinderellas character is the opposite: she comes home missing
what she had when she set out. Cinderella does not experience any perceivable growth or

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transformation (Baum). She just comes home and returns to normal as if nothing happened.
Furthermore, Draupadi goes through a journey with her husbands, learning lessons and skills
along the way. Even though both characters are loyal (Cinderella to her stepmother and Draupadi
to her mother-in-law), they are much different characters. Cinderella is written just to show
what we worship in her is not what she is but what she gets (Baum). Everyone gets caught up
with the idea of her riding away into the sunset with prince charming. Moreover, Draupadi is
brave and stands up for what is right. She questions her superiority by calling on her god and
using her wisdom for good, in order to get out of trouble. It is clearly shown in the writing, that
Cinderella does not question herself or superiority. She conceals her feelings of hurt and
frustration with her life on the inside. From her perspective, she believes that her mother and god
are with her and all is going to be right through grace. In addition, both stories incorporate the
use of faith and religion. In Cinderella, there is something very Christian in the tales
assumption that authentic goodness goes hand in hand with a simple folk piety (Berman).
Similarly, Draupadis character meditates and calls upon her god to solve her problem. The role
of religion is shown as the characters justification for their problems and well-being. Both
characters represent role models in the stories. Cinderella is a role in which the story and the plot
make her one, because she found true love. However, Draupadi is a real role model because her
characteristics exemplifies her induvial self when facing horrific problems in her life. She uses
her unique qualities to solve problems and overtake obstacles, which is what defines a role
model, someone to look up to.
The female protagonists in both stories have specific characteristics that portray them
with honor, bravery, and yes even gall. Protagonists serve as the drive behind the stories. Using
their characteristics, actions begin to develop that creates the story itself. With characterization or

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characteristics there would not be a story. It would just be full of bland characters. Draupadi is
often studied by many scholars around the world. It can be concluded that "the Scriptures
prescribed one husband for a woman; Draupadi is dependent on many husbands; therefore she
can be designated a prostitute (Spivak). It makes Draupadi stronger in the sense that she was
married to five husbands. Furthermore, we can also gather the sense that Draupadi might have
felt violated, especially belonging to five husbands. In the latter part of the story, Draupadi stands
up for her own self, regarding her body and womanhood. When the enemy chief begins
relentlessly trying to take off her sari, Draupadi begins praying to Krishna. The Idea of
Sustaining Law (Dharma) materializes itself as clothing, and as the king pulls and pulls at her
sum', there seems to be more and more of it. Draupadi is infinitely clothed and cannot be
publicly stripped. It is one of Krishna's miracles (Spivak). It is clearly presented that Draupadi
is inevitable to being stripped. Draupadi represents the power that a female can have in society.
She cannot be stripped or deprived of anything. She must be respected with honor. Furthermore,
Draupadi represents gall in this scene, when she demands to not be seen in her situation. She
boldly argues with the enemy in hopes to protect herself. Similarly, Cinderella portrays similar
qualities in the way she obeyed her stepmother. She provides the strictures of friendship and
obedience that girls are trained to uphold, unconditional family love and, not least, ideals of
personal appearance and deportment (Baum). It is agreeable that Cinderella represents bravery,
honor, and strength just by slaving for her stepmom and obeying her orders. Furthermore, she
takes a risk by going to the ball numerous times. Both characters represent boldness of their
situations that is taken into the spotlight.
When it comes to fairy tales and myths, the plot develops the female protagonists in a
unique way that influences the readers perception to connect beyond the story. By incorporating

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Draupadis background, it develops the understanding of her characters morals. She comes from
a background where women are respected in the most high. Just by including the conversation
with her dad, the king, we could gather the sense that she respected her father and her husbands.
She illustrates an act of fortitude when she stands by her husbands as they gamble her away.
When she is confronted by the enemy chief, she is in a place where she will finally act for
herself in not acting, in challenging the man to (en)counter her as unrecorded or misrecorded
objective historical monument (Spivak). As the plot develops to incorporate faith and religion, it
shows that Draupadi uses her boldness to pray for her well-being, in order to save herself from
an unlikely situation. On the other hand, the Grimms Cinderella had very little plot development
other than the white bird, who is the cause of her character becoming who she is. As Cinderella
expressed her wish, the white bird would throw down whatever she asked for. Thus, leading
Cinderella to her actions, that portrays her boldness in going to the ball. The Grimms version
was more basic then other versions of Cinderella. Her stepmother deliberately made her pick out
lentils out of the ashes. She complies resulting in her will power to obey someone who she does
not like. Cinderella does what is expected, rather than doing the opposite. Sure she went to the
ball, but she still came back and did nothing. Perhaps, we might be inspired to question the
value of hidden features (Baum). However, the way we perceive Cinderella is directly focused
on the plot and characters alone, not indirectly.
Looking at literature as a whole, is has an ambiguity drawn to its presence. Literature can
be divided into categories such as fairy tales and myths. Within these subcategories it contains
enriching stories filled with, characters that represent the norm of society being challenged
through the use of plot development and characteristics. In this case, the female protagonists,
Draupadi and Cinderella showcase the power of females in society. They each have a unique trait

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about them that exemplifies the meaning of the evolution of women. It is outstanding to believe
that fairy tales can evolve the world and change the way people perceive certain individuals.

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Works Cited

Baum, Rob. "After the Ball Is Over: Bringing Cinderella Home." Cultural Analysis,
Volume 1, 2000: /Rob Baum. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.
<http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~caforum/volume1/vol1_article5.html>

Berman, Russell A. "Raw Tales." First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public
Life 258 (2015): 49+. Academic OneFile. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.
<http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.queenslibrary.org/ps/retrieve.do?

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Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm. "Cinderella." Grimm 021:. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept.
2016.
<http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm021.html>

Narayan, R. K. "Draupadi." Gods, Demons, and Others. New York: Viking, 1964. N. pag.
Print.

Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. ""Draupadi" by Mahasveta Devi." Critical Inquiry8.2

(1981): 381-402. Web. 4 Oct. 2016.
<https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/pg/masters/modules/femlit
/gayatri_spivak_-_draupadi_by_mahasveta_devi.pdf >.