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This article focuses on one of the first iterations of the wicked stepsisters.
For the second iterations, see Drizella and Anastasia.


Mother would never let me marry a footman. And so I... put on an act. Like I've done most of my life. I am so sorry, Ella. For everything. But we have both been her prisoner... And tonight, I can finally escape.

—Clorinda to Cinderella src

Clorinda is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the fourth episode of the first season and is portrayed by guest star Mekenna Melvin in Season Six.

Clorinda is based on the younger stepsister from the Charles Perrault version of the "Cinderella" fairytale, and the character of the same name from the operatic adaptation La Cenerentola. She is also an allusion to the wicked stepsisters from the Disney film Cinderella, and its direct-to-video sequel Cinderella II: Dreams Come True.

History

Before First Curse

After their mother marries, Clorinda and Tisbe gain a stepsister named Ella. Lady Tremaine wants her daughters to marry well, but Clorinda spends her life pretending to live up to these expectations, including being cruel to Ella. Without anyone's notice, she falls in love with Prince Thomas' footman, Jacob, and the two plan to run away together and live on a farm. One day, Jacob comes to deliver an invitation to an upcoming royal ball at the King's castle. Clorinda walks up to take the invitation from him, but she acts purposely cruel by calling him "filthy" in order to not draw suspicion. While picking out gowns for her daughters, Lady Tremaine decides none of them are suitable and that she'll have to sell porcelain to buy them new dresses. Ella asks if she may attend the ball, which Clorinda finds amusing and wonders if she'll wear her best rags. Instead, Ella shows them a dress she inherited from her deceased mother. Lady Tremaine gives the dress to Clorinda, who shoves it into the furnace to burn it. Clorinda then coins the nickname "Cinderella" for Ella after poking fun at her for being covered in cinders because of the burnt dress. On the night of the ball, Clorinda, Tisbe, and their mother leave for the palace in their carriage while Cinderella sadly watches them leave. Unbeknownst to them, however, she is visited by Rumplestiltskin, who makes a deal with her to allow her to attend the ball. ("The Price of Gold," "The Other Shoe")

At the ball, after Thomas dances with Cinderella, he excuses himself. He meets with Clorinda and gives her a rose from Jacob. Cinderella sees this and, prompted by Lady Tremaine's callous remarks, mistakenly believes Thomas has been toying with her emotions and departs from the ball, leaving behind one of her glass slippers. That same night, Clorinda learns of Thomas' desire to find the mystery glass slipper girl. She stops Ella from going to the Land of Untold Stories after seeing her stepsister has one of the glass slippers, which proves Ella is the girl that the prince is looking. Clorinda reveals she's been living a lie for her entire life and apologizes to Ella for treating her so horribly. Knowing Lady Tremaine will look for Clorinda after she is gone, Ella gives her the key to the Land of Untold Stories, where she and Jacob can be together without fear of being found. When Lady Tremaine threatens to shatter the glass slipper, which is Ella's only proof of being the girl that Thomas is looking for, Ella forfeits Clorinda's location to her. Meanwhile, Clorinda and Jacob are headed towards the portal when Lady Tremaine knocks Jacob out. Ella rushes to stop her stepmother from further harming Jacob, while Clorinda becomes upset at her for tattling on her. Lady Tremaine is livid that Ella is now engaged to Thomas and goes to the Land of Untold Stories, intending to pause her own story, and she drags Clorinda there with her. ("The Other Shoe")

After Third Curse

Along with other Untold Stories residents, Clorinda and Lady Tremaine are forced onto a dirigible by Mr. Hyde and taken to Storybrooke. She and her mother are later approached by Henry, who writes down their names on a compiled list of new arrivals. With help from the Evil Queen, they learn Ella, now known as Ashley, is in town. Clorinda, wanting revenge against her, hides out on a pumpkin farm and lures her in. Only after helping her mother corner Ashley, however, she learns from her stepsister that the farm belongs to Jacob and that she wanted to help bring the two lovers together again. Lady Tremaine hauls Jacob in with intentions of killing him, but Clorinda jumps to protect him and pleads with Ashley to fix things like she promised. Ashley speaks up in defense of her stepsister, telling Lady Tremaine that she can't take out her anger on others and that her daughter has suffered enough, but Lady Tremaine is unmoved. Lady Tremaine stabs Ashley in retaliation, but with help from Emma's magic, she is restored to health. Clorinda and Ashley make up in the aftermath, and they and their beaus spend time together on the farm. ("The Other Shoe")

Family

Mother †
 
 
 
Father †
 
 
Lady Tremaine
 
 
 
Unknown
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cinderella
Ashley Boyd
 
 
 
Prince Thomas
Sean Herman
ClorindaTisbe
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alexandra

Notes:

  • Solid lines denote blood relationships
  • Dashed lines denote marriage relationships that result in offspring
  • Lady Tremaine has been married twice
  • Clorinda has one stepsister via her mother's second marriage
  • Alexandra was conceived in the Enchanted Forest, but born in Storybrooke

Trivia

Etymology

Character Notes

Disney

  • Despite not being a clear reference or allusion to them,[2] Clorinda shares some similarities with Anastasia and Drizella Tremaine from the Disney film Cinderella and its direct-to-video sequel Cinderella II: Dreams Come True:
    • Like Drizella, she wears a greenish dress before the ball[3] and pulls her hair back with a bow.[4] ("The Other Shoe")
    • Just like Disney's Anastasia, Clorinda falls in love with a low-class man, but her mother forbids her from marrying a commoner, thinking lower-class people are beneath them. Eventually, she is helped by Cinderella, before standing up to her mother and being reunited with her lover; similar to the story of Anastasia and the Baker in the 2002 sequel. ("The Other Shoe")

Fairytales and Folklore

  • In the Perrault version of the "Cinderella" story, Cinderella goes to the chimney corner after work, sitting there in the cinders and ashes, causing her to be called Cinderwench; however, her younger stepsister, described as less rude and uncivil than the older one, calls her Cinderella. On Once Upon a Time, Clorinda, pretending to live up to her mother's expectations, is cruel to Ella, like her stepsister, but later changes her ways. Similar to the fairytale, she is the one who gives Ella the nickname Cinderella, due to the cinders on the latter's dress. ("The Other Shoe")

Costume Notes

Appearances

References

  1. TwitterLogo @Splash Lights Photos (Back in the Game For Now) (@Two_Cams25) on X, formerly Twitter: I like the Stepsisters' names from the animated film. I'm going to forget who they are in this series. #OnceUponATime #OUAT (October 9, 2016). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
    TwitterLogo Jane Espenson (@JaneEspenson) on X, formerly Twitter: We played with the idea of using Drizella, but Ella/Drizella/Cruella... we have a lot of Ellas. (October 9, 2016). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  2. 2.0 2.1 TwitterLogo . (@TysonRandom01) on X, formerly Twitter: At the Wiki, everyone says Clorinda is slightly based on Anastasia, but I noticed some similarities to Drizella. So can you clear it up? (September 14, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
    TwitterLogo Jane Espenson (@JaneEspenson) on X, formerly Twitter: We didn't establish a correspondence or think of them in that way. (September 14, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
    TwitterLogo . (@TysonRandom01) on X, formerly Twitter: Well I have another question if you don't mind. It would really help with my wiki. Are they Clorinda and Tisbe "Tremaine" like their mother? (September 14, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
    {{Twitter|user=JaneEspenson|url=status/908511435864522753|author=Jane Espenson|date=September 14, 2017|title=We didn't establish their last names, so we are in an exciting amorphous state in which all names are equally true.|archive=https://archive.ph/0iZGP%7Cimage=TWJaneEspenson-Clorinda-Tisbe-2.png}
  3. File:603InvitationIsAsGood.png
  4. File:603WouldBeAnother.png
  5. File:603Jacob.png
    File:603FixThis.png
  6. File:321Occupied.png
    File:321HairFix.png
  7. File:407ThomasCinderellaStorybook.png (Look for the opening words "When the two siste[image ends] from the ball, Cinde[image ends]". They are part part of the sentence "When the two sisters returned from the ball Cinderella asked them if they had been well entertained, and if the fine lady had been there.", taken from The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault, a 1922 translation illustrated by Irish book illustrator Harry Clarke, published by George G. Harrap and Co.)
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