"The Morning is Wiser than the Evening"

Like most girls, I went through a pretty heavy fairy tale obsession while growing up. I read of evil stepmothers, damsels in distress, talking animals and, of course, prince charming. The difference was, I wouldn't lose myself in the world of Disney prince charming and Grimm's princesses in disguise. No, I fell in love with the fairy tales and folklore of different countries. Instead of Cinderella, I read the Italian story of Cenerentola. Instead of pumpkins and fairy godmothers, there were Faeries and date trees. Instead of a clueless father that is away on business, there's a father that is persuaded by the godmother to turn his own daughter into a servant.
 
My father brought me home dozens of these fairy tale books, all categorized by country. My absolute favorite of all was a famous Russian tale, "Vasilissa the Beautiful." The tale goes, a young girl, Vasalissa, lives happily with her mother and father. When her mother becomes ill (this seems to happen in every fairy tale in every country), she gives Vasilissa a small wooden doll. She tells her to feed the doll a small amount to eat and drink whenever she feels troubled, and the doll will comfort her. As it always goes in fairy tales, Vasilissa's father remarries to a widow with two daughters.
 
Vasilissa's father goes away on business and the evil stepmother and her two surly daughters force Vasilissa to clean, cook and work hard, and each day, the doll helps Vasilissa with her tasks. I don't want to give too many details as it is an amazing tale, but in short, Vasilissa is forced to retrieve fire from the evil witch Baba-Yaga. Baba-Yaga is a prominent figure in many of the Russian fairy tales. She is an ugly witch that resides in a house made of the bones of humans that stands on chicken legs. Vasilissa's doll helps her to carry out tasks that are assigned to her and at the end, she is able to retrieve the fire and bring it home where it proceeds to burn her stepmother and stepsisters. As per the usual happy ending, Vasilissa is able to capture the Tsar's (Russian king) eye with her beauty and she lives happily ever after.
 
To me, this tale takes on various ideals such as gender roles, beauty, religion and many others. Vasilissa's father chooses to marry a widow after the death of his wife, is this because he desires a wife that doesn't need to be taught her role as a housekeeper and mother? Baba-Yaga represents the divine feminine, a free-spirit that is more masculine than female as she lives alone, eats meals that could feed five men, and has many servants—all without the help of a husband. She releases Vasilissa from her temporary slavery because Vasilissa mentions that she is blessed by her mother. And much like other fairy tales, Vasilissa becomes the Tsar's wife after he sees how beautiful she is.
 
I always had a problem with this story in the way that it seemed like Vasilissa could never do anything for herself. Her doll did all the work for her, and in the end, she married the king and possibly never had to work again. It seems possible that the moral here is beauty can you bring you anything. Or maybe that help can be given when you most need it. At the very least, I love a good story full of more than one villain, “Vasilissa the Beautiful” had not just an evil stepmother and stepsisters, but also a hideous witch threatening to eat her up at any second.
 
Disney princesses only seem to have their beauty going for them; that and possibly a lovely singing voice. Vasilissa did possess something, she was able to ask for help. A large problem with many princesses is they just about fall to the ground and hope that a prince will scoop them up and carry them to safety. Vasilissa didn't ask for a prince to save her, she asked for the help of a magic doll that possibly was animated by the spirit of her mother. In this way, Vasilissa is more independent than many princesses. She doesn't need a man to save her, she has her own ways. And for that, I respect her. She knows what she is capable of accomplishing, she can cook and sew but she asks for help for what is beyond her; and that is very modern of her. Maybe it's not so bad to ask for help every so often, just as long as you know that you can pick yourself up and carry yourself to safety sometimes.