Duchess Danton (also known as The Duchess aka The Wicked Stepmother/The Evil Stepmother) is a character, a wicked stepmother and a former antagonist plus a supporting character of the Japanese anime/animated series, The Story of Cinderella.
Background[]
The Duchess is married to Cinderella's father, The Duke, who is a wealthy ambassador. She has two daughters, Catherine and Jeanne, and owns a cat named Misha. She is also the stepmother of the Duke's daughter, Cinderella. She loves her daughters but isn't fond of her stepdaughter.
Personality[]
The Duchess is elegant and sophisticated, but also quite mean, snobbish, and hypocritical and at the end of the twenty-sixth and final episode, A Happy Marriage, she changes to be kindhearted, lovely, and motherly.
She forces Cinderella to do endless chores and has no qualms in humiliating her and making her life unbearable and miserable, as her whole existence is centered on herself. Despite her harsh behavior, the Duchess rarely yells. Her goal is to get one of her daughters to marry Charles, the crown prince of the kingdom they live in, and at times will go through great lengths to get one of them to become the next princess; even going as far as spreading false rumors that her daughters were possible candidates to be the prince's fiancé.
Role in the series[]
When Cinderella's father, the Duke, has to leave on a long trip, Cinderella is left alone with the Duchess, Catherine, and Jeanne. The Duchess banishes Cinderella to the attic and makes her wear a servant's frock. Then the Duchess and her daughters make Cinderella do all the housework at their command, often times not allowing Cinderella to get much rest which at one point would lead to her becoming ill.
The Flowers From My Dream-Danton accompanies her daughters, Catherine and Jeanne, to the Flower Queen contest. Prior to attending the contest, Danton scolds Cinderella for using clovers to decorate the dining table with clovers and blames a spill Misha had caused on her step-daughter. While claiming she was going to allow Cinderella to join them at the contest, Danton changes her mind and orders Cinderella to clean the mess and her daughter's dresses. At the contest, Danton continues to flatter Catherine and Jeanne that they will surely win the contest and become the bride of Prince Charles who is rumored to be at the event looking for a girl to marry. When the Duchess and her daughter's return home, they discover Cinderella was gone and give Cinderella numerous tasks to do as punishment.
The Mysterious Boy-On a day of shopping in town, Danton spoils Jeanne and Catherine by buying them all the clothes and jewelry they want. Danton forces Cinderella to carry all their purchases and refuses to allow her to enter any shops by saying that Cinderella won't be needing anything nice. When Jeanne and Catherine inform her of Charles, who claims to be a page and close friend of the prince, Danton orders Cinderella to find him the next day to invite him to dinner with the plan of learning what kind of girl the prince wants to marry.
A Dream Meeting-Danton learns that Prince Charles will be out hunting in the woods and arranges for the family to go out in hopes of running into him. When Danton deems Cinderella taking too long to prepare a picnic basket, she orders Piere to take them to the forest and leaves Cinderella to have to follow on foot. Later when Jeanne and Cinderella are lost in the forest with a storm, Danton sends Piere to find Jeanne. After they return, Danton dotes on Jeanne for going through a 'traumatizing' experience.
The Mystery of the Vineyard-upon hearing an unconfirmed rumor that Prince Charles may have found a fiancé who is highly sophisticated, Danton has Catherine and Jeanne start dancing lessons in order to have them become more familiar with things required of nobility. When Cinderella outshines her stepsisters in dancing, Danton becomes infuriated. Danton later orders Cinderella to visit her family's grape vineyard to bring back fresh grapes. She gives Cinderella a map, but Patch overhears Danton admit that she gave Cinderella a map to the private vineyard belonging to the royal family. Danton hopes that Cinderella will be caught and deemed the thief said to be stealing from the vineyard, thus ruining her good reputation. When Cinderella is labeled to be the thief, Danton pretends to be concerned about her stepdaughter's reputation but knows the vineyard keeper will not be able to keep quiet about the matter and will spread the information throughout the kingdom. However, Prince Charles clears up the matter and Cinderella's reputation is saved.
False Fortuneteller-an 'elderly' fortuneteller starts becoming famous in the kingdom when he makes predictions that come true almost instantly. Danton initially believes that his predictions are merely coincidental until Catherine and Jeanne inform her that the fortuneteller is also correct in making wedding predictions on those who Danton deemed impossible to marry. Danton has Cinderella find the man and bring him to the manor. Danton hopes to hear that one or both of her daughter's will marry into royal families but becomes aggravated when he says they will not. In a last-ditch effort, Danton uses the doll belonging to Cinderella's mother to get one last fortune from him. With this bribe and ignoring Cinderella's pain, the fortuneteller says that both Catherine and Jeanne will marry into royalty. After another visit from the fortuneteller (Yan), he tells Danton that her daughter's will not have bright futures unless they learn to become kind and hardworking. Though Danton is upset at hearing this, she still tells her daughter's that they will have to become kind and hardworking.
Sad Violinist-Danton and her daughters attend Isabel's party celebrating her seventeenth birthday. Though they are not familiar with Isabel, they attend the party for the sole reason that Prince Charles is supposed to attend.
For a Fantastic Love Story-Danton and her daughters hear the news that the noble daughter Lora has run away with the violinist Nicholas. They ridicule Lora for running away with a commoner who has no proper title, money, or castle to his name.
Pleased to Meet You, Prince-The Duchess and her daughters are invited to a ball being held by the king and queen in hopes of their son picking a girl to be his wife. Despite that Cinderella was also invited to attend, Danton does not allow her to go to the ball.
Prince Charles's Secret-Duke Zarel recruits Catherine and Jeanne to work at the castle in hopes of them spying on Prince Charles. Although Danton tried to prevent it, Cinderella is also asked to work at the castle. Danton tells Catherine and Jeanne to use Cinderella's presence as a way to show-off.
Two Charles-Danton has her daughter's and Cinderella try embroidery. Though she acknowledges Cinderella is exceptional at the craft, she still points out flaws in her stitching. When the ladies go shopping in town later, they hear the townspeople calling out that Prince Charles is riding by in his carriage. Despite that Catherine notices the carriage doesn't have the royal coat of arms, they soon spot someone whom they believe is the prince and quickly chase after the carriage.
The Prince and House Work-When Cinderella becomes ill with a high fever, the duchess and her daughters are forced to clean their home and cook a meal as they have invited Duke Zarel over for dinner. They quickly find they are not as capable of doing the housework or cooking like Cinderella is. When Charles arrives to take care of Cinderella, the duchess forces him to do their work for them so they can prepare for Zarel's visit. Danton, Catherine, and Jeanne all ignore Charles' claims that he does not know how to do housework or cook which proves to be their downfall when they claim to have made the meal themselves and it turns out to be appalling, causing Zarel to label them as terrible hostesses and leave feeling insulted.
Kindness in a small heart-When Jeanne takes Danton's mint colored pearl without permission and loses it during a skirmish with her sister, Cinderella takes the blame and Danton orders her to find the ring and return it before sunset or else she will be kicked out of the house. However, Danton later reveals that she had the true mint pearl ring the entire time and the one she made Cinderella find was a fake.
Disturbing Painter-Catherine and Jeanne are getting their portrait done by a painter that they and Danton deem to be incapable of catching their 'true' beauty. They then say they will find another painter who can create a portrait of them worthy enough to send to Prince Charles.
Let's get rid of those bandits-When in town, Danton starts false rumors that Catherine and Jeanne have been chosen as possible candidates for royal fiancé. The rumors spread around the kingdom and soon Duke Zarel hears it and decides to punish Danton for her arrogance by sending his henchmen to tarnish her home. They warn Danton that she and her family should leave the kingdom or else face serious punishment for claiming her daughter's will be the prince's bride. Danton refuses to leave and be scared off and has Cinderella, Piere, and later Charles, guard the home during the night. After Zarel's henchmen are defeated, Danton boldly claims that she will never leave her home and is still determined to make Catherine or Jeanne the next princess of Emerald Kingdom.
Traveling towards Happiness-After receiving a letter from her husband, Danton learns that Zarel has arranged a possible fiancé for Catherine as she is the oldest daughter and at the age to marry. Not willing to let her daughter be married off to anyone but the prince, Danton lies and says that Cinderella is the one supposed to be married. In hopes of marrying off Cinderella to the nobleman Flora Melville, Danton hosts the engagement party at the manor. When she tries to announce that Cinderella and Flora are engaged, she finds things have changed when Cinderella and Charles step aside and proclaim that Flora is now engaged to Isabel. Unbeknownst to Danton, Cinderella and Charles had found Duke Foyer's letter and learned that Catherine was the one who was supposed to be engaged to Flora. As the guests praise Isabel and Flora, Danton finds herself being ignored when she tries to say that Cinderella is the one to be married. After Isabel and Flora leave the kingdom, Danton has Cinderella resume being a servant since she did not marry Flora.
Memories of my mother-In a particularly bad mood, Danton has Piere cut off branches from a tree next to the house. Afterwards, she is bombarded by her daughter's demanding things and soon faints when she goes outside. A doctor declares that Danton has become stricken with a serious illness and does not look like she will survive unless a medicine can be made from flowers located in a forest said to be guarded by evil spirits. Danton recovers when Cinderella is able to retrieve the flowers. Having believed her illness was brought on from having the tree branches cut, Danton plants a new tree to make amends.
Eliminate the prince-Danton is hosting a costume party at the manor and had sent an invitation to Prince Charles. Despite that everyone will be in costume, Danton tells her daughter's not to wear anything except their best gowns so they will look worthy of becoming princess. During the party, Jeanne and Catherine start bickering in front of Marcel who is dressed like Prince Charles but Danton is able to right away see that he is not the real prince.
Invitation to the ball-With a ball being thrown at Emerald Castle, Danton proclaims that this is the chance she and her daughters have been waiting for. They right away have Cinderella work on their best dresses and then have her help with their hair, make-up, and anything else they need. Despite that Cinderella was also invited, Danton and her daughter's mock Cinderella's dress and that she is wearing her hair like she usually does. They then proceed to shred Cinderella's invitation to the ball and leave without her. At the ball, Danton tries to get her daughters to have the next dance with Charles, but they are unable to reach him in time. They do not recognize Cinderella when she appears and become jealous of her lovely appearance and that she was able to dance with Charles right away.
Shoe of Happiness-Danton learns from Catherine and Jeanne that a search party is going to every house in the kingdom looking for the mysterious woman who lost a glass slipper at the ball. Danton naturally hopes to have Catherine or Jeanne fit into the shoe when Hans and Alex arrive at their home. Having banished Cinderella to her room, Danton tries to get her daughters to fit the slipper. When Catherine managed to force her foot to fit, Danton is overjoyed but is soon disappointed when the shoe pops off and is still upset when Jeanne is not able to fit the shoe at all. When it's proven that four invitations were delivered to the manor, Danton tries to assure Hans and Alex that Cinderella was not at the ball and having her try the slipper on would just be a waste of time. After Patch brings Hans and Alex back with the second glass slipper, Danton is shocked to see that Cinderella fits the shoes perfectly and is right away deemed the prince's fiancé; genuinely calling Cinderella her daughter for the first time.
A Happy Marriage-As Cinderella is preparing to move into the castle and get married, Danton finally makes amends with Cinderella. She and the girl's welcome Duke Foyer home and they at last become a true family. The family make their way to the castle for the wedding but soon find themselves horrified when Duke Zarel appears and takes Cinderella hostage after believing he had eliminated Prince Charles with poison. After Zarel is defeated, Danton is present with the others when Charles and Cinderella are crowned King and Queen.
Relationships[]
- Duke Foyer: Danton's second husband. Marrying the duke prior to the start of the series, Danton is often shown to care more about his wealth and noble status.
- Catherine and Jeanne: Danton's two daughters from her previous marriage. She often highly spoils the two girls while preparing them to try to become the bride of Prince Charles. However, she often dislikes when her daughters bicker too much or fail to keep a regal appearance in public.
- Cinderella: Danton's stepdaughter. Danton was very hard and cruel to Cinderella. She would force Cinderella to do numerous chores and give her little rest. She was also well aware that Cinderella possessed traits that her daughters didn't and would childishly punish her for it. After Cinderella became engaged to Prince Charles, Danton became a loving mother toward her and finally accepted her as a daughter.
- Prince Charles: Unaware Charles was the prince, Danton was often annoyed when he was around or would be friendly when she wanted something from him. Believing he was a page at the castle, Danton would try to use Charles to get information on how her daughters could have a better chance to become princess.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Duchess bears numerous similarities with Lady Tremaine, the step-mother in Disney's Cinderella. Both have cats, both are aristocratic, and both are rather cold while desiring their true daughter's to become the prince's wife.
- However, unlike the Duchess, Lady Tremaine remains evil even after her stepdaughter wins over the prince, and Misha, the Duchess's cat (that was numerous to Lucifer), is reformed, becoming one of Cinderella's coachmen (actually she is a coachwoman).