History Literature / EllaEnchanted

At birth, Ella, the protagonist, is given the "gift" of obedience by Lucinda, a fairy. Thus is Ella [[BlessedWithSuck 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 [[LoopholeAbuse also works around the curse]] by [[LiteralGenie not doing exactly what is wanted when the wording of an order is not clear enough]].

* DeniedFoodAsPunishment: After Ella talks back to her teacher Sewing Mistress, the lady punishes Ella by making her skip dinner that night. When Ella makes a defiant remark in retaliation, the teacher extends the punishment to include skipping breakfast the next morning, too.

* SuperOCD: A curse that causes you to obey commands you don't want to do, causing discomfort and distress if you try and refuse? [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Sounds pretty familiar...]]

* AbusiveParents: Ella's father Sir Peter, of the neglectful variety. Dame Olga also counts.

* DeathByNewberyMedal: Ella's mother dies at the beginning of the book, due to her falling ill and not eating the unicorn hairs in Mandy's soup. Mandy says that by the time she realized that the Lady Frell hadn't eaten the hairs, it was too late. This book was also nominated for a Newberry medal.

** Ella's mother not eating all the ingredients of the magic soup that Mandy prepared for her while sick, picking out the unicorn hairs.

''Literature/{{Fairest}}'' is a companion to this story. In 2018, Levine published a prequel titled ''Ogre Enchanted''.

* CoolPet: Char defies normal fantasy personalities by getting Ella a ''centaur.'' Aside from it being a centaur, he actually acts like a normal horse, even taking an apple from her hands.

* OurCentaursAreDifferent: They're only about as intelligent as normal horses. Char even gives Ella a young one as a pet.

* BalefulPolymorph: One of Lucinda's other 'gifts' involved turning the recipient into a squirrel; she believes squirrels live charming lives until she spends three months as a squirrel herself.

* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: Ella attends one which she eventually escapes, although the horror component is more because of Hattie being there and ordering Ella around than something inherent in the school.

** On the journey to the boarding school, Hattie abuses Ella's obedience by forcing her to give all of her food away. Given that the "punishment" is for Hattie being jealous of Ella, it makes Hattie even more of a {{Jerkass}}.

* JustTheWayYouAre: When Char finds out that Ella was sent to boarding school, he jokingly worries in his journal, as Ella reads in her magic book, that she will no longer be a "small elephant". When he reunites with her, however, they have a laugh over all the etiquette lessons she's been forced to suffer.

* LoopholeAbuse: As she gets older, Ella learns certain ways to work around her curse, often following the letter of an order but not the spirit. One of her best moments is when Hattie orders Ella to stop being friends with Areida; Ella after getting some information from her magical book realizes that if she leaves the school to never come back and seeks out Lucinda's curse, she'll have followed the order without ruining the friendship. Oh, and she finds out Hattie wears a wig so she steals it while the other girl is sleeping and uses it to barter for bread for the journey.

* AndThenWhat: Mandy is fond of using this technique to educate Ella about the consequences of using big magic and thinking through her actions. When Ella uses an example of how Mandy could use her magic to stop it from raining, Mandy points out that such magic could cause a long-term drought, and then undoing the spell in turn could lead to overdoing the need for water and uncontrollable floods.

* ArrangedMarriage: [[spoiler:Ella's father tries to set her up for one with an old duke. It doesn't push through once her father finds out the duke isn't as rich as he thinks.]]

* GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul: [[spoiler:Ella, at Lucinda's command. Not helped by the elven mushrooms she eats later, making her shamelessly flirtatious towards the old duke her father wants her to marry. When Mandy snaps her out of it later, she's horrified.]]

* RealityEnsues: Mandy challenges Lucinda into [[spoiler:trying out the "gifts" she bestows upon people for a few months, first as a squirrel and then as a completely obedient child. Lucinda quickly finds that the life of a squirrel is incredibly difficult, as she's constantly cold and uncomfortable with rarely a place to sleep, and that's not even getting to the predators. Similarly, when Lucinda takes on the form of a completely obedient child, she finds that being compelled to obey every single order given to her is ''not'' a fun life]].

* CinderellaCircumstances: Applies to Ella after her father re-marries.

* LoveAtFirstSight: [[spoiler:Charmont mentions in a letter to Ella that he's loved her ever since they first met at her mother's funeral.]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: When they [[spoiler:reveal just how cruel they are to Ella in the climax, in the middle of either stopping the prince from proposing to her and encouraging him, Ella's father and stepfamily end up being excluded from the court and Char's family]].

* LoopholeAbuse: As she gets older, Ella learns certain ways to work around her curse, often following the letter of an order but not the spirit.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Every one of Lucinda's blessings, which makes her a laughingstock when the other fairies point out the logical flaws. She doesn't think of how the "gift of obedience" can make a child vulnerable to abuse, or how difficult life can be for a human turned into a squirrel.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In an effort to get her to stop "blessing" people with terrible gifts, [[spoiler:Mandy tricks Lucinda into trying out the magical gifts she's bestowed on people. After three months of being a squirrel, and three months of being an obedient child, Lucinda goes through a horrible breakdown as she recounts her experiences to Mandy and realizes how many lives she's ruined.]]

* RealityEnsues: Something that happens when Lucinda changes into a squirrel for a few months. She realizes that for a human turned into a squirrel, you have no survival skills or instincts. Instead, you are constantly cold or uncomfortable with rarely a place to sleep, and that's not even getting to the predators. Similarly, when Lucinda takes on the form of a completely obedient child, she finds that being compelled to obey every single order given to her is ''not'' a fun life.

''Ella Enchanted'' by Gail Carson Levine is a TwiceToldTale based on the FairyTale "Literature/{{Cinderella}}".

''Literature/{{Fairest}}'' is a loose, meta sequel. According to some it is actually a companion, due to the timing.

* BigEater: Dame Olga and her daughters. Having a SupremeChef like Mandy makes them very happy and Ella notes that they would give probably give Mandy fifty scullery maids if she asked for it to keep her around.

** 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 [[JustForPun Stepford Life]].

* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: [[spoiler:Ella tries this with Charmont, knowing that if they do get married she'll only put both him and the kingdom in danger because of her curse. It works up to the point that she attends the royal balls, and Hattie unmasks her on the third night.]]

** Ella's WhatYouAreInTheDark moment (see below) gives her the strength and willpower to [[spoiler:say "No!" to Char's marriage proposal and break her curse.]]
** Hattie's vindictive jealousy of Ella and any girl who appears to do better than she does ends up [[spoiler:causing her downfall: she unmasks Ella at the masquerade ball, tries to pass off Ella later on as a scullery maid, and openly orders GoToYourRoom and reveals her knowledge of the {{Geas}} to Char.]]
* CinderellaCircumstances: Apply to Ella after her father re-marries.

* CoolPet: Char defies normal fantasy personalities by getting Ella a ''centaur.'' Aside from it being a centaur he actually acts like a normal horse, even taking an apple from her hands.

** On the journey to the boarding school, Hattie abuses Ella's obedience by forcing her to give all of her food away. Given that the "punishment" is for Hattie being jealous of Ella, it makes Hattie even more of a {{Jerkass}}

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Ella spends most of the book being ordered around by people who dislike her and is relegated to being an unpaid servant. She nearly gives up on breaking her curse when [[spoiler:Lucinda renounces big magic and thus cannot cure her]]. But thanks to her love for Char and desire to save the kingdom, she [[spoiler:breaks her curse through sheer willpower when she denies his marriage proposal despite the wording of it causing the curse to try to force her into acceptance, realizes that she can explain what happened, and marries him with aplomb]].

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In an effort to get her to stop "blessing" people with terrible gifts, [[spoiler:Mandy tricks Lucinda into trying out the magical gifts she's bestowed on newlyweds and babies. After three months of being a squirrel, and three months of being an obedient child, Lucinda goes through a horrible breakdown as she recounts her experiences to Mandy and realizes how many lives she's ruined.]]
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Ella's stepfamily outs themselves as a bunch of {{Jerkass}}es to Char in the climax when [[spoiler:Hattie unmasks Ella at the ball when before Ella would have been content to just have had those three nights, tries to pass off Ella as a scullery maid, order Ella to deny the wedding proposal, and send her to her room. Olive demands that Ella marry Char and give Olive money, and Dame Olga belatedly sees the GoldDigger opportunity and can't hide her greedy intentions.]] As a result, ''none'' of them [[spoiler:are welcome in the royal court or at the wedding, especially since Ella is no longer under a {{Geas}} and tells Char off-screen what her father and stepfamily did.]]

* RealityEnsues: Something that happens when Lucinda changes into a squirrel for a few months. She realizes that for a human turned into a squirrel, you have no survival skills or instincts. Instead, you are constantly cold or uncomfortable with rarely a place to sleep, and that's not even getting to the predators. Similarly, when Lucinda takes on the form of a completely obedient child, she finds that being compelled to obey every single order given to you is ''not'' a fun life.

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* MoneyFetish: Ella's father. Olive follows suit.

* {{Omniglot}}: Throughout the story, Ella is shown to have a talent for learning new languages. She's fluent in Kyrrhian, and knows more than enough Ayorthaian, Gnomish, Elvish, and Ogrish to get by.

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* PrinceCharming: 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, [[EmbarrassingFirstName he actually hates his full name]] and only likes to be called "Char".
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* RichBitch: Dame Olga and her daughters Hattie and Olive.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* RoyalBrat: Hattie and Olive.
* RealityEnsues: Something that happens when Lucinda changes into a squirrel for a few months. She realizes that for a human turned into a squirrel, you have no survival skills or instincts. Instead, you are constantly cold or uncomfortable with rarely a place to sleep,

** After Ella gets put into servant-like circumstances, Mandy only thinks to leave Hattie unmasks her at the ball. With her talents, she and Ella could get stable jobs as cooks at any inn. The irony is that Mandy could have run away with Ella at ''any time'' but only tells her to do so when they have a narrow window of escape.

* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Ella asks Mandy about her parents, since they seemed like such complete opposites.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: When Charmont confesses [[spoiler:to Ella in a letter that he loves her, for several hours she fantasizes having her freedom away from Dame Olga and Hattie and being with the man she loves]]. When the buzz wears off, however, she thinks through [[spoiler:the consequences of still being cursed, including what it might do to the kingdom, and writes a letter pretending that she has eloped]]. That's right, Ella would rather [[spoiler:sacrifice a chance at freedom than endanger Char and the kingdom]]. This is also how she [[spoiler:breaks the curse, when Char accidentally orders her to accept his proposal, and after struggling for several minutes she manages to reject it instead.]]

** Olive's most prominent character trait is a desire for more money. She constantly demands that Ella hand over whatever little she has, and when it looks like Ella is marrying Char, she orders her to "give me all of your money!" Char is also shocked that she seriously thinks it would be acceptable for him to order all of his subjects to give him all of his money, just so he'd be richer. Given how Olive is very simple-minded and surrounded by her very greedy, vain sister and mother, it's no wonder she ended up that way.

* MoneyFetish: Ella's father. Olive follows suit.
* MotorMouth: Charmont's knight who takes Ella to the giant's wedding.

* PrinceCharming: 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, [[EmbarrassingFirstName he actually hates his full name]] and only likes to be called "Char".
* RichBitch: Dame Olga and her daughters Hattie and Olive.
* RoyalBrat: Hattie and Olive.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Ella spends most of the book being ordered around by people who dislike her and is regaled to being an unpaid servant. She nearly gives up on breaking her curse when [[spoiler:Lucinda renounces big magic and thus cannot cure her]]. But thanks to her love for Char and desire to save the kingdom, she [[spoiler:breaks her curse by denying his marriage proposal, realizes that she can explain what happened, and marries him with aplomb]].

* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: In the hopes of getting Lucinda to stop ruining people's lives with her "gifts", [[spoiler:Mandy tricks Lucinda into living as a squirrel and then live as a completely obedient child. Lucinda learns quite quickly that her "blessings" are literally BlessedWithSuck. She agrees to give up "big magic" though she helps Ella with a carriage to the ball and jewelry.]]

* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: Ella attends one which she eventually escapes. It wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for Hattie ordering her about and the punishment of meals being taken away if you talked back to a teacher.

* WeddingDay: Ella attends a wedding among the giants, whose weddings consist of acting out their future together: working, making a home, raising children.