Lin 1

Jenny Lin
FIQWS 10105
Professor von Uhl
6 October 2016
Exploratory Essay
For every written piece of work, the protagonist portrays their own unique characteristic.
In particular, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimms Cinderella and R.K. Narayans Draupadi are fairy
tales that considers the characteristics of the female protagonists both similarly and differently.
Cinderella is enclosed by her evil step mother and sisters at home and Draupadi belongs to a
society where the woman only listens to their elders. The two characters, Cinderella and
Draupadi have their own ways of dealing with their situations and portraying their own idea of
how to voice their opinion either verbally or physically. Cinderella and Draupadi both portray
their own sense of strength and bravery, but not gall in their own circumstances which
aggrandizes the overall development of the characters characteristics.
The idea of an individual having strength and being brave go hand in hand. Strength is
having a strong point or power over something, while bravery is being able to embrace that
strength. Draupadi is the main female protagonist from Draupadi who portrays strength and
bravery. As a strong role model, Draupadi comes from a society where the woman is just
expected to listen to their elders (Guin). Although, Draupadi was aggressive and spoke her when
it was needed, Draupadi is considered by many as the first feminist of Indian mythology (Guin
para. 5). Despite being a woman, she projected her voice to the point where she even ordered her
five husbands to wage war for her (Narayan 159). From the beginning, Draupadis life was not
easy. She had five husbands which was out of the norm, but she bravely accepted this challenge

Lin 2
to her womanhood, shouldered the task and brought it to a fruitful conclusion (Guin). The
amount of responsibilities she had to carry with each husband was tremendous. She also had to
adapt to each husband after one year with each one of them (Narayan 153). As a feminist, she
stood up for her reputation and when she was humiliated, she fought against it. For instance,
Draupadi expresses her bravery and strength during her disrobing. The evil cousins, the
Kauravas, won Draupadi over from her five husbands during a game of dice (Narayan 155). Her
first question was to Yudhistra, the eldest, because if Yudhistra lost himself first and then lost
her, she had the temerity to reply that the loss could not then bund her (Narayan 156). She
had the strength and was brave enough to ask him if he lost himself first, then that means she
does not belong to him, so he cant send her off. As she was dragged into the court, she also
questions the elders as to why they are sitting there so quietly when they know something is
wrong (Narayan 157). When the Kauravas neglected her words and during her disrobing,
Draupadi prayed to her god. She hoped he will hear her words and help her; With that, her god
helped her and she was able to maintain her image because he believed in him (Narayan 158).
Draupadi ironically plays the man in the relationship because she leads the idea of a voice which
traditionally, a man should have. She wages war and calls her husbands to go to war to redeem
her honor and respect; she felt the need to redeem everything they lost to the Kauravas (Narayan
159). She was bold to declare the order and if a man wants to maintain their honor as an
individual, they would respect the woman because they are their honor.
Likewise, Cinderella is also a female protagonist who depicts strength and bravery
together. Although she did not take the same actions Draupadi did, she also found her own
independence for being determined. Cinderella begin as objects of desire, but who strive to find
their voice and through means of speech transform their social ambitions (Nanda 247).

Lin 3
Cinderella lived in a house with her wicked stepmother and stepsisters. They ask her to do all the
dirty work around the house such as: cleaning, cooking, and picking lentils out of the ashes.
When the king organized a festival for all the beautiful girls to attend so the prince can find a
bride, the step mother and sister were excited. The stepsisters got ready, but Cinderella only
watched from a distance. They did not want her to go, thinking she will be a disgrace with her
dirty clothes (Grimm). Cinderella always cries when things go wrong, although she has her
reasons for that. She found a way to express herself and learned to find her own voice. If one
cries and do not take action afterwards, they will not strive to find the voice of their own.
Cinderella however went to a tree near her mothers grave to pray and cry. When she goes A
white bird came to the tree every time, and whenever she expressed a wish, the bird would throw
down to her what she had wished for (Grimm). Even so, Cinderella portrays her strength and
bravery by calling out to the pigeons for help when she needed them. She was determined to go
to the ball, therefore she found her own way of doing so. She may have sought for help many
times instead of depending on herself, but she did ask for help therefore she found her own
voice. Many fairy tales embody the ways that societies attempted to silence and oppress women
making them passive (Nanda 248). Despite her stepmother and stepsisters words, she expresses
a strong and brave role model for seeking whatever she can, so she can do what she wants
herself. Cinderella did not just stay home because she couldnt go, she found a way to make sure
she did go to the festival.
Both Cinderella and Draupadi present strength and bravery, but no gall. They did not act
with negative audacity. As strong and independent women, they both are brave enough to call for
help when they need it. Stubborn individuals will never call for help and think independent
means that you cant ask for help at all. Even if an independent woman struggles, they still would

Lin 4
ask for help; no one can do everything on their own. The actions Cinderella and Draupadi take
are not a negative impact. They both do what they do to help themselves. To be portrayed as a
bolder character, Draupadi stands up for herself by finding her voice and Cinderella uses all her
potential to attend the festival. Talking back to your elders was a way Draupadi expressed herself
for her own benefit. Cinderella wept and called out to the pigeons, not because she was greedy,
but because she really wanted to attend the festival. Through the female protagonists fortitude
and boldness, the story continues to convey the image of strong and brave characters.
Overall, both protagonists presented that strength and bravery work together. Cinderella
and Draupadi became the woman they are portrayed as and they found their own voices
throughout the tale. None of their actions were done with a negative audacity; they did
everything they can to hold their image. Their bravery and strength helped the story develop and
truly showed how they never put themselves down. Their fortitude and boldness is the epitome
of a natural image of a strong, brave, and independent woman.

Lin 5
Works Cited
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Cinderella. Childrens and Household Tales Grimms Fairy
Tales. 7th Edition. Revised June 1, 2011. D.L. Ashliman. Web. 3 Oct. 2016.
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm021.html
Guin, Madhuri. "Draupadi, the Woman: Epitome of Feminity and Feminism." Dolls of India.
DollsofIndia Ecommerce Pvt Ltd, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
http://www.dollsofindia.com/library/draupadi/
Nanda, Silima. The Portrayal of Women in the Fairy Tales. The International Journal of
Social Sciences and Humanities Invention, vol. 1, no. 4, 2014, pp. 246-250.
http://www.valleyinternational.net/thijsshi/v1-i4/7%20theijsshi.pdf
Narayan, R. K. "Draupadi." Gods, Demons, and Others. New York: Viking, 1964. pp. 143-161.
Print.