Empowerment and disempowerment is a core premise in most commonly read fairy tales. Within each of the tales from this quarter there exists an undercurrent power relationship, whereby the vices and virtues of each character serve to foster different life lessons. In Blue Beard we see how the power of wealth teaches virtues about love while at the same highlights the vices of curiosity. In The Master Cat, we are lead to believe that being deceitful is a not a vice but rather a necessary virtue in attracting riches, power, and even love. We have analyzed characters that experience happiness and sadness, some seek riches, some seek love, and others find death in their pursuit of all of the above. The median through which power is gained and lost teaches us how to navigate through the vices of life as well as how to define the true virtues of love. Donkey Skin is multi-faceted tale where the powers of love and free will supersede the powers of wealth and fine garments. We see Donkey Skin transform from riches to rags and then back again. Through thick and thin, Donkey Skin maintains her personal empowerment and virtuous nature through the private innocence of vanity. She teaches us to be virtuous in who we love but also to divest our hearts from the vices and superfluities of life.
In Donkey Skin, power and wealth become convoluted synonyms. The perception of each character is directly related to their socioeconomic ranking in society. The poor peasants who cannot afford to dress in expensive finery are viewed as “…servants, insolent, and nasty creatures…” (Perrault p.65). When Donkey Skin leaves her father’s palace to seek refuge in the peasant village she quickly assumes a completely different social image when wearing her donkey skin wardrobe. Even peasants “...did not want to have anything to do with such a dirty creature, even though they themselves were hardly less vulgar and mean” (Perrault 64). Her outward beauty was quickly stripped from her, we see in this tale that clothing can both exude and mask a woman’s attractiveness from a social perspective.
In Donkey Skin we see empowerment exuded by fine clothing. At the core of this material-based tale it is easy to label clothing as an emblem of monetary wealth and thus a reflection of one’s rank in society. However, even when Donkey Skin is not wearing her fine garments she still manages to remain empowered and virtuous, “she realized that she still had the heart of a princess beneath her dirt and rags” (Perrault p.65). Donkey Skin refused to allow herself to become disempowered by her new peasant lifestyle. Her abjection with the palace leads her to seek alternative means of regaining her power; she does do through self reflection. Donkey Skin would change into her finery for her own self indulgence, in the privacy of a locked room, hinting that she did not feel the need to market her beauty but rather used it as means of self empowerment. “She loved to see herself young, fresh as a rose, and a thousand time more elegant than she had ever been” (Perrault 65). Donkey Skin regained her lost powers on an emotional level through admiring herself in the mirror. “Such sweet pleasure kept her going from one Sunday to the next” (Perrault p.65). This is an important distinction because this directly links material happiness to emotional empowerment.
When the prince spies on Donkey Skin through the keyhole of her private room the prince becomes hypnotized by her beauty. “Her magnificent dress, her beautiful face, her lovely manner, and her young freshness moved him a thousand times over” (Perrault p. 65). Some may argue that Donkey Skin is implying that extravagant clothing creates a woman’s identity and that this materialistic creation of identity is mandatory in attracting a mate. However I would argue that Perrault is trying to imply that a person is most beautiful and attractive to others during the times when they personally feel most confident and empowered. The tale insinuates that social power and wealth cannot control a woman’s desire for free will and choice. The median through which Donkey Skin’s power is gained and never lost teaches us how to navigate through the vices of life, to be empowered when society tries to disempower. "Don’t let the negativity given to you by the world disempower you. Instead give to yourself that which empowers you." (Les Brown). Donkey Skin teaches us to be virtuous in love but also to divest our hearts from the vices and superfluities of life, thereby empowering our minds to look past the present and into our true reflection.