Ella Enchanted

This article is about the novel. For the film adaptation, see Ella Enchanted (film).

Ella Enchanted
Author(s)	Gail Carson Levine
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Fantasy
Publisher	HarperTrophy
Publication date	1997
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback) and Audiobook
Pages	240 pp
ISBN	0-06-440705-5
OCLC Number	39641341
Followed by	Fairest

Ella Enchanted is a Newbery Honor book written by Gail Carson Levine and published in 1997. The story is a retelling of Cinderella featuring various mythical creatures including fairies, elves, ogres, gnomes, and giants. In 2006, Levine went on to write Fairest, a retelling of the story of Snow White, set in the same world as Ella Enchanted.

Plot outline

At birth, Eleanor (Ella) of Frell was visited by the well-meaning, but misguided fairy Lucinda. Lucinda gave her the gift of obedience, which turns out to be a curse because Ella must now obey any order given to her but she is free to ignore a request.

When she is nearly fifteen, her mother, Lady Eleanor, dies. At the funeral, she meets and befriends Prince Charmont (Char), son of King Jerrold. However, not too long after their friendship begins, her father sends her to finishing school with the daughters of the wealthy Dame Olga: the nasty Hattie and Olive. Before she leaves, Mandy, her cook and fairy godmother, gives Ella her mother's necklace and a magic book. Ella can read a story and when she closes the book another story appears. Mandy writes letters to Ella, which Ella reads through the book, and she finds entries from Char's journal as well. Hattie realizes Ella always does what she is told, but she does not exactly know why. She orders Ella to give her Lady Eleanor's necklace and Ella must obey. Hattie starts to take advantage of it, but Ella takes comfort in her new friend, Areida from finishing school, who is from the neighboring country Ayortha.

At finishing school, when Hattie orders Ella to stop being friends with Areida, Ella runs away. She learns that her father is attending a giant's wedding where fairies may be present, and decides to travel there, hoping to find Lucinda at the wedding and ask to have the curse lifted. On the way to the wedding, after staying with a group of generous elves, she is captured by ogres who eat her pony and order her not to run away. However, when they are about to eat her, she uses her knowledge of their hypnotic language to charm them to sleep and she is soon saved by Prince Char and his knights.

Ella finds Lucinda and tries to persuade her to lift the curse, but Lucinda does not understand. Instead, Lucinda wills Ella to be happy about her gift. Following the order, Ella is perfectly happy to do everything that she is told to do. Mandy soon realizes that it is just another order and reverses it. Ella returns to the manor with her father, who, after failing to find a rich husband for Ella, decides to marry Dame Olga in order to pay off his debts. Ella meets Char again at the wedding. While exploring the old castle together during the wedding reception, they find glass slippers hidden in a garden and Char gives them to Ella; they also dance together and slide down the staircase banister, something they had talked about before. A few days later he leaves the country for a year on a diplomacy mission to Ayortha, but they write to each other frequently.

After Ella's father leaves to continue his trading business, Dame Olga makes Ella a slave in her own house, due to the fact that Ella's father was secretly poor. Meanwhile, Ella and Char fall in love via their letters. Char asks if she is too young to marry, and she, initially believing this to be a joke, responds in each letter in a different way, avoiding answering the question directly. Frustrated, Char finally writes of his love for her, but Ella realizes that since she is under the curse, marrying him would put him and the country of Kyrria in danger. For example, she could be ordered to kill him and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. To prevent this, she tricks him into believing she has eloped with another man.

Char, heartbroken, eventually returns to Kyrria and attends the three-night homecoming ball in his honor of returning after his visit to Ayortha. Ella, who still loves him, is overcome with the desire to see him again, and decides to go in disguise. With the help of Mandy and Lucinda — who, after having a taste of her own medicine, has reformed — and wearing the glass slippers and a mask, she goes to the balls under the name Lela, masked at all three balls. On the third night of the ball, when she is dancing with Char, a jealous Hattie snatches off her mask and Ella flees, losing a glass slipper on the way. She runs to the manor, where she and Mandy plan to run away and make their living as cooks, but Char and his knights arrive before they can leave. Char, still in love, accidentally orders Ella to marry him, but she fights an inner battle trying to deny the order, wishing to protect Char and the kingdom from the dangers of her curse. She succeeds, screaming she won't marry him, breaking the curse. Free from the spell, she accepts Char's hand in marriage because of her wishes, and they live happily ever after.

Critical reception

Common Sense Media, a family-based reviewing site, rated the book with four stars out of five, suggesting it for readers over 11 due to some minor, violent themes. With regard to the main character Ella, they state, "She is a strong and intelligent role model—instead of taking her misfortune sitting down, she marches off to rid herself of the troublesome curse."

Film

On April 9, 2004, an American movie loosely based on the novel was released. It was directed by Tommy O'Haver and starred Anne Hathaway and Hugh Dancy as Ella and Char, respectively. The film received mostly mixed reviews, and was heavily criticized for its changes to the source material. Levine stated that the film is "so different from the book that it's hard to compare them," noting the addition of new characters such as Sir Edgar and Heston, and suggested "regarding the movie as a separate creative act".

External links

• Gail Carson Levine's official website