Find out more about the time period of Cinderella 

Let them eat cake!  

One of Cinderella’s stepsisters is obsessed with cake and you often see her diving into the large American style fridge to get some! Of course, in 18^th-century France, where Cinderella is set, they did not have fridges or telephones but the humorous props add an ironic element and reference Marie Antoinette’s famous quote: ‘let them eat cake’.

When Marie Antoinette was Queen of France, a minority of rich nobility ruled harshly over a large number of peasants, and her famous quote indicates of how out of touch she was with the plight of her poverty stricken people. She was well known for her excesses, including expensive fashionable clothing, and she was executed by guillotine at the height of the French Revolution in 1793 for treason.

Wealthy families looked to the monarchy for a role model and aspired to be like them by buying the same clothes, décor etc they were nicknamed the bourgeoisie, the nouveau riche or newly rich, a name that still exists within our language today and that imply wealth without class.

Cinderella's step-mother is described in such a way, and her telephone, couture catalogue and décor imply she wants to step up a class.

Make your own Warhol  

The picture in the set of the stepmother is of the famous artist Andy Warhol dressed as a woman. Andy Warhol was famous for using bright colours in his work - why not try making your own Warhol-style picture?

- Take a digital photo

- Print it out in black and white

- Paint or colour it in with bright colours