Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine is a Twice Told Tale based on the Fairy TaleCinderella.At birth, Ella, the protagonist, is given the "gift" of obedience by Lucinda, a fairy. Thus is Ella Blessed with Suck. She is forced to obey every direct order given to her, no matter what. Eventually Ella learns to fight the curse, delaying her obedience, but she becomes sick when she tries. She also fights the curse by not doing exactly what is wanted when the wording of an order is not clear enough.The basics of Cinderella are in Ella Enchanted: There is a Missing Mom, then later a Wicked Stepmother. There is a Disappeared Dad, as Ella's father is often away on business. (The closer the book gets to the climax, the more Cinderella plot elements are included.)A film adaptation based (loosely) on the book was released in 2004.Fairest is a loose, meta sequel. According to some it is actually a companion, due to the timing.
The book contains examples of:
Abusive Parents: Ella's father Sir Peter, of the neglectful variety. Dame Olga also counts.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Dame Olga. When we first meet her, she seems nice enough, at least compared to her daughters (especially Hattie). But once she marries Ella's father and discovers that he had no money, she quickly turns into the cruel, abusive, petty stepmother we know from the Cinderella tale, making Ella a slave in her own home and tormenting the girl after her father leaves for business.
Several, in fact. Lucinda's "blessings" tend to focus on making their recipients better children, where "better" is dictated by the sort of book which declares that the proper behavior for a child is to sit quietly and behave like a miniature adult. She's always baffled when the recipient is unhappy with their Stepford Life.
Don't forget, she's even turned people into squirrels too! Because squirrels are obviously always happy.
Brought Down to Normal: Briefly done to Lucinda herself so she realizes the complete horror of what she's done to everyone. Unfortunately, she can't break Ella's curse, or anyone's for that matter, because it's a matter of willpower.
Costume Porn: Lampshaded, when Ella sees her stepmother-to-be's letter to her daughters, which mostly describes her clothing and her social calendar. She only remembers she was writing to them by the last paragraph.
Curse Escape Clause: Not until the very end. The curse is broken once Ella disobeys an order, which she is only able to do, with great difficulty, when the stakes are high enough. Merely saving her own life isn't sufficient, but when it comes to the future of the man she loves and the entire kingdom.
Fairy Godmother: Deconstructed with Lucinda, who goes around giving Blessed with Suck "help" to people who don't want it, and Mandy, Ella's actual godmother, who it turns out is also a fairy but is much more inconspicuous (and thoughtful) about the help she gives.
Green-Eyed Monster: Hattie is jealous of Ella because she's brave, smart, and pretty. It's mainly the reason why she treats Ella so miserably.
Grew A Spine: a concrete-metaphor version, with Ella's compulsion to obey orders that she has to overcome.
Irony: Being blessed with "obedience" let to Ella being more stubborn.
Karma Houdini: Arguably, Ella's stepfamily. While Hattie never marries the prince (or at all), neither she nor her the rest of her family are punished for abusing Ella.
Kick the Dog: Done to Ella a lot by Dame Olga, Hattie, and Olive, as well as the extremely snooty governesses at the girl's academy.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Ella is never shown reclaiming her mother's necklace from Hattie. She does recover it, but it's only a quick throwaway line in the epilogue.
Oddly enough, this is fixed in the film version.
Our Elves Are Different: Our elves strongly resemble plants and place extreme value on beautifully crafted objects.
Prince Charming: Levine plays on this: the prince's name is Charmont, which is a letter away from 'Charmant,' the French word for 'Charming.' Playing it further, he actually hates his full name and only likes to be called "Char".
Black Belt In Origami: Ella encounters Mooks bullying the elf Slannen. After he (semi-unintentionally) orders her to help him, she threatens the Mooks with origami. Unfortunately for her, one of the guards knows what origami actually is.
Guard: Paper folding?
Ella: I was hoping you didn't know what it was.
Estrogen Brigade Bait: Prince Char. In one scene he's removed his shirt and vest to allow Ella to put a bandage on his arm, leaving him in nothing but leather pants.
In Name Only: The movie of the book features Ella being cursed with obedience...and, aside from a few shared settings and characters, that's about it.
Kick the Dog: Hattie and Olive forcing Ella to steal a number of expensive items from a market stall, get her arrested, have her blame Areida for it, then have her go to the door when she comes to visit, tell her that she never wants to see her again and tell her that she could never be friends with an Ayorthian. Fortunately, Areida forgives Ella by the end.
Mistaken for Junkie: Jokingly. After rescuing Ella from ogres that want to eat her, Char asks Ella if she gets a kick out of near-death experiences. At that point in the movie, these included nearly getting run down by a carriage (Char inadvertently put her in that situation by telling her to stay put while he goes and gets her bag, leaving her stuck in the middle of the road with a carriage bearing down on her).
Obviously Evil: Prince Edgar, with his black and red clothing and his snake. It's a wonder that people trust him.
Self-Disposing Villain: Carey Elwes' character catches the Idiot Ball in the most blatant (yethilarious) manner possible when he puts on the crown he himself had previously poisoned in order to murder his nephew at the coronation.
Un Paused: Ella is ordered to freeze by the guards as she is in mid-leap over a wine barrel. When the order is countermanded, she crushes it beneath her.
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