Hvor foregår askepot?
Frankrig
Cinderella
Det identificerende element: I andre versioner af eventyret kan den være lavet af andre materialer (i brødrene Grimms version, tysk: Aschenbroedel og Aschenputtel, er den f.eks. af guld), og i andre fortællinger er det ikke en sko, men en ankelkæde, en ring eller et armbånd, der giver prinsen nøglen til Askepotas identitet. I Rossinis opera "La Cenerentola" ("Askepot") er tøflen erstattet af to armbånd, som beviser hendes identitet. I den finske variant "Den vidunderlige birk" bruger prinsen tjære til at vinde noget ved hvert bal, og har således en ring, en ring og et par tøfler. Fortolkere, der ikke var klar over den værdi, der blev tillagt glas i det 17. århundredes Frankrig, og som måske var bekymrede over de praktiske uhensigtsmæssigheder, har foreslået, at Perraults "glassko" (pantoufle de verre) var en "egernpelssko" (pantoufle de vair) i en uidentificeret tidligere version af eventyret, og at Perrault eller en af hans kilder forvekslede ordene; de fleste forskere mener dog, at glasskoen var en bevidst poetisk opfindelse fra Perraults side. Disney-filmatiseringen fra 1950 udnytter, at tøflen er lavet af glas, til at tilføje et twist, hvor tøflen splintres, lige før Askepot får mulighed for at prøve den, så hun kun har den matchende tøffel til at bevise sin identitet med.
France
The identifying item: The glass slipper is unique to Charles Perrault's version and its derivatives; in other versions of the tale it may be made of other materials (in the version recorded by the Brothers Grimm, German: Aschenbroedel and Aschenputtel, for instance, it is gold) and in still other tellings, it is not a slipper but an anklet, a ring, or a bracelet that gives the prince the key to Cinderella's identity. In Rossini's opera "La Cenerentola" ("Cinderella"), the slipper is replaced by twin bracelets to prove her identity. In the Finnish variant The Wonderful Birch the prince uses tar to gain something every ball, and so has a ring, a circlet, and a pair of slippers. Interpreters unaware of the value attached to glass in 17th century France and perhaps troubled by sartorial impracticalities, have suggested that Perrault's "glass slipper" (pantoufle de verre) had been a "squirrel fur slipper" (pantoufle de vair) in some unidentified earlier version of the tale, and that Perrault or one of his sources confused the words; however, most scholars believe the glass slipper was a deliberate piece of poetic invention on Perrault's part. The 1950 Disney adaptation takes advantage of the slipper being made of glass to add a twist whereby the slipper is shattered just before Cinderella has the chance to try it on, leaving her with only the matching slipper with which to prove her identity.
Cinderella