The Importance of Luck: An Analysis of the "Rags to Riches" Motif

The “rags to riches” motif remains one of the most popular story-lines there is. Not only are there several versions of Cinderella in the contemporary United States (I’m personally partial to Another Cinderella Story) there are countless Cinderellas from other times and places. There seems to be an endless demand for the adventures of people who miraculously rise out of poverty and inexplicably also find their true love in the process.

But how feasible are these tales? Could a “rise-tale” become reality? Although the perpetuation of these films in our society seems to suggest people gain love and riches inexplicably almost every day (art is supposed to mirror life, after all), a person actual ability to go from a “nobody to a somebody” is more complicated than “Cinderella” implies it is.

One of the biggest complications to the idea that a person can rise from “rags to riches,” is that success is subjective. While one person might view having wealth and riches as having “made it” in the world, other people might value money and status as lesser when compared to family and relationship ties. Vivian in Pretty Woman is the perfect example of this. As she changed and became more accustomed to the lavish pleasures of the upper class, her idea of success also changed. Before she met Edward, she was lucky and felt successful if she had enough money to survive and pay the rent. After spending time with him and being treated with a taste of the experiences of the wealthy, she realizes how much potential she has. Instead of letting Edward treat her to a simple life full of his paid-for-pleasures, she decides she wants to go back to school and get her diploma. She wants to be fulfilled by a job that she earns. She wants love and a deeper relationship than Edward is originally willing to offer her. Unlike Disney’s Cinderella, she is not satisfied with being valued only for beauty in her relationship*.

Putting the complicated definition of “success” aside, the question we’re looking at is: is the dramatic rise in status even conceivable? While by no means probable, I do think that these stories of a person rising from poverty to wealth are possible in real life. After all, many famous people tell origin stories of their humble beginnings full of failure and struggle before they became successful (off the top of my head I’m thinking about J.K. Rowling and Walt Disney himself). However, that level of success is very rare and not particularly realistic for the average person. The great abundance of Cinderella tales implies a much greater probability of their occurrence in life. I think what this prevalence overlooks is the importance of luck. With every person of an elevated status, luck is a huge factor in the creation of their success. Vivian meeting Edward, perhaps the one person who could see past her appearance and employment and value her for her personality, was entirely coincidental. In other words, she was extremely lucky. Lucky that he was reevaluating his life after failed relationships, lucky that his car stalled exactly where it did, lucky that it was him in the car instead of someone who would take advantage of her. The Cinderella in the Disney movie is even more lucky (more lucky than anyone could be in real life because she is gifted with magic). She is blessed with a fairy godmother who magically grants her fine accessories and the ability to meet the prince. And she does nothing of substance to earn the prince’s affection, but, even more luckily, he falls in love with her after one dance, and refuses to marry anyone but her. Both these movies demonstrate that although magic, marriage, and charm certainly do not hurt a person’s chance at success, luck is key in allowing a person to rise from “rags to riches.”

Despite very few people ever achieving the success of the every day Cinderella, Cinderella tales remain very popular with the public. While not everybody can rise from rags to riches (it is very difficult to emerge from poverty without a lot of perseverance and luck), everyone wants to see an underdog win. As a society, we gravitate towards these stories because we relate to Cinderella characters. Vivian from Pretty Woman is especially relatable - she a flawed but compassionate character. We, the average people, can see ourselves in her, and so we root for her eventual success just as we’d root for our own. Perhaps even more significantly, people are lazy - they want to believe that success can come with as little effort as possible. So we delight in seeing Cinderellas be rescued again and again, even though it’s probable that none of us will ever rise from “rags to riches” in our own life time.

*Although I do acknowledge that at the end of the movie, she essentially does receive the fairy tale happy ending in which Edward “rescues” her and they do end up becoming a couple.