The book won a Newbery Honor in 1998.[1] In 2006, Levine went on to write Fairest, a retelling of the story of Snow White, set in the same world as Ella Enchanted. In 2018, Levine published Ogre Enchanted, a prequel to Ella Enchanted.
On April 9, 2004, a movie that is loosely based on the novel was released. It was directed by Tommy O'Haver and starred Anne Hathaway and Hugh Dancy as Ella and Prince Charmont, respectively. The film received mostly mixed reviews, and was heavily criticized for its changes to the source material and addition of new characters. Levine stated that the film is "so different from the book that it's hard to compare them" and suggested "regarding the movie as a separate creative act".[2]
When Ella was just a baby, the fairy Lucinda bestowed the gift of obedience on her. The "gift" is in fact a terrible curse, forcing Ella to obey anyone who gives her an order.
When Ella is around fourteen, her mother dies. Her cook Mandy reveals herself to be her Fairy godmother. She is given two gifts by Mandy: a necklace from her mother and a magic book. At her mother's funeral, Ella meets the kingdom's prince, Char, who comforts her. At the wake, she is introduced to Dame Olga and her terrible daughters, Hattie and illiterate Olive - but at the time, feels no special significance to this encounter.
Her father, Peter, decides to send her to finishing school with the two mean sisters. Before leaving she visits her favorite places, where she meets Char again and they bond. At school, Hattie eventually discovers that Ella does whatever she is told and uses this for her own gain. She takes Ella's mother's necklace, then deprives Ella of food and orders her to end her friendship with her best friend Areida. Ella cannot stand this and sets out to find Lucinda so that she can reverse the spell. In her magic book, she saw that her father is about to attend a giant's wedding and she assumes that Lucinda - who likes to come uninvited to weddings - might be there.
Ella comes upon the kingdom of Elves, who offer a warm welcome. The next morning, she awakens surrounded by ogres who plan on devouring her. She is given the command not to run away, so she is trapped, and stays up all night practicing Ogrese in hopes of using on the ogres their own weapon of hypnotic speech. It works and she talks them back to sleep, just in time for Char and his soldiers to apprehend them. One of his men is sent to escort Ella.
Ella learns that ungrateful recipients of Lucinda's gifts often end up as squirrels and decides to use an alias when talking to her. Ella tells her she desires more mettle for she is too obedient, but Lucinda tells Ella to be happy and Ella is forced to feel happy because of her 'gift.'
Ella learns from her father that he's lost everything so he must marry Dame Olga. At the wedding, Lucinda gifts the bride and groom eternal love. On the ride to Olga's house, Peter reveals that he's broke. Olga is livid, but due to Lucinda's gift, she is unable to stay angry at him. Instead she begins to transfer all of her hatred to Ella. Char comes to visit Ella but Hattie orders her to stay in her room. This continues until Char leaves for his trip. They start communicating via letters, which Ella has him address to Mandy so as not to arouse suspicion from her new step-family. When Peter leaves for work, Hattie reveals Ella's curse and Olga makes Ella work as a servant in the house.
After months of communicating with each other, Ella and Char fall in love and Char wishes for her to be his queen. Ella realizes her curse could be very dangerous for him since he will one day be king. She decides they could never be together and writes a letter addressed from Hattie to mislead him into thinking she has run off with a rich earl. Mandy calls upon Lucinda and confronts her about the disastrous consequences of her gifts. Lucinda disbelieves her, but Mandy convinces her to try it for herself, living for three months as a squirrel and three months being obedient.
During the next six months, Ella continues to endure the torment of her step-family. She learns that Char will be returning soon and three royal balls will be held. Lucinda returns disheveled and remorseful about all the suffering she has caused. Ella begs her to remove her curse, now that she knows how terrible it truly is, but Lucinda vows that she will no longer perform acts of big magic. Lucinda tells Ella she will have to find a way to do it herself.
When Prince Char returns from his travels, Ella goes to the balls in disguise, with the help of Mandy and Lucinda. At the first ball, she dances with Char, who still wants to be with Ella after a chance meeting with Areida made him question the letter he received. On the third night, he introduces her to his parents and dances only with her. Hattie is jealous and unmasks Ella, causing her to flee and lose one of her glass slippers. Char finds the slipper and goes to her home. He asks her to tell him if she loves him, which she does. He then tells her to marry him - which is an order which her curse compels her to obey.
After an internal struggle Ella bursts out with "No, I will not marry you! No one can force me!" after which she hugs and kisses Char. Her love and care for Char have broken Lucinda's spell. Now, Ella can explain everything to the confused Char, who again asks her to marry him - which she is now free and happy to accept.
Unlike in the original Cinderella story, Ella takes no revenge on her stepmother and stepsisters beyond not inviting them to the royal wedding. Char's royal parents warmly accept Ella in the family. Ella and Areida rekindle their friendship. Mandy becomes the castle cook and fairy godmother to Char and Ella's future children. Ella's first person narrative ends with her telling the reader that "So we still live in love and laughter".
Analysis and publication history
While all the familiar plot elements of the Cinderella story are still present in this retelling, they are given a different significance. In particular, in Levine's version Cinderella/Ella and the Prince have known each other all along and had already long since fallen in love before the balls, but are unable to realize their love until the end of the story. As noted by Levine, the plot element of Ella being cursed with obedience fills a logical flaw in the original Cinderella story, explaining why she had to obey her foster mother and sisters.[citation needed]
^Gail Carson Levine. Ella Enchanted (1997). Revised edition, 2011. Cover art by Greg Call. 65th Printing. New York: Harper, HarperCollins, 2014. 9780064407052, obverse title page.
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