If nothing else, artistic retellings of fairy tales demand that readers begin to interrogate the ideology they have been fed. To assume that one single story can capture and apply to the experiences of many is, at best, an absurd notion. Winterson writes, " Of course I wrote it directly out of my own situation. There is no other way." Exactly. Asking a young girl in Manchester, England to subscribe to the fantasies found in Cinderella-- the same fantasies being read by another young girl in Tuscon, Arizona--is breaching fascism. It risks the denial, the amputation, of one's true identity. Essentially, ideology (as perpetuated by ubiquitous and recurring tales) demands that everyone everywhere believe in the same things, wish for the same happy endings, and behave in the same ways. This simply is just not possible. By retelling these stories, by feeding these stories through the lens/feelings/experiences of a new voice, writers can begin to challenge and deconstruct what the universal formula for love and success.
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