What's in a (sister's) name?

[zhai]

Working on a fairy tale retelling and found myself chasing down the closest I could get to the definitive names for Cinderella's wicked/ugly (depending on who you ask) stepsisters. Of course there is no 'definitive' since this myth stretches back (again depending on who you ask) quite to antiquity, and has cousins all over the world, so you have a

Comments

[devilwrites]

Did you look up Gregory Maguire's CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER?

http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Ugly-Stepsister-Gregory-Maguire/dp/0060987529/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206759520&sr=8-1

[zhai]

Aha -- I'd seen the name of that and looked at it cursorily, but didn't jot down the names. I will add "Iris & Ruth" to the list. ;) Thanks!

It is a trope particularly in the modern editions for one of the stepsisters to be beautiful and smart (and evil) while the other is a simpleton... I wonder if this comes from the very abstract characterizations set up in the older versions, where Javotte is named (the elder) and the younger has a much diminished role...

[ellen_denham]

In the ballet they are usually called "Anastasia" and "Javotte." I think there are some other variations too - I'll have to check with my choreographer husband.

[jeffhowell]

Not exactly a coherent thought, but I seem to recall the name "Cinderella" related to her tidying up the cinders. Either directly or indirectly via writer's use of symbolism. So I'd extrapolate this and think the wicked step sisters would also have symbolic or wordplay names. "Prunella" seems to fit the "ella" scheme. "Lotta Prissy" makes me chuckle. I'd think the author's desire would be to characterize the sisters with negative traits. Also in terms of popular naming, I'd guess the 'in' names of one era become the pariah names of the next. So if you're looking for suggestions I'd go with Chlamydia and Britney. Sorry having too much fun with this. Good luck on your writing project.

[anguirel]

Cinderella came from the German name "Ashenputel". Both are essentially the same in meaning -- she not only cleaned the hearth, but had to sleep in the kitchen near it in order to remain warm and so would always be covered in ash and soot.

[brennye]

Just out of curiosity, did you search on Gutenberg.org? I just took a quick peek and it popped up eleven different sources for "Cinderella." And other than the movies you listed, I can never think of what the sisters are called. Very interesting..

[lesser_celery]

...in Charles Perrault's Cinderella...one sister is named "Javotte".

That's interesting, because nowadays "Javotte" is French slang for "talkative" or "chatterbox".