Rags to Riches

Can someone reach success or riches from magic or marriage? Your initial reaction is absolutely not, that makes no sense at all. But it is indeed possible. Cinderella showed it was possible. She started off as rich due to her father. When her father remarried, the stepmother and her two children, made life a living h*ll for Cinderella and she was reduced to wearing rags. Through magic, she was able to meet the prince, and eventually marry him, and get back to riches. This motif sounds so whimsical that it could only be seen in a fairytale, but you are mistaken.

On General Hospital, in 2001, Courtney Matthews came into town blackmailing Edward Quartermaine, one of the richest men in town, due to owning a large corporation. She was very desperate for money and did whatever was necessary to get money. She later fell in love with Nikolas Cassadine, another one of the richest men in town, due to being from Russian royalty. As their relationship was developing, they moved in together and had a child born out of love with each other. Nikolas proposed to Courtney and she said yes, but unfortunately, she died due to a deathly disease going around town. Her child, Spencer Cassadine always referred to common folk as  “townies” as he was growing up, because they weren’t rich or of royal lineage like himself. Courtney came back as a ghost and said, “If a person who doesn’t have money and privilege is a townie, then that makes me a townie too.” Spencer idolized his mother and said that isn’t possible, but Courtney reassured him that it was true. This ghostly exchange established how “rags” Courtney was. But getting close to a rich family can make those metaphorical rags become beautiful handkerchiefs.

Both of these examples were written to satisfy an audience, but it also happens in real life. This reminds me of Prince William and Princess Kate. When they got married in 2011, my mother was very excited because she remembered watching Prince William’s mother, Diana, get married. Princess Kate wasn’t poor growing up, but she wasn’t royalty. With this being said she kind of went from “rags” [if defined as non – royalty, like Spencer Cassadine does] to “riches” [which was portrayed as royalty]

So yes, the rags to riches motif isn’t just in fairytales aimed at children, but also in soap operas aimed at adults, and in real life. This motif was also to establish hope in the original audience, the lower class. If they read that a poor man or woman could marry up to a prince or princess, they would get reassured that they didn’t always have to be poor. It was possible to climb up the social ladder and get money. But all of this was done through marriage, with no magic involved in the real world example. In conclusion, it is realistic for someone to transform from “rags” to “riches” through marrying up but not through magic.

This is the ghostly exchange between Courtney and her son, Spencer.

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ13zoFfwPk [Quote]

http://daytimeconfidential.com/2015/05/06/abc-exec-tweets-proof-courtney-won-gh-fan-fave-poll [Picture]