Hello everyone! This time I would like to introduce you Bruno Bettelheim. I am sure all of you remember the story of “Cinderella”, unless those who were in class at the practice time from last week should. During this class we were analysing several variants of “Cinderella” and we could realise of their differences according to places, writers or times. However, it does not matter the version, people all around the world are fascinated with “Cinderella”.
Bruno Bettelheim (1903-1939) was a psychologist and educator who analysed in depth the story and discovered an unconscious message inside. In order to understand his point, it is important to know that this psychologist believes that our mind is composed by both conscious and unconscious elements and latter ones are those who influence us on the way we believe or we act. Furthermore, he explains that this division is exactly the same for adults and for children.
Regarding these thoughts, Bruno Bettelheim described the sibling rivalry and Cinderella’s mistreatment as the essential theme of the story, something that is directly related with some unconscious problems that children have within their families and that lead them to love this story.
As all of us well know the story tells how Cinderella is suffering degradation by her stepsisters and is obligated to do the dirtiest work in the house even if she is behaving well. How many of you have never felt jealous of your siblings or other children? Moreover how many times have your parents compared you with your sisters or brothers? Children feel identified with this story, even if their situation is not too bad. They already know it. In the story, whereas Cinderella’s step mother and step sisters mistreat her, she is loved by the rest of the world. This is what helps children to learn how to resolve their problems and to think that they are not so bad.
There is a very interesting document in which apart from this information you can find other curious details that make you think about the story. For example, the relationship of the small feet with the eastern world or the rivalry between siblings presented in some stories of German authors are some of the curious ‘coincidences’ we can find in the unconscious message that this story could transmit. I really encourage you to read the document I will post below because you are going to find interesting information and a lot of food for commenting on our blog.
http://sutterfield.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/6/8/12686139/bruno_bettelheim.pdf
Hi Susi! Your post is very engaging. I know that last week we were talking about Cinderella, but this reflection of Bruno Bettelheim is really interesting. In any case, I have to recognize that it is quite logic. The familiar problems presented in the Cinderella´s story could be extrapolated to many familiar situations. We can use this book as a tool for help our students to manage their feelings. Thank you for the idea!