This article explores how Sandra Cisneros alludes to and recasts popular fairy tales in "The House on Mango Street" to reveal their troubled legacy in the lives of many women in the novel. Drawing upon Latina feminist theory and Cisneros's autobiographical writing, this article posits that the main character Esperanza's alternative "happily ever after" comes through locating the vocation of writing as the fulcrum for self-definition and social change. It is suggested that feminist literary criticism can be enhanced through analysis of heroines from diverse cultural backgrounds and theoretical frameworks attuned to racial and ethnic diversity.