Donkeyskin vs. Cinderella

In Maria Tatar's introduction to Cinderella tales, she makes the argument that Donkeyskin, or All-Fur, type tales should be viewed in the same light as Cinderella tales; that they are really the same general type of tale. I disagree with this belief. Tatar argues that the beginnings of Donkeyskin tales exhibit similar types of maternal evil to Cinderella tales by creating an entrapment for their husbands in the form of promises extracted on their deathbeds. Although some tales do have this, many tales begin with the king (or prince, or emperor, or priest, etc) simply declaring his intention to marry his daughter. For example, in the tale "All-Kinds-of-Fur", from Greece, king declares to his daughter "I want to marry you. You must become my wife", with no prior prompting from his now-deceased queen. This same sequence occurs again in the tales "The Emperor's Daughter in the Pig Stall", "Cinder Blower", "Emperor Heinrich in Sudemer Mountain", and many others. The depicting of maternal evil is something that belongs in the realm of Cinderella tales, while the Donkeyskin tales focus on paternal evil.

Another argument that Tatar makes in her essay is that the second half of Donkeyskin tales inevitably have the same basic storyline as those of Cinderella stories. While this is the case in many tales, there are also tales where there is no happy ending for the young girl. Looking at tales such as "Pigskin" and "Kniaz Danila Govorila", in which the object of the father's lusty attentions falls into a pit in the earth and does not come out again, I can see that there are indeed some tales that fit the Donkeyskin type without even touching on any part of a Cinderella type tale.

Lastly, the difference in the female characters sets these two tales apart the most. In Cinderella tales, the girl simply takes what is given to her; she has the help of a fairy godmother, or perhaps the help of her dead mother's spirit to give to her the clothing and ideas with which to win the prince's hand. In Donkeyskin tales, the girl in question takes it upon her own initiative to gain the dresses and go forth into the world to escape her father's paternal evil. Never in Cinderella tales does the Cinderella figure think about escaping her current position under the heel of maternal evil. Also, towards the end of many Donkeyskin tales (such as "Ass' Skin" and "All Kinds of Fur") the girl takes it upon herself to actively tempt the prince with actions such as putting the ring in a loaf of bread or a golden spinning wheel in his soup. Cinderella characters do not show such initiative.

Although there are many similarities between parts of the tales, I would say that overall the Donkeyskin tales and Cinderella tales should be treated as two distinct types of tales.