Fairytale Exploration

Vasilisa the Beautiful

By: Alexander Afanasev
1) Worthwhile Questions

Did Baba Yaga knowingly help Vasilisa with eliminating her stepmother and
stepsisters?
What evidence indicates that the stepmother and stepsisters envied Vasilisa?
Baba Yaga has the possession of multiple servants beckoning at her every call,
including Vasilisa. What does that say about her character?
Why do you think the author created a character instead of the stepmother and
stepsisters to contain dangerous hardship for Vasilisa?
What elements in this tale are symbolic to the realities of what humans face every
day?
Why do you think the author does not provide names for the stepmothers and
stepsisters?

2) Patterns

The pattern of there being either an evil stepmother or an evil queen is seen across
the genre of fairy tales: Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel,
Snow Queen, etc.
o This pattern seems to indicate that there is always at least one person that
envies you, or is intimidated by you, fearing that they will amount to
nothing in the end at your expense.
Fairytales are often in the form of a love story. Of course there is going to be
some obstacles to find and to be with a characters true love, but there is usually a
happy ending, regarding a couple finding one another and living happily ever
after.
o We see that there is usually a love story involved in these fairytales
because that is what us humans want: someone to love and to be loved. It
is in our nature to desire and to yearn for that. It is our desire to be happy
with the one person whom we cant live without.

3) Connections

I observed that in most stories, the evil characters are the older women in the
story, whether they are either a queen or a witch.
I also observed that some stories begin with happiness and light. The middle turns
into an ugly, mean, and dark setting. When the antagonist of the story is
defeated, all is well again.
Using the connections listed above, we can conclude that, within some tales, hatred
and darkness were entirely obtained by older, evil female characters.