Ella Enchanted

When Ella of Frell is a baby, the fairy Lucinda bestows her with the “gift” of obedience. Thereafter, Ella is compelled to obey every command she is given – a predicament at odds with her bold and lively personality. For protection, Ella’s mother orders her to never reveal the curse. However, when Ella’s mother dies and her father remarries, Ella’s new stepfamily, including a bitter stepmother and two wicked stepsisters, discovers and exploits her secret.  

Desperate to finally retake her freedom, Ella resolves to track down Lucinda to rescind the gift, leading her on an epic quest throughout the kingdom. Along the way, Ella faces magical creatures, such as giants and ogres, and navigates a budding romance with Char, the kingdom’s prince. After all of her efforts, Ella just might discover that the magic to end her curse was within her all along.  

Ella of Frell is a charming and likable protagonist who disrupts common critiques of the original source material. While the passivity of her fairy tale counterpart, Cinderella, might frustrate some audience members, the curse gives Ella a sympathetic reason not to stand up for herself – she literally cannot disobey a direct order. Nevertheless, Ella is not complacent. She takes responsibility for her situation and uses her wit and determination to save herself, subverting the damsel-in-distress trope. For example, after trolls capture and plan to eat her, Ella sings them to sleep in their native language, then successfully flees their camp. Readers will like the bravery and spunky attitude Ella exhibits and root for her to break free of her curse.  

As his name would suggest, Prince “Char” Charmont is Ella’s friend and charming love interest. He serves as a compelling motivation for Ella to finally break free of her curse, because her susceptibility to outside influence could put him in a dangerous position as king. Their romance unfolds primarily over letters, in which Char reveals his character flaws of pride and anger, especially when it comes to protecting those he loves. For example, he dismisses a tutor who belittled his younger sister and ensured the tutor never found work again. However, Char is also kind and sympathetic. He is frequently “tormented” by his push-pull dynamic with Ella, not knowing the important reason she has to keep him at arm’s length.  

The large supporting cast of female characters provides many positive representations of female relationships that balance the negative ones. For example, there is little nuance in Ella’s stepfamily. Similar to their fairytale counterparts, they are cruel to Ella and exploit their position of power simply because they can. At times, their mean-spirited commands border on cruelty, such as when stepsister Hattie demands a necklace Ella inherited from her late mother. However, Ella has a loving relationship with her family’s cook and her mother figure, Mandy. Mandy is a good role model who is often strict, yet well-meaning and down-to-earth. While Mandy is a fairy, in contrast to Lucinda, Mandy preaches responsibility, using magic out of necessity rather than as a shortcut or convenience.  

Ella Enchanted is told in the first person, with part of the narrative told through letters. This gives the reader intimate access to Ella’s thoughts and feelings, making her a sympathetic character. Readers will enjoy the whimsical plot, including Ella’s journey across the magical land of Frell, and the romantic subplot between Ella and Char. Given the adversity Ella has faced, including her curse and the mean-spirited demands of her stepfamily, readers will root for Ella to succeed and reclaim her freedom.  

Ella Enchanted is a charming spin on the Cinderella fairy tale that fleshes out some underexplored elements in the original source material. It provides reasonable explanations for why Cinderella never resists her stepfamily’s orders and why the prince fell in love with her after only one meeting at a ball. Instead of anchoring the love story around Cinderella’s beauty, Ella Enchanted puts a greater emphasis on the prince falling for Ella’s personality. It also introduces positive female relationships into the fairy tale, such as Ella’s friendship with another girl at finishing school and her mother-daughter dynamic with Mandy.  

Readers who enjoy fantasy stories with fairytale elements will enjoy this entertaining and fast-paced story. While Ella faces some danger, such as a comedic run-in with human-eating ogres, the most upsetting moments are the ones grounded in reality, such as the cruelty of Ella’s stepfamily or the death of her mother. Overall, Ella Enchanted is a fun and whimsical story, well-suited for younger audiences.   

Sexual Content      

• Ella and Char develop their relationship through flirty, yet fun banter. For example, after being asked if she enjoys sliding down stairs, Ella replies, “‘I wish I could enjoy it. This fear of heights is an affliction.’ He nodded, a show of sympathy but not much interest. I was losing him. ‘Especially,’ I added, ‘as I’ve grown taller.’ He stared. Then he laughed in surprised delight.” These moments are especially effective because they emphasize that the prince falls in love with Ella’s personality, rather than solely her appearance.   
• Char confesses his love and proposes marriage to Ella through a letter. He writes, “What a beautiful bride you’ll be, whomever you marry at whatever age. And what a queen if I am the man! Who has your grace? Your expression? Your voice? I could extol your virtues endlessly. . . Love (it is such relief to pen the word!), love, love – Char.”  
• Though Ella initially rebukes Char, her internal monologue returns his feelings. She thinks, “I hadn’t loved him as long, perhaps, but now I loved him equally well, or better. I loved his laugh, his handwriting, his steady gaze, his honorableness, his freckles, his appreciation of my jokes, his hands, his determination that I should know the worst of him. And, most of all, shameful though it might be, I loved his love for me.” 
• After Ella breaks her curse, she and Char share a kiss. As Ella describes, “I kissed his cheek. He was safe from me. He turned my head and kissed me on the mouth. The kiss swept through me, and I clung to him, trembling.” 

Violence      

• While traveling in a carriage, Ella and her two stepsisters, Olive and Hattie, spot an ogre. Olive is hysterical until “the coachman stopped the carriage, came inside with us, and slapped her smartly across the face. ‘Sorry, miss,’ he said, and popped back out.”  
• At age eight, after a childhood friend discovered her curse and gave her several orders, Ella “punched her. She screamed, and blood poured from her nose. [Their] friendship ended that day.” 
• Once, Ella’s stepmother gave Ella a task that resulted in injury. Ella had to “wash the floor in the hall. . . As soon as [she] submerged [her] hands, they smarted and burned. . . the task took three hours, but [her] knuckles were bleeding in a quarter of the time. Occasionally, other servants passed by. Some gawked, some seemed sympathetic.” Ella is not left with permanent damage to her hands.  
• Ella often fears the damage her curse could do. For example, she “imagined future commands, awful ones, ones that would kill [her], and [she] glowed at the idea of obeying them.”  
• While traveling across the kingdom to find Lucinda, Ella is captured by ogres. Even though they promise to kill and eat her, the scene maintains an overall comedic tone. The situation is technically life-or-death, but readers never feel like Ella is in any real danger. For example, an ogre pokes Ella and says, “Wake up, Breakfast. How do you like to be cooked? Bloody? Medium? Or done to a crisp?” There is no violence because the ogres quickly discover they can command Ella, and Ella uses her wits to escape unscathed, essentially hypnotizing them into submission by using their mother tongue.  

Drugs and Alcohol      

• At a family dinner, Ella’s father offers a sip of his wine. Ella spills it before she can drink any.      

Language     

• None   

Supernatural     

• There are fairy godmothers, who can cast spells and curses. The acts of magic in this book are divided into two categories: big and small magic. Big magic includes life-altering transformations. For example, in addition to cursing Ella with obedience, the well-intentioned, yet dim-witted Lucinda curses a newlywed couple to never be apart, reasoning that she gave them “companionship and felicitous union.”  
• Small magic is low stakes, and the effects are either reversible or inconsequential. For example, Lucinda gives Ella elaborate jewelry to wear at a ball, provided the jewelry disappears by midnight.  
• There are passing mentions of several magical creatures, such as fairies, gnomes, elves, and giants. Ella attends a giant’s wedding and is nearly eaten by a group of trolls.  
• Mandy is a fairy godmother, yet refuses to perform most magic. Lucinda’s curses drive the conflict.  

Spiritual Content      

• None 

by Kerry Lum