Ella Enchanted

“I knew I had to keep eating.”

A well-meaning Mandy, who baked Ella birthday cake, tells Ella to “eat.” Ella is terrified and sickened when she can’t stop. This illustrates the dangerous consequences of Ella’s curse.

“Mother issued one of her infrequent commands: never to tell anyone about my curse. But I wouldn’t have anyway. I had learned caution.”

Ella learns as a young girl that selfish and cruel people can exploit her curse. The secret of the curse also functions as a plot device. She can’t tell Char about the curse and that she fears marrying him will allow people to hurt him through her. Secrecy leads him to think she doesn’t want to be with him.

“But when we were alone, we preferred to slide and yell all the way down. And run back up for another ride, and a third, and a forth.”

Eleanor shared Ella’s sense of humor and fun. It is this lightness which endears the late Eleanor to Char, and which attracts him to her daughter Ella.

“Father pressed my face into his chest. Perhaps he appeared to be comforting me, but he was only trying to muffle my noise, which couldn’t be muffled.”

Ella’s father, who is greedy and concerned with status and wealth, is a foil to her mother. His cruel indifference to her grief foreshadows Ella’s trials and tribulations.

“I know all about you […] I know you can imitate people just as Lady Eleanor could. Once you imitated your manservant to his face.”

Char is immediately drawn to Ella’s silliness. He first hears tales of her behavior from his cook, who is friends with Mandy. His attraction to her foreshadows their later romance.

“Although I suspected Father wanted me to wear another mourning gown, I put on the frock Mother liked best.”

Ella finds ways to thwart her obedience curse wherever possible. Though constrained by the curse, she still exercises agency. Her stubbornness and rebellious tendencies are illustrated here, as is her strained relationship with her father, Sir Peter.

“Your fairy godmother is me.”

Ella is shocked to learn that Mandy is her fairy godmother. Previously, Ella had thought Mandy was just the family’s cook. This revelation foreshadows Ella’s entry into the world of magic, including her receiving the enchanted fairy tales book, and her adventures meeting elves, ogres, giants, and fairies.

“I’ve made up my mind. It’s off to finishing school with you.”

Sir Peter’s choice to send Ella away shows his cruelty and indifference. He is not concerned with her wellbeing and happiness, only her outward appearance and how she can benefit his position.

“She held me for a long while.”

Mandy comforts Ella after Sir Peter decides that she will be sent away to school. This illustrates Mandy’s kindness, as well as her status as a mother figure to Ella after Eleanor’s death. Mandy’s maternal love—and platonic love in general—are a powerful force in the novel. They enable Ella to overcome her hardships.

“I like you. I’m quite taken with you.”

Ella makes Char laugh at the menagerie when she imitates a centaur. This shows that Char is also a person with a sense of humor, not a stuffy prince. He admits that he likes her, foreshadowing their later romance.

“Hattie returned to an earlier subject. ‘With so few belongings, the other girls will hardly know whether you are a servant or one of us.’”

Hattie is quickly shown to be conceited and cruel. She takes every opportunity to put Ella down or to exploit her for her own gain. She is the antagonist to Ella’s protagonist.

“Hattie stroked the chain, gloating.”

Hattie takes Ella’s mother’s necklace from her. She is scheming and manipulative, and because of this she quickly works out Ella’s curse and how to best exploit it. She represents evil, which does not triumph at the novel’s end. 

“I want money. Give me money.”

Olive is unintelligent and greedy. She constantly asks Ella for money, and Ella— given her curse—must comply. Though a cruel character, her lack of cunning and inability to work out Ella’s curse make her less of an antagonist than Hattie.

“By the end of an hour I was forming short sentences.”

Areida teaches Ella Ayorthaian so that they can converse in Areida’s language. Ella’s willingness to learn speaks to her passion for learning exotic languages as well as the depth of her friendship with Areida.

“I tried again. ‘You’re not really hungry. You’re full.’ My voice was raspy. More honey! More oil!”

Ella is able to use the ogres’ own persuasive speech to lull them into sleep. This speaks to Ella’s competence with languages—as she speaks in Ogrese—as well as her intelligence and bravery.

“I have hedakes espeshly wen I reed.”

Olive’s poor spelling is used to show her lack of intelligence.

“‘The maiden is naturally obedient,’ Cyril said. ‘Isn’t that one of your gifts? And she doesn’t like it.’”

Ella and fairies try to tell Lucinda that her “gifts’” are actually curses. It speaks to Lucinda’s arrogance and obliviousness that she instructs Ella to like her obedience, thereby diminishing her autonomy even further.

“Hattie put her arm around my shoulders. ‘Ella will be obedient, Mama.’”

Hattie and Olga become firmly entrenched as the antagonists of the story. Hattie reveals Ella’s curse to her mother, allowing Ella to be further exploited as the family’s servant.

“Your very good friend, Char”

Suspense builds as Char and Ella’s correspondence becomes more and more amorous. Their letters foreshadow their later romance and marriage.

“It was much worse to be obedient, but being a squirrel was bad enough.”

Lucinda returns after turning her two most frequent “gifts” on herself: being obedient and being a squirrel. She repents for the anguish which she caused others. This suggests that Lucinda is a dynamic character, who learns from her mistakes and grows.

“Lucinda, come to my aid.”

Ella is trying to reach Char’s first ball. Frustrated with the rain and with Mandy’s insistence that she will only perform small magic, Ella summons Lucinda for help. Lucinda is eager to make reparations for the curse which she inflicted upon Ella, and creates the pumpkin carriage and its aids. This helpfulness shows her character’s growth and lack of flatness.

“Would you favor me with a dance?”

Char is still drawn to Ella, even though she claims to be someone else. He is attracted to her even when she is masked, showing that his love goes beyond appearances.

“I won’t marry you!”

Ella breaks the curse by insisting that she won’t marry Char, even though this is what she wants more than anything. Her altruism, which sacrifices her own happiness to ensure his safety, is powerful enough to finally break the spell.