History Main / CinderellaCircumstances

* ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}', of course. Including such variants as ''Literature/YehShen'',''[[Literature/TamCam The Story of Tam and Cam]]'', ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/sheep.html The Sharp Grey Sheep]]'', and ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/rushen.html Rushen Coatie]]''.

* "Literature/{{Cinderella}}", of course. Including such variants as ''Literature/YehShen'',"[[Literature/TamCam The Story of Tam and Cam]]", "[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/sheep.html The Sharp Grey Sheep]]", and "[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/rushen.html Rushen Coatie]]".

* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Read this manga if you want to see how things would be if Cinderella and her step-family were kunoichi and Cinderella [[spoiler: reveals herself [[GenderReveal a man]].]]

* ''Film/NotCinderellasType'' A modern and semi realistic update to the formulae.

* The Bride in [[TheBible ''The Song of Songs'']] justifies her dark complexion with this:

* Billy Batson (and his sister, Mary) who would grow up to become [[{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]], belonged to a wealthy family but lost his fortune after his parents died and he was sent to an orphanage by his evil Uncle [[MeaningfulName Ebenezer]], who actually made a DealWithTheDevil to keep his fortune. Despite this, Billy still saves his soul from {{Satan}}.

* Chiyo from ''MemoirsOfAGeisha'' is sold into a life of servitude at a young age and works for the proprietress of geisha house before she is trained to become a Geisha under Mameha.

* "Literature/{{Cinderella}}", of course. Including such variants as ''Literature/YehShen'',"[[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/tam.html The Story of Tam and Cam]]", "[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/sheep.html The Sharp Grey Sheep]]", and "[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/rushen.html Rushen Coatie]]".

* Similarly, Lackey's ''Phoenix and Ashes'' from her ''Literature/ElementalMasters'' series has protagonist Eleanor magically bound to the house so her stepmother can treat her as a slave and use her family fortune.

* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul [=:re=]'', BattleButler Kanae Von Rosewald went from the youngest child of an extremely wealthy German family.....to a servant in the household of his own uncle. Unlike most examples of the trope, he's treated well by everyone there.....but there's still something troubling about making your orphaned 10-year old nephew a servant to his only surviving relatives.

** It later crosses into RagsToRoyalty. When Candy gets adopted for real, it's by the Andrees... a clan that's ''far'' richer and more uptown than the Legans. In fact, the Legan family is a branch clan to the Andrees and they owe respect to their leaders, Aunt Elroy and Grandfather William, and since William is the one who gave the order to adopt Candy they can't question it. (Though they ''can'' be still assholes to Candy behind William's back.)

* ''CinderellaFourByFour'' starring Creator/DaryaMelnikova.

* In ''Literature/TheClaidiJournals'' by Creator/TanithLee, this is pretty much Claidi's life before she meets Nemain and escapes with him.?action=edit

* ''SweetValleyHigh'' had a spin-off called ''Elizabeth'' in which Elizabeth Wakefield, who has run away to London, has to work as a servant in a manor house because she didn't get the student grant she was expecting and is now stranded with no money. Although there's no stepparent, she is bullied by the young earl's snobby aristocratic fiancée.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ceb455300a620d2e5c48c960d38165fe.jpg]]]]

* In ''Literature/TheClaidiJournals'' by Creator/TanithLee, this is pretty much Claidi's life before she meets Nemain and escapes with him.
* [[Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents The Baudelaire siblings]]. They are sent from one IllegalGuardian and useless caretaker to the next, after their parents die in a fire, and their first guardian, Count Olaf, was pretty much the worst of them. It's revealed that he didn't care about them at all and merely wanted their fortune and was trying to kill them to get it. As such, he makes his hatred and hostility towards them quite clear during their time with him. He makes them sleep in one sparsely decorated bedroom together, with a uncomfortable bed, and no crib for Sunny. Also, he usually leaves them a long list of difficult and tedious chores to do, while he's out for the day. He also abuses them.

* "Literature/{{Cinderella}}", of course. Including such variants as "[[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/tam.html The Story of Tam and Cam]]", "[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/sheep.html The Sharp Grey Sheep]]", and "[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/rushen.html Rushen Coatie]]".

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie,'' Robin is being raised by her [[EvilUncle Evil Aunt]] while her father's away in Tibet. Said aunt verbally abuses her (she refuses to call her by name, simply calling her "Orphan," and yes, to her ''face''), throws her mother's locket out the window, and is generally only looking after her so she can have access to the fortune Robin is entitled to. It's also implied she locks Robin in her room, and despite the huge amounts of food shown in the kitchen at one point, Robin is never given any.
* The lace shop girls in the film ''WesternAnimation/{{Madeline}}: Lost in Paris'' fall into this.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TheParentTrap'' (original and remake)
* The movie ''Film/EverAfter'' starring Drew Barrymore.
* The movie ''Film/ACinderellaStory'' starring Hillary Duff.
** And the spiritual sequel, ''Film/AnotherCinderellaStory'' starring Selena Gomez.
* ''CinderellaFourByFour'' starring Creator/DaryaMelnikova.
* ''Rags'' starring Max Schneider.

[[folder:Fairy Tale]]
* "Literature/{{Cinderella}}", of course. Including such variants as "[[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/tam.html The Story of Tam and Cam]]", "[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/sheep.html The Sharp Grey Sheep]]", and "[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/rushen.html Rushen Coatie]]".
** In ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/finettecendron.html Finette Cendron]]'', and ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/fair.html Fair, Brown, and Trembling]]'', the heroine's sisters do the same thing.
* In ''Literature/TheThreeLittleMenInTheWood'', the WickedStepmother oppresses her stepdaughter until she sends her into the woods on an ImpossibleTask to kill her.
* In ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/frogking/stories/wellworld.html The Well of the World's End]]'', heavy housework again culminated in an ImpossibleTask.
* In ''Literature/VasilissaTheBeautiful'', the heroine has to do all the housework, managing only with her magical doll, until her stepsisters send her to get fire from [[WickedWitch Baba Yaga]].
* In ''[[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/greenknight.html The Green Knight]]'', ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/pentamerone/6cenerentola1911.html Cenerentola]]'', and ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/hearthcat.html The Hearth Cat]]'', the stepmother had actually persuaded the stepdaughter to ask her father to marry her, but proceeded to oppress her as soon as she was married.
* In ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/asbjornsenmoe/katiewoodencloak.html Katie Woodencloak]]'', the stepmother turned Katie out to tend the cows. When she finds that a dun cow is magically helping her, she set out to have the cow killed. Katie ran away, and found a job working in the kitchen.
* In ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/blackcow.html The Story of the Black Cow]]'', the stepmother starves her stepson.
* The story of Kullervo in ''Literature/TheKalevala''.
* Rhodopis, the heroine of "Literature/TheEgyptianCinderella", is a Greek girl captured by pirates and sold to Egypt where she is not only forced to work as a slave, but also mocked by her fellow slaves for her foreign looks.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* The ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' episode "Fitting Punishment" is based around a homeless, orphaned teenager being sent to live with his EvilUncle. The uncle uses the boy as slave labour in his mortuary, verbally and physically abuses him, cripples him during a beating and then murders him because the boy is costing too much money to keep. [[spoiler:Eventually the boy returns as a zombie and kills his uncle.]]
* The KoreanSeries ''Series/ShiningInheritance'' has the female lead kicked out of her home along with her autistic brother by her stepmother after her father apparently dies in a gas explosion.
* In another Korean drama series, ''Series/HighKickThroughTheRoof'', two young girls (one of whom is only 10-11 years old) are forced to go out to work as housemaids after their father runs away and leaves them with no means of financial support.
* ''Series/TheStoryteller'''s "Sapsorrow," based on the fairy tale "Allerleirauh," has its princess run away from her home to become a kitchen servant in the castle of a different kingdom.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In the fifth installment of the ''Videogame/DarkParables'' series, the character Katherine has this as her backstory. A small side story within the game explains that after their parents' deaths, she and her stepsister Cyrilla were left in the care of an EvilUncle who forced them to basically work as unpaid domestic servants. This is particularly fitting since Katherine is the title character of the game - ''The Final Cinderella''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics ]]
* In Webcomic/{{Strays}}, [[http://www.straysonline.com/comic/140.htm Meela's fate, briefly]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* The 1980s version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pound Puppies|1980s}}'' has Holly, an orphan who is constantly abused/exploited by her aunt and cousin. By the end of the first season, it was implied she inherited their house, and lived happily ever after. Then came the second season...
* In ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall,'' [[IllGirl Lorna]] is being raised by [[HonoraryAunt Auntie Whispers]], who uses a magic bell to [[MindControl force her]] to work constantly. Auntie Whispers insists that she has no choice, as otherwise Lorna would "fall into wickedness." [[spoiler:It turns out to be BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood--Lorna suffers from DemonicPossession, and the evil spirit has to be constantly occupied or it goes on a killing spree]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry TheMovie,'' Robin is being raised by her [[EvilUncle Evil Aunt]] while her father's away in Tibet. Said aunt verbally abuses her (she refuses to call her by name, simply calling her "Orphan," and yes, to her ''face''), throws her mother's locket out the window, and is generally only looking after her so she can have access to the fortune Robin is entitled to. It's also implied she locks Robin in her room, and despite the huge amounts of food shown in the kitchen at one point, Robin is never given any.

* The lace shop girls in the film ''WesternAnimation/{{Madeline}}: Lost in Paris'' fall into this.

* ''Literature/JamesAndTheGiantPeach'': After an escaped rhino [[YouFailBiologyForever eats James parents]], James goes to live with his two cruel aunts, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker who play this trope to its hilt.

* Similarly, Lackey's ''Phoenix and Ashes'' from her ''Literature/ElementalMasters'' series has protagonist Eleanor magically bound her to the house so her stepmother can treat her as a slave and use her family fortune.

* The Bride in ''The Song of Songs'' justifies her dark complexion with this:

* In one story in ''PetShopOfHorrors: Tokyo'', a young woman who was formerly a hostess from the Philippines ends up HappilyMarried to a [[MayDecemberRomance much older man]] and has a child with him. For some time, she and her son enjoy a life of blissful luxury, until her husband has a stroke and is unable to remember any of his family or care for himself. His other children (who are all as old as the woman is) nearly turn her and her son out, but ultimately keep her as a servant, while considering her child to be inferior because of his mixed nationality. Even when offered a chance to leave though, the woman refuses to abandon her husband. [[spoiler:In the end, her husband dies and leaves a note in his will that his dementia was faked and, impressed by the woman's devotion to him, he leaves her one half of his vast estate, with the other half to be divided amongst his other squabbling children.]]