Magic Shoes: Dorothy, Cinderella, Carrie

Citation

Ezra E (2020) Magic Shoes: Dorothy, Cinderella, Carrie. In: Shoe Reels: The History and Philosophy of Footwear in Film. 1st ed. Film and Fashions. UK: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 49-61. https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-shoe-reels.html

Abstract
This chapter examines the economy of magic shoes, symbolic exchange, and sexual difference. The stories of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (Fleming 1939) and cinematic depictions of Cinderella focus on magic slippers that can only be worn by the ‘right’ person. In WoO, the ‘wrong’ wearers are the Wicked Witch of the East, felled by Dorothy’s house, and the Wicked Witch of the West, who tries and fails to pry the ruby slippers from Dorothy’s feet. In various cinematic versions of Cinderella (most notably the 1911 Méliès version), the Prince tries the glass slipper on the feet of a number of ‘wrong’ women before finding the perfect match in Cinderella. In both The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella, shoes are a commodity associated with rites of passage and, ultimately, with power and the preservation of social hierarchies.

Keywords
shoes; Cinderella; Wizard of Oz; Sex and the City; social order

People

Professor Elizabeth Ezra

Professor of Cinema and Culture, French