Back To Basics: Aladdin (Propp's Functions)

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back to basics: aladdin (propp's functions)

So, for you to better understand how Propp’s Fairy Tale Functions serve a story,
here is a summary of Aladdin (the bulk of it stolen from Wikipedia because, why not?):

When the story starts, Aladdin is nothing more than a street rat, stealing bread and
running from the palace guards to keep out of trouble. He’s living on his own in an
abandoned house in the center of Agrabah, and his only friend is Abu (0. Initial
Situation).

Jafar, Grand Vizier to the Sultan of Agrabah, is attempting to retrieve a magical oil lamp
containing a genie from the Cave of Wonders. After seeing a petty thief's failed attempt
to enter the cave, Jafar and his parrot, Iago, learn that only a "Diamond in the Rough"
can enter the cave (4. Reconnaissance). He finds Aladdin (5. Delivery).

Jasmine, the Sultan's daughter, frustrated with her life in the palace, flees to Agrabah's
marketplace. There she meets street rat Aladdin and his monkey, Abu. The two discover
they have a lot in common. They both dream of a different life (1. Absentation). When
Aladdin is detained for thievery (8. Villainy or Lack), Jasmine orders him released,
but Jafar lies to her that Aladdin has been executed.

Disguised as an elder, Jafar asks Aladdin to retrieve the genie’s lamp from the Cave of
Wonders, and in return, he’ll give him some treasure as a reward (9. Mediation, the
Connective Incident). Aladdin agrees (10. Beginning Counter-Action). Jafar
releases Aladdin and Abu from prison and lead them to the Cave of Wonders
(6. Trickery). The tiger-shaped head of the cave says to touch nothing but the lamp
(2. Interdiction).

Aladdin and Abu enter the cave (11. Departure and 7. Complicity), where a magic
carpet guides them to the lamp (12. First Function of the Donor). Abu's attempt to
steal a ruby causes the cave to start collapsing (3. Violation of Interdiction and
13. Hero’s Reaction), but the carpet flies them to the entrance (14. Receipt of a
Magical Agent). As Aladdin delivers the lamp, Jafar tries to kill him, but Abu bites
Jafar in the arm and gets the lamp back as he, the carpet, and Aladdin fall back into the
cave just as it closes.

In the collapsed cave, Aladdin rubs the lamp, unexpectedly unleashing a genie, who
reveals he will grant Aladdin three wishes - with the exception of murder, romance, or
revival of the dead. Aladdin tricks the Genie into freeing them from the cave without
using a wish (15. Guidance). While contemplating his wishes, Genie admits he would
wish for freedom, since he is a prisoner to his lamp. Aladdin promises to free the Genie
for his last wish. After talking about Jasmine with the Genie, Aladdin decides to use his
first wish to become a prince so he can woo Jasmine.

Aladdin returns to Agrabah just as Jafar tries to trick the Sultan into arranging a
marriage between himself and Jasmine. When Aladdin parades into the Sultan's palace
as "Prince Ali", Jasmine rejects Ali as a suitor (16. Struggle and 17. Branding).
Despite the Genie's suggestion that Aladdin to tell the princess who he really is, Aladdin
remains the suave prince, and takes Jasmine around the world on the magic carpet.
During the trip, Jasmine exposes Ali as the Aladdin, and demands the truth from him.
Aladdin instead fabricates a story that he sometimes dresses as a commoner to escape
palace life. The couple kisses as Aladdin returns her home.

Afterwards, Aladdin is captured by Jafar and thrown into the ocean (also Struggle), but
the Genie rescues Aladdin as his second wish. Aladdin returns to the palace and exposes
Jafar's plot (18. Victory); and Jafar flees after noticing the lamp in Aladdin's
possession, realizing who Aladdin is. Jasmine tells her father she wants to marry Prince
Ali (19. Liquidation). Aladdin doesn’t know whether or not to tell Jasmine the truth
about who he really is, and when he does decide, he heads to tell her and her father
(20. Return). 

Meanwhile, Iago steals Genie's lamp (21. Pursuit) and brings it to Jafar, who becomes
Genie's new master. Jafar uses his first two wishes to become Sultan and the most
powerful sorcerer in the world (28. Exposure). Using his new powers, Jafar forces
Jasmine and her father to bow (24. Unfounded Claims), exposes Aladdin as a street
rat (23. Unrecognized Arrival), then exiles him and Abu to a frozen wasteland.
 
Aladdin rescues the magic carpet and Abu (22. Rescue), and then he uses the magic
carpet to return to Agrabah, where Jafar has imprisoned both Jasmine and the Sultan as
his slaves. Jasmine distracts Jafar with a seductive act as Aladdin tries to steal back the
lamp, but Jafar confronts him (25. Difficult Task). He imprisons Jasmine in a large
hourglass and turns himself into an enormous cobra. 
As Jafar traps Aladdin in his coils, he boasts to be "the most powerful being on Earth",
which causes Aladdin to shout out that the Genie is more powerful (26. Solution).
Faced with this realization, Jafar uses his final wish to become a genie. However, Jafar
discovers that genies are not free entities as he is sucked into a black lamp, dragging
Iago with him. The Genie flicks the lamp into the Cave of Wonders (30. Punishment,
also Victory).

After Aladdin realizes that he cannot keep pretending to be something he is not, he


decides to keep his promise and wish for the Genie's freedom (29. Transfiguration).
Seeing Jasmine's love for Aladdin, the Sultan changes the law to allow her to marry
whomever she deems worthy (27. Recognition, also Liquidation). The newly free
Genie leaves to explore the world while Aladdin and Jasmine celebrate their
engagement (31. Wedding).

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