Clearly class is an issue in any retelling of "Cinderella," which ends with the downtrodden heroine marrying a prince. But since Ella Enchanted is novel-length instead of fairy-tale-length, there's a ton more room for ruminating on what precisely is the value of social class. Are high-class people actually classier than the rest? One look at Sir Peter, Dame Olga, Hattie, and Olive is enough to convince us that things may not actually work that way. Power and wealth are some obvious advantages to being of high social status, but being high class doesn't automatically make you awesome. Just don't tell Rich Raven.
Questions About Society and Class
- How is Ella different from the other high-class characters in the book?
- Are humans the only race in Kyrria with a sense of social class? How do the other races seem to award status?
- How do lower-class characters behave differently from higher-class characters in the novel, if at all?
Chew on This
High status in Kyrria comes with more monetary perks than political power.
In Ella Enchanted, The only way to attain high status is to be born into it.