Analysis of a magical folk tale. Method of structural analysis (based on the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful”)

Analysis of a fairy tale"Feather of Finist-Yasna Sokol"

Why do children like fairy tales so much? Just as the consciousness of a child, untouched by science, tries to explain everything that happens around him through magic, so folklore consciousness helped a person in those distant times to fill the world around him with meaning, explaining the phenomena around him through faith in something supernatural. Features of the religious worldview of that time are: animism, totemism, fetishism, magic. Without knowing it, we have encountered these early forms of beliefs since childhood in all Russian folk tales. I had the opportunity to dwell on each of the forms in more detail using the example of the fairy tale “The Feather of Finist-Yasna Falcon.”

Already at the beginning of the plot, we encounter the familiar number “three”, and it will accompany us throughout the entire tale (three daughters, the old man went to the city three times, three pairs of shoes, three staves, three prosviras, three old sisters, three Maryushka went to Finist for three days, they went to church for three days). Other numbers are also familiar: “beyond distant lands in the thirtieth kingdom,” denoting an almost incomprehensible, distant space associated with the other world. The connection with this world can also be noted in the following moment: Maryushka asks for Finist-Yasna Sokol’s feather, and her sisters ask for ordinary, worldly things: a contrast can be traced, as it were, between two different worlds (“mythological opposition”: the human world and the unknown, inexplicable).

Who is Finist - the Clear Falcon, whose feather is so necessary for the main character? The hero's name contains the names of two different birds: Finist and Falcon. It is known that for “Russian wedding folklore the image of a falcon as the groom is typical. In Slavic mythology, the falcon is mysteriously associated with the element of fire and the cult of the hearth, which over time became a cultural symbol of family well-being. Of particular interest is the first component of the name - Finist. Here we have before us the name of one of the most legendary birds, distorted into Russian, known in the mythology of different nations. The Greeks call it Phoenix, the Chinese Feng-huang, the Egyptians - Venu (Benhu, Bennu). According to legends, the Phoenix is ​​a wonderful bird that lives for an amazingly long time, five hundred or more years” (Kryachko A.A.). Considering in a broader sense, namely, the very transformation of a person into an animal, we should note the connection with totemism.

In the fairy tale under study, we can assume the following: Maryushka’s desire to possess Finist’s treasured feather expresses the eternal craving of the human soul for something incomprehensible, eternal. “From the point of view of fairy tale wisdom, being of this kind is often revealed through the acquisition of wholeness in marriage, which requires sacrifice and selflessness. The feather is a symbol of such love and dedication.” Having received her treasured feather, the heroine gives him freedom: “Fly in an open field, take a walk for the time being.” I think the images of the wind, flight, and the bird itself are associated with ideas about the bird as a soul. Hence the connection with animism. “Shelter from the dark night” Maryushka asks each of the three old women; one can see the fear of the shackles of the night and, again, the animation of the forces of nature.

Negative characters, which are present in all fairy tales, are also here, so due to the self-interest of her sisters, Maryushka loses her “dear friend” and she can return him only by overcoming painful obstacles. The motif of the barrier can be seen in all fairy tales. In all cases, the “Thirtieth Kingdom” is interpreted as a world that undoubtedly neighbors the world of heroes, but the path to which is not easy and full of trials. Iron shoes, cast iron staves, stone breads personify the burden that the heroine bore in order to achieve her happiness. Rather, it represents a later religious worldview associated with tolerance, which will be rewarded. (In addition to this moment, there are also those that point to a later religion, or rather the Easter holiday, the church, the maltmeal). So, in the fairy tale, the motive of traveling to another world, in contrast to mythological ideas in which this kind of journey is considered posthumous, is an indication of the only true path to one’s happiness.

The ability to store, protect from harm or bring good luck was explained by the presence of a magical, miraculous power in an object or the presence of some spirit in it (fetishism - an enchanted thing). “From a mythological point of view, movement to another world and movement in it is possible only with the help of mediators - intermediaries to whom the “doors” between worlds are open. In fairy tales of this kind, the mediators are anthropomorphic and zooanthropomorphic characters.” The function of the donor (in our case, these are anthropomorphic characters - three old sisters) in fairy tales is to transfer to the hero a wonderful means, an object with the help of which he achieves what he wants. In this tale, I included fetishes: a silver bottom, a golden spindle, a silver dish and a golden egg, a golden hoop and a needle. At some point, they brought good luck to the main character, helped her get what she wanted and achieve her happiness.

In the world where Maryushka finds herself, having overcome obstacles, the mallow lives, again there is a connection with mythological ideas: the feminine is the evil principle. In this kingdom, Finist does not fly, he is in oblivion, which indicates that this kingdom is holding him captive. Thus, the heroine, apparently, finds herself in the underworld, and Maryushka needs to solve a difficult task: “to open the narrowed “door” between the worlds.”

Magic - the awakening of Finist (the tear burned). Read more about the meaning of a “burning tear”: “love – “hot”, “fiery” - is associated by mythological consciousness with fire. Fire is both a cleansing and destructive element. Thus, by the fiery power of love, evil spells can be destroyed, and the soul, cleansed of their effects, awakens from oblivion.” In the fairy tale about Finist, tears serve as such an awakening force that manifests love. Through a dream he hears speeches, a sleeping potion - a dream as a space between worlds. Magic also includes the appearance of a golden carriage and the transformation of the main characters.

So, a fairy tale still requires an attentive and thoughtful attitude: in addition to the entertaining and educational components, there is also an educational one: in it you can find echoes of history, learn about the thoughts and worldview of our distant ancestors.

The fairy tale "The Frog Princess" is magical(mythological), since its plot is based on a lot archaic elements: an animistic idea of ​​​​the possibility of marriage between a person and an animal, magical actions, words and objects, the traditional motive of procuring a bride from a mythological enemy, the presence of mythological heroes (Vasilisa the Beautiful, Koschei the Immortal, Baba Yaga) and wonderful helpers (grateful animals who help obtain death Koshchei).
Heroes fairy tales are Ivan Tsarevich and his wonderful wife Vasilisa the Beautiful, typical characters of the fairy tale motif of “getting the bride.” Character Ivan Tsarevich is revealed in accordance with the folk ethical ideal: he is kind, honest, true to his word, capable of risking his life for the sake of a loved one, merciful towards the weak. Vasilisa the Beautiful has magical powers, which makes her similar to mythological characters (Koshchei and Baba Yaga) and the natural world (she is forced to remain in the form of a frog until a certain time).
The story of the meeting of heroes and temporary separation due to the fault of Ivan Tsarevich is the basis of the plot, which opens with a traditional beginning, introducing the special world of a fairy tale. Exposition is the king’s decision to marry his three sons in an unusual way: by shooting an arrow “throughout the world,” i.e. relying on fate. The youngest son's arrow fell into the swamp and was picked up by a frog. It seems that the hero's decision to take a frog as his wife can be considered the beginning of the plot, but this is not so, because this action is not the beginning of a conflict between the forces of good and evil, which is required for the development of the action and the achievement of a climax and denouement. This tale has a long exposition: it includes three trials of the princes' wives and ends with the rash act of Ivan Tsarevich - burning the skin of a frog. Hence, tie The plot is a violation of the ban, which upsets the balance of the forces of good and evil and Vasilisa the Beautiful is forced to submit to the will of Koshchei. Ivan Tsarevich goes in search of his wife and shows courage when meeting Baba Yaga and kindness when meeting animals. With the help of a mythological assistant (Baba Yaga) and animals grateful to him, he reaches climax: obtains a magical object - an egg, which contains the death of Koshchei and defeats him. Koshchei's death is denouement fairy-tale plot, and the heroes’ return home– traditional ending.

"Princess Frog".

In the old days, one king had three sons. So, when the sons became old, the king gathered them and said:

My dear sons, while I am not yet old, I would like to marry you, to look at your children, at my grandchildren.

The sons answer their father:

So, father, bless. Who would you like us to marry?

That's it, sons, take an arrow, go out into an open field and shoot: where the arrows fall, there is your destiny.

The sons bowed to their father, took an arrow, went out into an open field, pulled their bows and shot.

The eldest son's arrow fell on the boyar's yard, and the boyar's daughter picked up the arrow. The middle son's arrow fell onto the wide merchant's courtyard and was picked up by the merchant's daughter.

And the youngest son, Ivan Tsarevich, the arrow rose and flew away, he doesn’t know where. So he walked and walked, reached the swamp, and saw a frog sitting, picking up his arrow. Ivan Tsarevich tells her:

Frog, frog, give me my arrow. And the frog answers him:

Marry me!

What are you saying, how can I take a frog as my wife?

Take it, you know, this is your fate.

Ivan Tsarevich began to spin. There was nothing to do, I took the frog and brought it home. The tsar played three weddings: he married his eldest son to a boyar's daughter, his middle son to a merchant's daughter, and the unfortunate Ivan Tsarevich to a frog.

So the king called his sons:

I want to see which of your wives is the best needlewoman. Let them sew me a shirt by tomorrow.

The sons bowed to their father and left.

Ivan Tsarevich comes home, sat down and hung his head. The frog jumps on the floor and asks him:

What, Ivan Tsarevich, hung his head? Or what grief?

Father, I told you to sew a shirt by tomorrow. The frog answers:

Don’t worry, Ivan Tsarevich, better go to bed, the morning is wiser than the evening.

Ivan Tsarevich went to bed, and the frog jumped onto the porch, threw off his frog skin and turned into Vasilisa the Wise, such a beauty that you can’t even tell in a fairy tale.

Vasilisa the Wise clapped her hands and shouted:

Mothers, nannies, get ready, get ready! By morning, sew me a shirt like the one I saw on my dear father.

Ivan Tsarevich woke up in the morning, the frog was jumping on the floor again, and his shirt was lying on the table, wrapped in a towel. Ivan Tsarevich was delighted, took the shirt and took it to his father. The king at this time accepted gifts from his big sons. The eldest son unfolded the shirt, the king accepted it and said:

This shirt is to be worn in a black hut. The middle son unfolded his shirt, the king said:

You only wear it to go to the bathhouse.

Ivan Tsarevich unwrapped his shirt, decorated with gold and silver and cunning patterns. The king just looked:

Well, this is a shirt - wear it on a holiday. The brothers went home - those two - and judged among themselves:

No, apparently, we laughed in vain at the wife of Ivan Tsarevich: she is not a frog, but some kind of cunning... The king called his sons again:

Let your wives bake bread for me by tomorrow. I want to know which cooks better.

Ivan Tsarevich hung his head and came home. The frog asks him:

What's wrong? He answers:

We need to bake bread for the king by tomorrow.

Don’t worry, Ivan Tsarevich, better go to bed, the morning is wiser than the evening.

And those daughters-in-law, at first they laughed at the frog, and now they sent one back-of-the-house grandmother to see how the frog would bake bread.

The frog is cunning, she realized this. I kneaded the dough; she broke the stove from above and right into the hole, the whole kneading bowl and overturned it. The backwater grandmother ran to the royal daughters-in-law; I told everything, and they began to do the same.

And the frog jumped onto the porch, turned into Vasilisa the Wise, and clapped his hands:

Mothers, nannies, get ready, get ready! Bake me soft white bread in the morning, the kind I ate from my dear father.

Ivan Tsarevich woke up in the morning, and there was bread on the table, decorated with various tricks: printed patterns on the sides, cities with outposts on top.

Ivan Tsarevich was delighted, wrapped the bread in his fly, and took it to his father. And the king at that time accepted bread from his big sons. Their wives put the dough into the oven, as their backwater grandmother told them, and what came out was nothing but burnt dirt. The king accepted the bread from his eldest son, looked at it and sent it to the men's room. He accepted it from his middle son and sent him there. And as Ivan Tsarevich gave it, the Tsar said:

This is bread, only eat it on holiday. And the king ordered his three sons to come to him at the feast tomorrow along with their wives.

Again, Tsarevich Ivan returned home sadly, hanging his head below his shoulders. A frog jumps on the floor:

Kwa, kwa, Ivan Tsarevich, why is he spinning? Or did you hear an unfriendly word from the priest?

Frog, frog, how can I not grieve! Father ordered me to come to the feast with you, but how can I show you to people?

The frog answers:

Don’t worry, Ivan Tsarevich, go to the feast alone, and I’ll follow you. When you hear knocking and thunder, don’t be alarmed. If they ask you, say: “This is my little frog, he’s traveling in a box.”

Ivan Tsarevich went alone. The older brothers arrived with their wives, dressed up, dressed up, rouged, and drugged. They stand and laugh at Ivan Tsarevich:

Why did you come without your wife? At least he brought it in a handkerchief. Where did you find such a beauty? Tea, all the swamps came out.

The king with his sons, daughters-in-law, and guests sat down at oak tables and feasted on stained tablecloths. Suddenly there was a knock and thunder, the whole palace shook. The guests got scared, jumped up from their seats, and Ivan Tsarevich said:

Don't be afraid, honest guests: this is my little frog, she arrived in a box.

A gilded carriage with six white horses flew up to the royal porch, and Vasilisa the Wise came out of there: there were frequent stars on her azure dress, on her head there was a clear moon, such a beauty - you couldn’t imagine it, you couldn’t guess it, just say it in a fairy tale. She takes Ivan Tsarevich by the hand and leads him to oak tables and stained tablecloths.

The guests began to eat, drink, and have fun. Vasilisa the Wise drank from the glass and poured the last of it down her left sleeve. She bit the swan and the bones and threw it by her right sleeve.

The wives of the big princes saw her tricks and let’s do the same.

We drank, ate, and it was time to dance. Vasilisa the Wise picked up Ivan Tsarevich and went. She danced, danced, twirled, twirled - everyone was amazed. She waved her left sleeve - suddenly a lake appeared, waved her right sleeve - white swans swam across the lake. The king and guests were amazed.

And the older daughters-in-law went to dance: they waved their sleeves - only the guests were splashed, they waved at others - only the bones scattered, one bone hit the king in the eye. The king got angry and drove both daughters-in-law away.

At that time, Ivan Tsarevich went away quietly, ran home, found a frog skin there and threw it into the oven, burning it on the fire.

Vasilisa the Wise returns home, she missed it - there is no frog skin. She sat down on a bench, became sad, depressed and said to Ivan Tsarevich:

Ah, Ivan Tsarevich, what have you done! If you had only waited three more days, I would have been yours forever. And now goodbye. Look for me far away, in the thirtieth kingdom, near Koshchei the Immortal...

Vasilisa the Wise turned into a gray cuckoo and flew out the window. Ivan Tsarevich cried, cried, bowed to four sides and went wherever his eyes looked - to look for his wife, Vasilisa the Wise. Whether he walked close or far, long or short, he carried his boots, his caftan was worn out, the rain dried up his cap. An old man comes across him.

Hello, good fellow! What are you looking for, where are you going?

Ivan Tsarevich told him about his misfortune. The old man tells him:

Eh, Ivan Tsarevich; Why did you burn the frog's skin? You didn’t put it on, it wasn’t up to you to take it off. Vasilisa the Wise was born more cunning and wiser than her father. For this he became angry with her and ordered her to be a frog for three years. Well, there’s nothing to do, here’s a ball for you: wherever it rolls, you can follow it boldly.

Ivan Tsarevich thanked the old man and went to get the ball. The ball rolls, he follows it. In an open field he comes across a bear. Ivan Tsarevich has set his sights and wants to kill the beast. And the bear says to him in a human voice:

Don’t hit me, Ivan Tsarevich, someday I’ll be useful to you.

Ivan Tsarevich took pity on the bear, did not shoot him, and moved on. Lo and behold, a drake is flying above him. He took aim, and the drake spoke to him in a human voice:

Don't hit me, Ivan Tsarevich! I will be useful to you, He took pity on the drake and moved on. A sideways hare runs. Ivan Tsarevich came to his senses again, wants to shoot at him, and the hare says in a human voice:

Don't kill me, Ivan Tsarevich, I will be useful to you. He felt sorry for the hare and moved on. He approaches the blue sea and sees a pike lying on the shore, on the sand, barely breathing and says to him:

Ah, Ivan Tsarevich, take pity on me, throw me into the blue sea!

Hut, hut, stand in the old way, as your mother put it: with your back to the forest, with your front towards me.

The hut turned its front to him, its back to the forest. Ivan Tsarevich entered it and saw - on the stove, on the ninth brick, Baba Yaga was lying, a bone leg, teeth on the shelf, and her nose grown into the ceiling.

Why, good fellow, did you come to me? - Baba Yaga tells him. -Are you trying to figure things out or are you running away from business?

Ivan Tsarevich answers her:

Oh, you old bastard, you should have given me something to drink, feed me, steam me in a bathhouse, and then you would have asked.

Baba Yaga steamed him in the bathhouse, gave him something to drink, fed him, put him to bed, and Ivan Tsarevich told her that he was looking for his wife, Vasilisa the Wise.

I know, I know,” Baba Yaga tells him, “your wife is now with Koshchei the Immortal.” It will be difficult to get it, it will not be easy to deal with Koschei: his death is at the end of a needle, that needle is in an egg, the egg is in a duck, the duck is in a hare, that hare sits in a stone chest, and the chest stands on a tall oak tree, and that oak Koschei the Immortal, like protects your eye.

Ivan Tsarevich spent the night with Baba Yaga, and the next morning she showed him where the tall oak tree grew. How long or short did it take Ivan Tsarevich to get there, and he saw a tall oak tree standing, rustling, with a government chest on it, and it was difficult to get it.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bear came running and uprooted the oak tree. The chest fell and broke. A hare jumped out of the chest and ran away at full speed. And another hare chases him, catches him and tears him to shreds. And a duck flew out of the hare and rose high, right up to the sky. Lo and behold, the drake rushed at her, and when he hit her, the duck dropped the egg, and the egg fell into the blue sea.

Here Ivan Tsarevich burst into bitter tears - where can one find an egg in the sea? Suddenly a pike swims up to the shore and holds an egg in its teeth. Ivan Tsarevich broke the egg, took out a needle and let’s break the end of it. He breaks, and Koschey the Immortal fights and rushes about. No matter how much Koschey fought and rushed about, Tsarevich Ivan broke the end of the needle, and Koschey had to die.

Ivan Tsarevich went to the white stone Koshcheev Chambers. Vasilisa the Wise ran out to him and kissed his sugar lips. Ivan Tsarevich and Vasilisa the Wise returned home and lived happily ever after until they were very old.

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For analysis according to the structure of V.Ya. Proppa, I decided to take the well-known fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood”, written by the Brothers Grimm.

The fairy tale begins with a listing of family members; this is not a function, but still represents an important morphological element, a certain initial situation in the fairy tale. In "Little Red Riding Hood" it becomes clear that she lives with her mother and not far from them, in the forest, her grandmother lives, to whom she needs to take the pie.

1) Absence (Little Red Riding Hood leaves her house to visit her grandmother)

3) Violation (Little Red Riding Hood leaves the path to pick flowers)

4) Finding out (The Wolf asks Little Red Riding Hood where she is going and where her grandmother lives)

5) Delivery (Little Red Riding Hood tells the wolf where her grandmother lives and why she is going to her)

6) A catch (the wolf pretends to be kind and invites Little Red Riding Hood to collect flowers in order to get to her grandmother first. Then, he deceives the grandmother by pretending to be Little Red Riding Hood, and then deceives Little Red Riding Hood by pretending to be her grandmother)

7) Aiding (Little Red Riding Hood is deceived and begins to collect flowers, thereby helping the wolf)

8) Sabotage (The wolf gets to the grandmother, swallows her, dresses himself in her clothes, thereby committing a substitution. Next, he swallows Little Red Riding Hood herself)

Shortage (Mother sends Little Red Riding Hood to her grandmother because her grandmother is sick and needs to be visited)

9) Mediation (Mother sends Little Red Riding Hood to her grandmother)

10) Dispatch (Little Red Riding Hood leaves her house and goes to her grandmother)

11) Victory (The hunter cuts the belly of the wolf, and then everyone together stuffs the wolf’s belly with stones and he dies)

12) Elimination of trouble or shortage (Little Red Riding Hood and grandmother are freed, the grandmother eats the gifts brought by her granddaughter and begins to recover)

1a) Absence (Little Red Riding Hood again leaves her house to visit her grandmother,

to take the pie)

6a) The catch (Another wolf is trying to get into grandma’s house again,

pretending to be Little Red Riding Hood)

8a) Sabotage (The Wolf lures out Little Red Riding Hood, waiting for her to go home)

Then new features appear:

13) Difficult task (Grandma and Little Red Riding Hood are thinking about how to get rid of the wolf)

14) Solution (Granny offers a solution to this problem)

15) Return (Little Red Riding Hood returns home happily)

Analysis of the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood"

Mythological chronotope of a fairy tale, characteristics of the hero

A special feature of the chronotope of a fairy tale is the connection of this genre with myth. The gradual transition from myth to fairy tale took place against the backdrop of the development of human civilization and the destruction of the mythological worldview. So, according to V.Ya. Propp, such destruction was largely predetermined by the abandonment of the initiation rite: “the benefits acquired by the act of initiation became incomprehensible, and public opinion had to change, condemning this terrible rite.” In other words, over time, people have weakened their strict belief in the truth of mythical events. People have become more developed spiritually, their way of life has changed, their views on life, the concept of morality and their worldview as a whole have changed. Therefore, over time, all frightening, “barbaric”, pronounced moments are partially or completely removed from the fairy tale, and they are replaced by ethical content that corresponds to the time and way of life. But we must never forget that the foundation of any fairy tale is initially a myth. Using the example of the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood" we can trace this.

According to C. Perrault, who wrote this fairy tale earlier than the Brothers Grimm, Little Red Riding Hood personifies the sky. The red cap given to her by her grandmother resembles the attributes of a goddess in mythology - a crown or crown, and the red color symbolizes belonging to the fire element. It can be assumed that the basis for writing the fairy tale is the myth of Helios and Phaeton. Helios - the Sun, had a son whose name was Phaethon, which translated means "Brilliant". The Sun - Helios, gives his radiant crown to his son Phaethon for a walk across the sky, warning against stopping; Little Red Riding Hood receives the same warning from her mother. Phaeton and Little Red Riding Hood have only one road from which it is impossible to turn off. In the case of Phaeton, everything ends tragically, but in the fairy tale we see a happy ending. By the way, initially, the fairy tale also ended badly - Little Red Riding Hood was eaten by a wolf and only in a few cases, with the help of cunning, did she manage to escape. Also, in the early versions of this fairy tale, there is cannibalism - the girl, allegedly without knowing it herself, ate the remains of her grandmother. Of course, the present motives of cannibalism indicate the leading lifestyle of people at that time. The contents of Little Red Riding Hood's basket also varied. In Italy she carried fresh fish, in Switzerland - a head of young cheese, in Russia - a pie and a pot of butter, at Grimm she carries a piece of pie and a bottle of wine. This suggests that each nation has its own traditions and preferences.

If we judge Little Red Riding Hood as a literary character, then she is a small, very sweet girl who everyone really liked and who was nicknamed Little Red Riding Hood because she always wore a red cap given to her by her grandmother and never took it off. She lived with her mother, and not far from them lived her grandmother, who loved her very much. What follows is the story of the girl's journey, the obstacles she encountered along the way, with a happy ending.

From all of the above, we can conclude that a myth is a legend that conveys the ideas of ancient peoples about the origin of the world, natural phenomena, gods and legendary heroes. In myths, everything is idealized, reminiscent of the life of the gods, but despite this, everything can end very tragically. In a fairy tale, myth plays a fundamental role, it is initially embedded in the fairy tale, but regardless of the myth, the plot of the fairy tale develops according to its “own” scenario, with the imposition of ethical norms and cultural ideas of the people, the heroes face problems that are solved in the magical and fantastic development of events and definitely a happy ending.

Initiation rite, benefits received

Initiation is a certain, usually mystical, rite associated with a person’s transition to a new social level. Initiation includes the functions of rite, myth and ritual. The example of the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” clearly shows the initiation rite that the hero went through. At the beginning of the fairy tale, we see that the grandmother gives the girl a hat, which later determines her entire descriptive appearance and which she never takes off. According to V.Ya. Propp - strength lies in the hair, during the period of the girl’s menstrual days she was imprisoned in a tower and was not allowed to cut her hair, or even comb it. From this we can assume that Little Red Riding Hood’s hair grew until a certain point, more precisely, until the onset of puberty. Also, if we move away from the myth, we can symbolize the red color of the cap with blood. The story describes her as taking a piece of pie to her grandmother. This can to some extent be associated with gifts to the gods. She passes through the forest, in which there is only one path leading to the grandmother's house. The rite of passage was always performed in a specific house, and the forest was symbolized as the entrance to the other world. The initiation rite consists of an inextricable connection with the forest. The place where the ceremony was held was strictly prohibited for women and the uninitiated, so the mother sends “Little Red Riding Hood” alone, while she herself remains at home. The initiate was decorated and dressed in a special way; here one can also symbolize the bright red hat that the girl is wearing. It was assumed that the initiate died during the ceremony and then was resurrected again as a new person. This is the so-called temporary death. Death and resurrection were caused by actions depicting absorption, devouring by a monstrous animal. It was as if he was swallowed by this animal and, after spending some time in the monster’s stomach, returned, i.e. coughed up or vomited. It is clear that in the fairy tale, the wolf swallows Little Red Riding Hood, thereby performing a ritual. The ritual was accompanied by terrible torture, hunger, thirst, darkness, horror and even madness. The ritual also included circumcision and skin tearing, cutting the back from the neck down, and inflicting deep wounds. Madness arose from the sight of cutting bodies and internal organs and intestines. All this was supposed to create the impression of temporary death, and very often, the person really believed in it. One form of temporary death is the autopsy of a person. In the fairy tale, a hunter passing by the grandmother’s house thinks: “However, the old woman snores heavily, I’ll have to see, maybe she needs something to help,” this means that the whole ceremony was accompanied by the terrible screams of the initiates, which is why the hunter hears heavy snoring. When Little Red Riding Hood frees herself, she says: “Oh, how scared I was, how dark it was in the wolf’s belly!” Here both darkness and elements of madness from the sight of internal organs can be traced. Also, there is an autopsy of a man: “He did not shoot, but took scissors and began to rip open the belly of the sleeping wolf.” It was believed that the highest degree of initiation was the ability to transform into a woman. In some cases, the ceremony was conducted by men dressed as women. In the fairy tale, the wolf dresses up in grandma's clothes. According to other sources, all members of the union had one common mother - an old woman; this form is more common. “She supposedly lives in the place of gatherings and is never seen by the uninitiated... They say about her that she is sick, that she has boils, and that because of this she cannot walk” (Nevermann, 1933) In “Little Red Riding Hood” the grandmother is also lies sick, bedridden. The appearance of an assistant in the ritual symbolizes the appearance of a guardian spirit. In the fairy tale, we observe the appearance of a hunter - this announces the end of the ritual. The wolf's belly is filled with stones or it drowns in a stone trough. The image of the stone is represented here as the borders of two worlds. In the latter case, water symbolizes the death of the old life and the rebirth of a new one. By the way, as for the wolf in the fairy tale, here he represents the king of animals or the transformed image of a yaga. The tale says that the hunter skins the wolf and puts it on himself, this explains the dressing up and donning of animal masks when performing ritual dances. In Little Red Riding Hood, the first wolf is killed first, and after a while another wolf is killed. Perhaps this represents a certain path through which there is not a single initiation, but a certain circle of several. Let's say, from a girl to a girl, and from a girl to a woman. As for the benefits that the heroine received, after the initiation ceremony she became a full-fledged woman, so to speak, had the right to marry, gained knowledge in the study of traditions and myths that were not told to the uninitiated and certain skills, for example, weaving.

chronotope fairy tale propp

The difference between a literary and a fairy tale

First of all, a fairy tale differs from a literary fairy tale, of course, in its magic, its fantastic plot and inextricable connection with myth. All fairy tales are built according to the same structure described by V.Ya. Propp, certain functions that may vary in number, but are unchanged in the order in which they appear as the tale develops. Propp also defined a set of roles as unchanged, that is, actors who have their own range of actions - having one or more functions. There are seven of these roles: sender, princess, hero, false hero, helper, giver and antagonist. The fairy tale includes a huge transformation of the characters, for example, three types of yaga: the yaga the kidnapper, the yaga the warrior and the yaga the giver. The universality and unity of fairy-tale images finds a correspondence in the concept of archetypes. The compositional unity of a fairy tale lies in the historical reality of the past. It all consists of elements that go back to phenomena and ideas that took place in pre-class society. In a fairy tale, a special place is occupied by the rite of passage - this is its most ancient basis. Also, the fairy tale is based on people’s ideas about death and the afterlife. These two phenomena, or in other words, cycles, are closely related to each other. Both of these cycles provide almost all the basic building blocks of a fairy tale. As noted above, a fairy tale is based on certain myths. Also, one cannot help but notice that all the troubles and obstacles encountered on the path of the heroes are overcome in a magical development of events, with the help of helpers and donors, so a fairy tale always has a happy ending.

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Fairy tales do not know irreparable misfortunes. They invariably place the heroes in the position of winners, making the listeners rejoice when the monster is laid low and the villain is punished. The people who created fantastic stories dreamed of the triumph of justice and happiness. Despite the machinations of the evil stepmother and her malicious daughters, Khavroshechka becomes happy, the daughter of the old man from the fairy tale “Morozko” gets rid of death and returns home with gifts.

Not a single human insult remains unavenged; inconsolable grief in fairy tales can be dispelled and misfortune corrected. This is what magical stories, full of incredible miracles, were written for.

In another fairy tale, according to Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky, “the truth is heard.” This is the truth of the aspirations and expectations of ordinary people reflected in fairy tales. ( This material will help you write correctly on the topic of the meaning of magical Russian fairy tales. A summary does not make it possible to understand the full meaning of the work, so this material will be useful for a deep understanding of the work of writers and poets, as well as their novels, novellas, short stories, plays, and poems.) Every fairy-tale story has its own truth - in the stories of Ivan the Tsarevich, Marya Morevna, Finist - the clear falcon, Ivan the merchant's son, Damask steel, the Frog Princess, Khavroshechka, Alyonushka, the good Martynka from the fairy tale "The Magic Ring" and the heroes other fairy tales.

Often in fairy tales, a despised and humiliated person is granted prosperity and high rank. Storytellers dress peasant sons in the clothes of kings, make them rulers, whom everyone loves with unfeigned love for justice and kindness. This is the dream of the happiness and freedom of the common man.

The serious meaning of some fairy tales provided grounds for judgment on the most important issues of life. While in exile, far from Russia, Alexander Herzen wrote the article “The Russian People and Socialism.” It was published in French. The great Russian revolutionary spoke about the freedom-loving aspirations and struggle of the Russian people against tyranny and oppression. Herzen recalled a fairy tale about a slandered wife: “A very common fairy tale in Russia says that the Tsar, suspecting his wife of infidelity, locked her and her son in a barrel, then ordered the barrel to be tarred and thrown into the sea.

The barrel floated on the sea for many years.

Meanwhile, the prince grew by leaps and bounds and began to rest his feet and head on the bottom of the barrels. Every day it became more and more cramped for him. One day he said to his mother:

Empress Mother, allow me to reach out to my heart's content.

“My little prince,” the mother answered, “don’t reach out.” The barrel will burst and you will drown in salt water.

The prince fell silent and, after thinking, said:

I will reach out, mother; It’s better to stretch out to your heart’s content and die...

“In this fairy tale, dear sir,” Herzen concluded his article, addressing one of the leaders of the revolutionary movement in Europe, “is our whole history.”

Whatever they talk about, storytellers tell it as if they themselves witnessed the events. The vivid pictures of fairy tales capture the imagination. Ivan the peasant son came to the Smorodina River. It's midnight. The damp earth shook, the water in the river became agitated, violent winds blew, eagles screamed in the oak trees. This is the twelve-headed miracle Yudo. All the heads are whistling, all twelve are blazing with fire and flame. The miracle-yud's horse has twelve wings, the hair of the horse is copper, the tail and mane are iron. How can you not be scared, but Ivan, the peasant son, defeated the monster.

Together with the storytellers, we are carried away by our imagination into the underground kingdoms, into the heavenly heights, we speak with the sun, the month, we reach the stars, we find ourselves in dense forests, we swim through rivers of fire, we see how Koschey dies: his death was at the end of a needle, and the needle was in an egg, and the egg is in a duck, and the duck is in a nest, and the nest is on an oak tree, and the oak tree is on an island, and the island is in the ocean-sea. Ominous geese-swans serve Baba Yaga.

Forest animals and reptiles are also on her errands. The witch turns the princess into a duck. The Firebird flies into the garden from unknown countries and pecks at the royal apples. The gray wolf carries Ivan the Tsarevich, helps him, and when Ivan is killed by his evil brothers, he forces the raven to bring living water to resurrect his murdered master-friend. The wonderful pipe speaks the truth about her lost sister. An orphan gets into a cow's ear, comes out of another and becomes a beauty, and all her work is already done. The forest lord Frost presents a patient peasant girl with wedding gifts. Twelve doves fly to the seashore and turn into beauties: they splash in the sea and do not notice that the clothes of one of them were taken away by the prince. The frog turns into a princess and dances at the royal feast: he waves his sleeve - a lake is created, he waves another - white swans swim across the lake. The world of a fairy tale is an extraordinary, amazing world. His beauty is exciting. The first acquaintance with him leaves an indelible mark on the soul for many years - for life.

With all this, storytellers taught to distinguish between truth and lies, fiction and reality. “The wedding was fun,” says the end of one of the fairy tales. There was a feast, the storyteller himself was at that feast, drank mead beer, but “it flowed down his mustache, but didn’t get into his mouth.” Fairytale fiction does not deceive with unrealistic ones. The combination of fiction and truth, miracle and sense of reality is known only to truly high art. Storytellers knew the meaning of dreams, fantasy, and fiction in people's lives. Fairy tales inspired a spirit of confidence, cheerfulness, and joyful acceptance of life’s struggle for justice. And this is their social value.

Fairy tales achieve this goal all the more successfully because they delight the mind, just as an intricate drawing pleases the eye. A cheerful combination of words, an entertaining character, and a special tone make fairy tales a vivid example of art, akin to painted horses and clay rams, delicate patterns of folk embroidery, and fancy wooden toys.

There is no firm boundary that separates an everyday fairy tale from a magical one, as well as from fairy tales in which animals act. This is because all fairy tales essentially talk about the same thing, although in different ways. Unlike a fairy tale, an everyday fairy tale is more ironic and mocking. The joke here permeates the entire story.

Emelya caught a pike in the ice hole. In gratitude for the returned freedom, she taught him to say miraculous words: “By the command of the pike, according to my desire.” Emelya immediately said them on the river - and the buckets of water themselves climbed up the mountain, came to the hut, stood on the bench themselves and did not spill any drops. Emelya’s ax began to chop wood on its own, and the wood went into the stove.

The miracles of everyday fairy tales are a deliberate invention, a mockery, but, as in other fairy tales, they are not aimless. Emelya the Fool does not wish harm to anyone, and people around him fuss, cunning, and cunning. And although they really want to be both noble and rich, luck will pass them by. Emelya becomes lucky: the Tsar’s daughter fell in love with him, and no one else, and Emelya became rich and noble. The fool Emelya, like the similar “fool” Ivanushka, is an “ironic success”. The meaning of these everyday tales is not in glorifying tomfoolery, but in condemning the imaginary mind of those who boast of their superiority and do not value simplicity, honesty, and kindness. Storytellers do not see anything good in the fact that one person will deceive another, get the better of him, cheat, want to profit from someone else’s, lie.

The tale of a lucky soldier is reminiscent of the tale of Emelya. He gaped in St. Petersburg on a bridge and fell into the Neva. It happened just opposite the Winter Palace - and the princess was standing on the balcony. Out of nowhere, a mouse, a beetle and a crayfish appeared. They pulled the soldier out of the river. The soldier's mouse took off his footcloths, the beetle squeezed out the footcloths, and the crayfish arranged its claws and began to dry the footcloths in the sun. Princess Nesmeyana looked and looked and suddenly burst out laughing. And before that, no one could make her laugh. The soldier, according to the conditions announced by the king, was immediately married to the princess. The story of the “ironic success” repeated itself, only in a special way.

A completely different tale is about how a peasant divided a goose at the table: he got almost the entire goose, and the master and his family received something: wings, head, legs, butt. The master, however, was not angry: the peasant really pleased him with the words with which he accompanied the division.

The farm laborer Shabarsha sat down on the bank to twist a rope; The devils became curious, so they sent an imp-boy in a black jacket and a red cap to find out why Shabarsha was twisting the rope. Readers can easily recognize in Shabarsha the hero of Pushkin’s fairy tale about the priest and the worker: almost everything here is like in the poet’s fairy tale - the race, and the throwing of a club behind a cloud, and other actions of the heroes. Pushkin appreciated the folk tale - he preserved its meaning, decorating the presentation with the brilliance of his genius.

Young Frost wanted to freeze the peasant, but he could not: he did not get through to him - the peasant began to chop wood and warmed up. And Frost also got it from him: Frost climbed into a sheepskin coat that had been discarded during work - he turned his splint into a splint; The man took a log that was longer and more knotty and beat it on the sheepskin coat to make it soft. Frost barely escaped: he thought he would disappear.

In everyday fairy tales, irony and jokes often become merciless satire. The sting of these tales is directed against priests, barons, royal officials, lordly judges and royal lackeys. The people took revenge on the oppressors. As one of these fairy tales says, a peasant inadvertently killed an evil master’s dog. The court decided to deprive him of his “human title”: they forced him to live with the master, bark and guard the master’s property. What to do? The man began to live with the master, barking at night, but the time came - and the man “made the master bark. They drove through a dark forest, the master became afraid, the peasant pointed to a dry cokorina tree and said:

Bear! Now bark yourself, otherwise the bear will eat you.

And the master barked.

An envious priest wanted to profit at the expense of the peasant, says another fairy tale, and decided to take away the treasure he had found. He put the goat skin on himself, went under the window and demanded the goods from the peasant. The poor little man decided that the devil himself had come to him for the chervonets. He gave the money, the priest took it away, but only from then on did the goatskin grow to the priest and remain on it. In all such tales, the clergy are depicted as selfish, hypocritical encroachers on peasant property.

Fairy tales about stupid, talkative and frivolous women, about fools, but not imaginary ones, but real ones, are entertaining and funny. One guy wanted to eat. He bought a roll of bread and ate it. If I didn't eat enough, I bought another one. And the other kalach did not satisfy him. I bought a third one, but I still want to eat everything. I bought a bagel, ate it, and became full. Then the man hit himself on the head and said:

What a fool I am! Well, I ate so many rolls in vain. I should eat one bagel first.

The ax that the resourceful soldier cooked became a proverb. An obvious absurdity, which is “invented in order to benefit, is called “porridge from an ax.” The expression “Good, but bad” has also become a proverb; there is a special, different fairy tale on this topic, from where this expression passed into our everyday speech.

Such fairy tales are very similar to jokes. They are as short as jokes, and no less witty. The liar Whiplash said to the rich man with whom he spent the night:

What kind of house is this? Here at our house: chickens peck the stars from the sky.

Whip's friend - Sneaky added:

Yes, that’s right... I saw: our rooster dragged for half a month like a piece of paper.

Everyday fairy tales express a sharp ironic meaning and that joke in which the mind of the people shines.

The collection includes samples of Russian fairy-tale folklore. Among children's publications, this is perhaps the most complete book. In it, readers will find very characteristic, typical tales. They are presented in writers' adaptations and editions, but such that retain the artistic originality of folk tales. This applies primarily to fairy tales processed in the last century by the famous fairy tale publisher Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev, the great teacher Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, as well as the Soviet writer Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Some texts were taken from scientific collections and subjected to minor editorial changes (for example, little-used, local words were omitted, which - it would be appropriate to note here - were often omitted by the storytellers themselves).

The collection contains a list of outdated and local, obscure words, preserved in cases where their replacement by others, more understandable, would entail the loss of artistic originality. A dictionary will make it easier to understand fairy tales and help you understand some important nuances of their conversational style.

There is no doubt that reading folk tales will bring the reader many happy moments. As if on wings, they will carry him into an imaginary world, more than once making him marvel at the richness of folk imagination, and those who begin to reflect on what they have read will discover the deep meaning of folk fantasy. Fairy tales are an intelligent miracle created by the artistic genius of the people, “a wonderful miracle, a wondrous wonder,” as storytellers say about their creations.

“By what methods can an accurate description of a fairy tale be achieved? Let's compare the following cases:

1. The king gives the daredevil an eagle. The eagle carries the daredevil to another kingdom (Aph. 171).
2. Grandfather gives Suchenka a horse. The horse takes Suchenko to another kingdom (132).
3. The sorcerer gives Ivan a boat. The boat takes Ivan to another kingdom (138).
4. The princess gives Ivan a ring. The fellows from the ring take Ivan to another kingdom (156); etc

In the above cases there are constant and variable quantities. The names (and with them the attributes) of the characters change, Not are changing their actions or functions. Hence the conclusion is that fairy tales often attribute the same actions to different characters. This gives us the opportunity to study a fairy tale based on the functions of the characters.

We will have to determine to what extent these functions really represent repeated, constant values ​​of the tale. The formulation of all other questions will depend on the resolution of the first question: how many functions is known to the fairy tale?

The study will show that the repeatability of the functions is amazing.

So, Baba Yaga, and Morozko, and the bear, and the goblin, and the mare’s head test and reward the stepdaughter. Continuing observations, we can establish that the characters of a fairy tale, no matter how diverse they are, often do the same thing. The very way of performing functions can change: it is a variable quantity. Morozko acts differently than Baba Yaga. But the function as such is a constant quantity. For the study of fairy tales, the important question is what the fairy-tale characters do, and the question of who does it and how they do it are questions only for incidental study. the functions of the actors are those components with which motives can be replaced Veselovsky or Bedier's elements. Let us note that the repetition of functions under different performers has long been noticed by historians of religion in myths and beliefs, but has not been noticed by historians of fairy tales. Just as the properties and functions of gods are transferred from one to another and, finally, even transferred to Christian saints, in the same way the functions of some fairy-tale characters are transferred to other characters.

Looking ahead, we can say that there are extremely few functions, but there are extremely many characters. This explains the dual quality of a fairy tale: on the one hand, its amazing diversity, its diversity and colorfulness, on the other, its no less amazing monotony, its repetition. So, the functions of the characters represent the main parts of the tale, and we must first of all highlight them.

To highlight functions, they must be defined. The definition must come from two points of view. First, the definition should in no way be taken into account by the performing character. The definition is most often a noun expressing an action (prohibition, questioning, flight, etc.). Secondly, action cannot be defined outside of its position in the course of the narrative. It is necessary to take into account the meaning that this function has during the action.

So, if Ivan marries a princess, then this is completely different from a father’s marriage to a widow with two daughters. Another example: if in one case the hero receives one hundred rubles from his father and subsequently buys himself a prophetic cat with this money, and in another case the hero is awarded money for perfect heroism and the fairy tale ends there, then we have before us, despite the identical actions (transfer of money ), morphologically different elements. Thus, the same actions can have different meanings and vice versa.

A function is understood as an act of an actor, defined in terms of its significance for the course of action.

The above observations can be briefly formulated as follows:

I. The constant, stable elements of a fairy tale are the functions of the characters, regardless of who and how they are performed. They form the main components of a fairy tale.

II. The number of functions known to a fairy tale is limited.

If the functions are separated, then another question arises; in what grouping and in what sequence do these functions occur? First of all, about consistency. It is believed that this sequence is random. Veselovsky says: “Selecting and scheduling tasks and meetings (examples of motives – Note by V.Ya. Propp)... presupposes already known freedom” (Veselovsky 1913, 3).

Expressed this idea even more sharply Shklovsky: “It is completely incomprehensible why a random sequence of motives should be preserved when borrowing. In witness testimony, it is the sequence of events that is most distorted” (Shklovsky 1925, 23). This reference to witness testimony is unfortunate. If witnesses distort the sequence, then their story is meaningless, but the sequence of events has its own laws, and the fictional story has similar laws. Theft cannot occur before the door is broken. As for the fairy tale, it has its own completely special, specific laws.

The sequence of elements, as we will see below, is strictly the same. Freedom in sequence is limited to very narrow limits that can be given exactly. We obtain the third main thesis of our work, subject to further development and proof:

III. The sequence of functions is always the same.

It should be noted that this pattern applies only to folklore. It is not a feature of the fairy tale genre as such. Artificially created fairy tales are not subject to it. As for the grouping, first of all it should be said that not all fairy tales provide all the functions. But this does not change the law of consistency at all. The absence of some functions does not change the routine of others. We will dwell on this phenomenon later, but for now we will deal with groups in the proper sense of the word. The very formulation of the question raises the following assumption: if the functions are isolated, then it will be possible to trace which tales give the same functions. Such tales with same functions can be considered the same type. On this basis, an index of types can subsequently be created, built not on plot features, which are somewhat vague and vague, but on precise structural features. Indeed, this will be possible. But if we further compare structural types with each other, we get the following, completely unexpected phenomenon: functions cannot be distributed among rods that exclude each other. This phenomenon in all its concreteness will appear before us in the next and last famine.

In the meantime, it can be explained as follows: if we denote the function that occurs everywhere in the first place by the letter A, and the function that (if there is one) always follows it by the letter B, then all the functions known in the fairy tale will be placed in one story, none of them falls out of series, none excludes the other or contradicts it. Such a conclusion could no longer be predicted. One should, of course, expect that where there is function A, there cannot be known functions belonging to other stories.