Vasilisa the Beautiful and Baba Yaga This paper is on Slavic Mythology which originated in what is now known as Russia. The myth this research and paper is on is known as “Vasilisa the Beautiful and Baba Yaga”. This is one of the most well-known and beloved stories in Slavic mythology. This story comes from a large collection of Russian myths and is number 104 in Alexander Afanaseyev’s book Russian Fairy Tales. The myth originated as an oral story passed down through the years until it was eventually written down by Alexander Afanaseyev in his collection of Russian fairy tales. Afanaseyev was a Slavist who published nearly 600 stories in his time and was known as the Russian counterpart to the Grimm brothers. Although there are several variations of the story, the concept is always the same. Many have referred to this as the Russian version of Cinderella since the two stories share similarities (Warner).
In the story of Vasilisa, her mother became ill when Vasilisa was young. Before she died her mother gave her a wooden doll. When Vasilisa fed the doll it magically came to life and comforted her…show more content… The fact that the main character is a woman it shows how people of the time period thought about women and believed they should act. An underlying theme of this story is the coming of age of a girl into maturity as a young woman. In the American Journal of Psychoanalysis, Caroline Scielzo theorizes that the horseman is not only a cosmological explanation but also a symbol for life. The white horseman is the symbol for birth and innocence. The Red horseman is maturity and becoming of a woman. The black horseman symbolizes death. Due to the nature of this myth positive characteristics of women were that women should be strong and independent but also obedient (Scielzo). As a result of her obedience Vasilisa is rewarded with fire. All of these things give the story anthropological