Symbolic themes in the European Cinderella cycle

Abstract

What if, instead of setting out to archive the endless variations of fairy tales into fixed types - rendering fragmented, thus meaningless, materials - one tried to bring forth from the given flux its underlying symbolic themes? This paper tentatively applies this approach to Iberian materials of the so-called Cinderella cycle, envisioned in a comparative perspective. By and by, the discussion discloses a dynamic dimension of symbolism hinging on cyclical conceptions of time and being.