Fairytale Analysis

Workshop Write-Up: “Prince Ivan and Princess Martha” Activity In Monday’s workshop, we learned how to apply Propp’s method of classifying fairytales scheme to “Prince Ivan and Princess Martha. ” Propps’ method of classifying fairytales scheme involves thirty-one “functions,” which can be split into more specific subcategories denoted by a subscript or superscript. For example, the function “B” can denote misfortune of lack thereof is made known; the hero is approached with a request of command; he is allowed to go or he is dispatched (Propp 36). This is generally known as a call for action to the hero (possibly indirectly) by someone.

In the fairytale, “Prince Ivan and Princess Martha,” the specific function was B1 which means “a call for help is given, with the resultant dispatch of the hero,” (Propp 37). Specifically, the king calls out for someone to save his daughter from the Water King, and although the call is not specifically directed towards Prince Ivan; nonetheless, a call is still made. The work we did in the workshop on Monday is important because “Prince Ivan and Princess Martha” does not follow a simple one-move morphology, but instead has two moves that join together later.

Becoming familiar with the idea that there can be multiple moves and how to proceed when there is multiple moves present will become crucial in the coming days when we move onto morphologies of more complicated fairytales and eventually do our own morphology (which may or may not be complicated). My experience with the workshop was nothing less than great. Prior to Monday’s workshop, I was left feeling confused, particularly in the subject of classifying fairytales. Specifically, I felt the process of identifying what function was applicable to a situation to be quite complicated.

I was particularly worried when I opened up the Propp book to the back section and saw how complicated some of the morphologies were. In fact, I felt as if I was looking at a complicated math equation. However, after working meticulously through “Prince Ivan and Princess Martha,” I felt as if I had a better grasp on how to classify fairytales. The part I had the most trouble with understanding was the donor sequence that was at the beginning of the fairytale. Originally, I was confused because the morphology began with “D” as opposed to “A” and then repeats “D” after “C. At first it seemed like Propp set up the fairytale scheme in a way that was unnecessarily confusing; but after attending today’s class I now know that fairytales sometimes begin with a donor sequence and sometimes the donor sequence comes after some of the action. Propp has accounted for everything in his fairy tale scheme, which I personally think is incredible. Although I originally struggled with many of the concepts and came into the workshops with a closed mind, I now feel as if the workshop had a positive impact on my understanding of Propp, his scheme, and how to apply it to fairytales.

Had we not had this workshop, I believe I would have feared filling out my own fairytale scheme after vacation. But thankfully, I feel much better now about the process of building a scheme thanks to our last workshop. In fact, I can say without a doubt that the workshop has given me a better understanding of how Propp’s scheme works and how to properly fill out a morphology. I learned how to do a difficult morphology of a fairytale; specifically, “Prince Ivan and Princess Martha. ” I also learned about the application and the necessity of the “donor sequence” (D-F) at the beginning of the morphology.

Additionally, I learned that every time you have a new “A”—“the villain causes harm or injury to a member of a family”— and that if it is not concurrent, then there needs to be a new “move”—a new row on the fairy tale scheme sheet (Propp 30). Although I struggled immensely at first, I now feel as if I have a much better understanding of how the scheme works and am slowly getting a grasp on what each of the functions is. I also learned about the function of the arrows and the circle (°) on the morphology. When I first came to class, I was under the impression that functions and morphologies were only compromised of letters.

I was extremely confused when I saw arrows up and down and a circle on the morphology as well. Through the workshop, I learned that the arrows up and down represent the hero leaving and returning (and that is possible to have one without the other) and that the circle represents “the hero, unrecognized, arrives home or in another country (Propp 60). These tools will be useful as I continue to learn about Propp and fairytale morphologies. The most important thing I learned about functions is that some of them are paired together; specifically, A and K, H and I, M and N.

It is also interesting to note that H and I are generally included in stories with male heroes and M and N are generally included in stories with female heroes. This is will be extremely helpful in future morphologies when I am just beginning the process because I will know where I need to end up. Additionally, I learned that there are multiple ways to scheme a fairytale (meaning that there may be some variability between different people’s morphologies). It is possible to make an argument for or against a function, and as long as there is a solid argument, there may be differences in the way people fill out a morphology.

For example, in the opening donor dequence of “Prince Ivan and Princess Martha,” the function “F” is listed as “f9” which is different from “F9. ” The lower case “f” indicates that the gift given by the copper peasant (wine) is not magical although it does aid Prince Ivan. One could argue the point that because the wine gave Prince Ivan incredible strength, the wine is therefore magical. It is all up to the student to determine the appropriate designation of a function, and there may be some variability depending on if the person has a good argument or not.