Formulas

1. Cinderella's mother dies; father remarries (and becomes, somehow, uninvolved); stepmother (and daughters) treat Cinderella as a servant or slave

2. Invitation to a ball received; Cinderella cannot go, but must help the others get ready.

3. Cinderella is alone at home until a helper appears, and provides a dress and shoes by some magical means.

4. At the ball, Cinderella, unknown to everybody but considered the most beautiful woman there, dances with the prince.

5. Forced to leave due to a magical restriction, Cinderella loses her shoe.

6. Finding the shoe, the prince starts a search to find its owner; it doesn't fit the sisters, but it does fit Cinderella.

7. The Prince and Cinderella marry and live happily ever after.