Damsel in Command : A Feminist Literary Analyis of Marissa Meyer's Fairy Tale Retelling Cinder and its Applicability to the Swedish EFL Classroom

Sammanfattning

The aim of this thesis is two-fold. Firstly, the aim is to analyze how the main character in Marissa Meyer’s fairy tale retelling Cinder subverts stereotypical gender norms evident in fairy tales. The analysis has been conducted using feminist theory with a focus on fairy tale studies. Secondly, the aim is to argue for the inclusion of Cinder in the Swedish EFL classroom by investigating potential pedagogical implications in connection to the findings of the literary analysis and the pedagogical framework used for this thesis, Feminist Pedagogy. The literary analysis demonstrated that Meyer deconstructs binary gender roles through the portrayal of the protagonist, Cinder, who liberates herself from passivity, choosing her own independence above marriage, and embraces her difference as manifested in a cyborg body. In this way, Meyer’s retelling reflects contemporary discourses that expand expressions of femininity. This essay therefore argues that an inclusion of Meyer’s novel Cinder in the EFL classroom could be used as a source to raise awareness of constructions of gender, gender equality and stereotypes, and encourage students to become conscious gender actors in their own lives.