Ella EncHanteD

Ella Enchanted

This is a brief summary of Ella Enchanted. It discusses Ella's curse of obedience, her love for Char, and how the curse almost keeps her from marrying Char.

As a newborn child Ella was blessed or cursed as most would say. She was cursed with the gift of obedience. The gift of obedience requires Ella to obey every order given or she starts to feel sick. When Ella was almost 15 she and Lady caught a cold. Sir Peter was away on business at the time. Ella got better but lady got worse and died. At the funeral Ella meets Prince Charmont (Char). Ella also meets Dame Olga and her two daughters Hattie and Olive. Once the funeral was over Ella was helping Mandy in the kitchen when she discovers Mandy is not only her godmother but a fairy too. Sir Peter orders Ella to go to finishing school with Hattie and Olive. The night before Ella leaves Mandy gives her a magical book that reveals letters sent and journal entries. She also gives her Ladys favorite necklace. Char walks around with Ella as she says goodbye to the things she loves like centaurs, and the talking birds. Ella, Hattie and olive leave for finishing school. On the way to finishing school Hattie orders Ella to give her Lady's favorite necklace. She also forces Ella by orders not to eat and to remove her slippers and chores like that. At finishing school Ella meets a new friend named Areida. She is from Ayortha. Ella gets a bouquet for Hattie by order but adds in bogweed that makes them reveal whatever you ask them. With this Ella discovers Hattie envies her. Hattie orders Ella to stop being friends with Areida.

The Middle

Late that night Ella escapes to go to a giantswedding that Sir Peter and Lucinda might be at.The wedding is in two weeks and is quite far away. On her way Ella stumbles across a few elves who give her foodand a pony to ride. When she awakes after on of her stops she is surrounded by ogres who have eaten her pony. She was saved until they found more food to feed all the 6 ogres. Six knights come to capture the ogres to give to king Jerold (Chars Dad). Ella tames the ogres so the knights can bind and gag them. Char is one of the knights. One of the knights takes Ella to the wedding bye horseback. Ella finds Lucinda. Lucinda orders Ella to feel blessed with the gift of obedience. So Ella feels good about the orders. She goes to find Sir Peter. She goes home with him. Sir Peter is going bankrupt and needs Ella to marry a wealthy man. Mandy orders Ella not to feel blessed about the curse. Sir Peter and Dame Olga get married. Dame Olga treats Ella like a slave. Char leaves to go to Ayortha for a year. During this time char and Ella write back and forth. One time in their letters Char admits he loves Ella. Ella doesn't want char to be hurt by the curse so she writes a letter from Hattie saying that she eloped with another man.

The Ending

Mandy summons Lucinda to her. She demands that Lucindabecomes a squirrel for 3 months and an obedient child for 3 months. Lucinda turns herself into a squirrel and vanishes. Char is coming back soon and once he returns he will be holding 3 royal balls to find his bride at. Six months has passed and Mandy bringsLucinda back. Lucinda cries and describes how horrible it was but she can't counter the curse because it is big magic and she vowed never to do it again. Ella goes to the first ball but she wears a mask and calls herself Lela. She dances with Char and he falls for her again. Ella (Lela) returns home at midnight. At the second ball she dances with Char but still won't remove her mask. For the third ball Mandy gives Ella a tiara and a silver chain, that won't disappear at midnight like the other jewelry would. Lela (Ella) is taken by char to meet his parents (the king and queen of Frell). While dancing with Char Hattie snatches of Ella's mask. Everybody sees it's her. Ella runs home and tells Mandy. Mandy tells her to pack her things. As she is doing so Char comes asking to see everybody. Ella changes into her maid gear. Hattie tells Char that Ella is Cinders the scullery maid. Char brings out a slipper that will only fit Ella. Hattie and Olive try the slipper on but it doesn't fit. Char figures out the letter was fake. Char says "marry me Ella" and order but Hattie contradicts it with another order. Ella struggles to contain her obedience. She breaks down and says she won't marry char. Then Ella tells Char about the curse that lady had ordered her not to tell anybody. The curse was broken. Then Ella and char get married. Living happily ever after.

REVIEW

Main character

Ella of Frell

Ella is an outspoken, strong-willed girl who unfortunately is given the gift of obedience by the fairy Lucinda. This spells doom for the life of Ella as she is obligated to obey anything that she is told to do, even to the point of endangering her own life. Like Cinderella in the original fairy tale, she loses her mom at a young age and is left by her father at the mercy of her evil stepmother and stepsisters. Unlike the tale, however, Ella refuses to succumb to fate's ill treatment of her--instead, she struggles to fight her injustices by her wit, intelligence, and determination. This image of Ella depicts a stark contrast (and a role model) to women who are on the verge of accepting their sad destinies by illustrating that goodwill, perseverance, and a strong sense of self (as seen in how she broke free from the curse by digging deep down to her real character) indeed win in the end. We also see that Ella's ability to sacrifice her happiness for the sake of her loved ones makes her character shine through.

Prince Charmont

The prince in this novel is portrayed not as a dashing debonair with a flat personality we got used to. Prince Charmont, an heir to the throne left by his ill-fated father, is a picture of a young leader about to take on the helm of a kingdom at a relatively young age. Unlike the fairy tale prince, Charmont falls in love with Ella not because of her beauty alone. Her humor, wit, and genuine personality deeply touch the prince, leading him to fall in love with her. Judging from this alone, the prince can be viewed as someone whose character runs deeper than the good looks every other girl in the kingdom is admiring. His initial hesitation to make decisions for the kingdom show that he, too, fears the unknown--just like any normal person would--making him human and realistic.

Dame Olga, Hattie, 

Olive

Dame Olga, Ella's evil stepmother, and Hattie and Olive, her stepsisters, are the external antagonists in the life of our main character. While Ella's father is away for business, the three conspire to make Ella's life miserable by utilizing their knowledge of Ella's curse to put her in constant danger. Their personalities resemble very closely those of their versions in the fairy tale--rich, trivial, money-driven, and prestige addicts. They are too caught up with worrying about their looks and reputation to let anything--or anyone--get in the way of their goals. Faithful to their fairy tale versions, these three personalities' role in the life of Ella was consistent from start to end. Although their characters may seem flat, we can glean from a closer examination that these characters actually exist in real life--those that prioritize prestige and power above all else are rampant in society nowadays. The existence of these three characters does not just provide villains for the story, but allows the reader to contemplate on what sorts of evils plague the real world.

Not just your common fairy tale, Ella Enchanted illustrates themes and characteristics that are worthy of emulation--especially those that radiate from Ella. The characters of Ella Enchanted and how their personalities mixed to create the simple yet meaningful plot all contribute to making this novel one of the most well-loved adaptations of our favorite traditional fairy tales.