MBTI Type: ISFJ

Ella has a strong fondness for her childhood home and everything that reminds her of her parents and her happy childhood; her memories of far better times sustain her through her current life. Her mother’s final words (“have courage and be kind”) shape her worldview and influence every decision she makes. She refuses to leave home to escape her stepmother’s cruelty because it would mean abandoning her family estate. When given the chance for a new ball gown, Ella insists it be made from the remnants of her mother’s dress. She is constantly doing things, even as a child… interacting with her world and engaging it on a physical level. She is constantly pushing her own emotions away to accommodate others – when a man brings news of her father’s death to her doorstep, Ella thinks of him before her own grief (“I’m sorry, I know this must have been hard for you”). When Lady Tremaine remarks that her daughters are unhappy with their sleeping accommodations, Ella volunteers to let them have her room. Often refusing to stand up for or defend herself, Ella has no problem defending others … or animals. She admits more than once that her decisions are shaped by “what my parents would want (me to do).” Ella is not afraid to admit her feelings to others in hope of their emotional support. She is kind to all creatures, and does not need a personal connection to them to have empathy for them (defending the stag, though “we have only just met” and in forgiving her stepmother once understanding her motivations). When her stepmother refuses to purchase her a ball gown to wear to the ball, Ella thinks up a solution on her own – by taking one of her mother’s old dresses and hemming it to fit. She quickly works out the motivations of Kit and his father and easily articulates herself. Ella desperately wants to understand why Lady Tremaine is so cruel, and demands to know what makes her that way. Her ability to rationally understand others’ decisions makes her more forgiving of them. Ella chooses to see the world “not as it is, but how it could be,” showing an ability to see beyond things to their potential … a talent she puts to use in her attic room by choosing to see the positives rather than the negatives (“no stepsisters!”). Her moods are mostly optimistic, but she is fearful of her father’s absence and reluctant to chase the unknown (inferior Ne).

Enneagram: 9w1 so/sp

Ella is a dreamer who spends a lot of time in her mind, imagining how things could be instead of how they are. 9s in particular love to do this, since it takes them away from the real world and its harsh realities and cruelties and allows them to build safe and happy fantasies for themselves to dwell inside of. She hates conflict and has trouble asserting herself; when her stepmother and stepsisters mistreat her, force her to do the chores, etc, she passively does whatever they say, even when they exclude her from eating at their table. Ella is soft and gentle, not wanting Kit to hurt the stag and insisting he be let free. She maintains a sense of external calm in the midst of the troubled storms of change in her life, choosing to appease and show kindness to her stepmother and stepsisters without ever truly merging with them. She shows a strong sense of moral thinking and arranges her behavior around the moral code her mother established for her; she questions her stepmother’s unkindness when she confronts her, and can be assertive, but always chooses to maintain a kind, sociable nature. She serves others without much resentment, but feels hurt when rejected by them. As a social 9, she works hard to feel a sense of belonging and is light-hearted, fun, and congenial. But she also has a strong super-ego sense of right and wrong, which forbids her from taking revenge, being cruel, or even back-talking to her evil stepmother. Ella chooses to forgive her at the end of the story rather than imprison her for her behavior, and walks away from her, never thinking about her again.