NOT ALL WORK IS DEPICTED EQUAL: A PURPOSIVE STUDY OF THE PORTRAYALS OF WORK AND POWER IN ELLA ENCHANTED AND FAIREST by JENNIFER ERIN JOHNSON B.A., The University of British Columbia, 2003 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Children's Literature) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) September 2009 © Jennifer Erin Johnson, 2009 Abstract Western fairy tales include an ideological framework with the ability to absorb and transmit values. While the theme of work has been examined as a factor of patriarchalism and the Protestant work ethic in traditional European tales, there is a paucity of literature discussing its portrayal in contemporary young adult fairy-tale novels and other young adult fiction. This thesis is a “pilot study” that examines the portrayals of work and power in Gail Carson Levine's young adult fairy-tale novels, Ella Enchanted and Fairest. The findings demonstrate how the author constructs active work roles operating on the principles of oppression or self-sacrifice for the community, and passive work roles manifesting as submission, resistance or complicity. They further reveal Levine's adaptation of patriarchalism and the work ethic to strengthen the significance of humanitarianism to the plot and of active and skilled labour to the conclusion. Although she begins to portray teenage work experiences as a transitional step to the adult workforce, her overall depiction connects more strongly to children's fiction. The work of building social relationships is emphasized during the narrative, but removed from the happily-ever-after ending. Although considerable research must be conducted before any conclusions may be drawn regarding the ways work and power feature in all young adult fairy-tale novels, I am pleased to have drawn attention to the subject in my purposive analysis of Ella Enchanted and Fairest. ii Table of Contents Abstract.........................................................................................................................................ii Table of Contents.........................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgements.......................................................................................................................v Dedication....................................................................................................................................vi Chapter One: Introduction.............................................................................................................1 Inspiration and Research Questions..................................................................................2 Significance of My Study..................................................................................................5 Rationale for my Focus......................................................................................................6 Why Fairy Tales?...................................................................................................6 Why Young Adult Fairy-Tale Novels?...................................................................7 Why Work?............................................................................................................7 Why Purposive?.....................................................................................................8 Why Gail Carson Levine?.....................................................................................9 Definitions.........................................................................................................................9 Fictional Genres.....................................................................................................9 Narrative Structures and the Spongy Fairy-Tale Framework..............................11 Philosophies and Ideologies................................................................................17 Work....................................................................................................................17 Outline of Chapters..........................................................................................................18 Chapter Two: Literature Review.................................................................................................20 Part One: Expanded Definition of the Fairy Tales of Western Europe............................21 Fairy Tales and Psychoanalysis...........................................................................22 Magic versus “Dark Forces”................................................................................24 Moral Tales versus Ideological Tales...................................................................25 Spongy Fairy-Tale Framework............................................................................29 Patterns of Orality....................................................................................29 The Heroic Quest.....................................................................................30 Utopian World.........................................................................................32 Home, Family and Hopefully Ever After................................................33 Review.....................................................................................................34 Young Adult Fiction and Its Relationship to Children's Literature.................................35 Young Adult Folktale Fiction and Fairy-Tale Novels......................................................37 Part Two: Work and Work Philosophies..........................................................................40 Work and Traditional Fairy Tales........................................................................42 The Protestant Work Ethic.......................................................................42 Patriarchalism..........................................................................................43 Work and Young Adult Fiction............................................................................44 Work and Young Adult Folktale Fiction..............................................................48 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................48 iii Chapter Three: Methodology.......................................................................................................49 Chapter Four: Finding the Fairy-Tale Framework......................................................................52 Setting..............................................................................................................................52 Characters........................................................................................................................58 Plot...................................................................................................................................64 Chapter Five: Work, Power, and Humanitarianism in Ella Enchanted and Fairest.....................68 Oppression and Passive Work Responses........................................................................69 Obedient Ella.......................................................................................................69 Resistance, Rewards, and Personal Values..............................................69 Enforced Labour......................................................................................71 Magically Enforced Submission..............................................................73 Ella's Complicity.....................................................................................74 “Ugly” Aza..........................................................................................................75 Beauty Work............................................................................................75 Serving Her Community..........................................................................76 Resistance Through Singing and Persuasion...........................................78 Aza's Complicity.....................................................................................79 Resisting Oppression...............................................................................80 Passive Work and Other Characters.....................................................................80 Active Work and the Balance of Power...........................................................................82 Disrupting Equilibrium........................................................................................82 Maintaining the Balance......................................................................................84 Restoring the Balance and Establishing “Real Home”........................................85 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................87 Chapter Six: Work and Philosophies in Ella Enchanted and Fairest...........................................89 Levine's Adaptation of Work Portrayals in Traditional European Fairy Tales................89 Patriarchalism......................................................................................................89 Work Ethic and Purpose......................................................................................92 Levine's Adaptation of Work Portrayals