Fairy tales are the most ancient layer of folk art, in ancient times they were perceived as instructive stories or as parables. They did not pretend to be historic or any kind of authenticity, but were widely used by people as a tool for spiritual education, because in addition to magic and a fascinating plot, they showed a contrast between good and evil.
The origin of the tale
The old Russian fairy tale "Morozko" belongs to the category of winter fairy tales, it is believed that it is an interpretation of the "Lady of the Blizzard". However, there are several facts that may indicate its more ancient roots. For example, the character Morozko or Santa Claus is a primordially Slavic image of the spirit-master of winter, cold and northern winds. And the fact that the main virtuous hero is a pagan Slavic character suggests that a fairy tale could have been created before the arrival of Christianity. In addition, it never mentions the church, Christmas, holidays and everything that is often present in the tales of a later period.
Hard work
The similarity of the ideas of "Frost", "Lady of the Blizzard" and even "Cinderella" is not surprising. It is always easier for children to perceive evil if it does not come from a loved one, for example, a mother, but from strangers - a stepmother and her children. In the fairy tale, this is said in the very first lines, as if immediately setting the listener to a negative attitude towards the image of the stepmother and her lazy and ugly daughter.
In the Soviet film tale by Alexander Row, the stepdaughter's name is Nastya, and the stepmother's daughter is Martha, but in a traditional Russian fairy tale, the names of the girls are not called.
"Morozko" teaches, first of all, hard work and obedience. Daughter and stepdaughter are opposed to each other: one takes up any work, does not reread the stepmother, calmly endures all her assignments, does not grumble or argue. Another girl is suspended from work, she is lazy and stubborn, capricious and angry, she often laughs and mocks her sister. The tale shows a beautiful hardworking and hardworking stepdaughter and her complete opposite - a lazy and capricious daughter.
In reality, everything would be the other way around: constant work, lack of sleep and exposure to the sun would necessarily affect the appearance of a kind girl, while a lazy daughter would have time to take care of herself, rest and get enough sleep.
Obedience
Resignation and blind obedience were highly valued among women in a patriarchal society. Even when the stepmother sent her stepdaughter to certain death - to collect brushwood at night in the forest, and even in a blizzard in a severe frost - the girl obediently obeys. Between the lines in the tale it is read that she was obliged to do so, because complete and unquestioning obedience to parents is at the heart of Slavic culture. Fortunately, the stepdaughter met Morozko in the forest.
Meekness
The main part of the tale is devoted to the meeting of the stepdaughter and Morozko, its main goal is to convey to the listener that in addition to hard work and obedience, there was another important feminine trait in it - meekness. Morozko walked around the girl several times in a circle, intensifying the frost, and asked: "Are you warm to the girl?" And although the girl was poorly dressed for such a frost, she naturally froze, but at the same time Morozko answered that she was warm. This is the meaning of female meekness - no matter how hard and bad it is, a real girl should not complain and grumble. For her character, meekness, modesty and hard work, Morozko rewards his stepdaughter with a cart drawn by three horses and a chest with a dowry.
A truly royal gift makes the stepmother and her daughter a fit of anger and envy. The stepdaughter is ready to share with her sister, but the stepmother's daughter wants more than what the stepdaughter brought. In one version of the tale, she herself goes to Morozko to demand a dowry, in another she is sent by her stepmother. The result - the girl either returns empty-handed, or Frost Freezes her to death. This is the reckoning for all the evil inflicted on the stepdaughter, for laziness, cruelty, disobedience and envy.
