<딸의 인연을 망치는 계모> 설화의 세 층위

The fourth type of Folktale Classification Tables in Korean Literature is “Right and Wrong,” that is, actions that are “good” and “bad.” Paragraph 441–6 introduces a further subtype, namely, “the stepmother who ruins her daughter’s relationship.” The stepmother, who mistreats her stepdaughter, sends her into the mountains to retrieve vegetables that cannot be found in winter. The girl meets a mysterious young man and brings the vegetables, but the case is maximized when she kills him. The complex composition of the narrative is organized into three layers. First, the act of the girl leaving her mother and returning to the young master is an act of determination to choose her partner and live independently from her mother. This spiritual maturity has been shown to serve as a life flower to save the young master. At the same time, her maturity goes beyond solving her own problems to save others as well. Here, maturity refers to establishing relationships through encounters, actions, and mindsets that are helpful to the lives of others. It is thus appropriate to say that the protagonist does not simply “grow up,” but imbibes emotional and mental maturity. Second, in a mythical context, the place where the girl and the flower of life grows is the underworld or the kingdom of heaven, but not the material world, that is, she is in the middle of both worlds. This raises the possibility that the girl could be a female shaman, which also adds more sense to the story—that is, the girl, as a shaman, revives the deceased young master. This may be the result of weakening or forgetting the utility of healing in shamanistic mythology. Finally, it can be said that the stepmother’s killing of a young master represents a secular view that denies divinity, which is seen as unreasonable; divinity is unlike the logic of the world, which operates in rationality. The killing may thus reflect reality in the history of suppressing shamanism. The stepmother, who could not understand the sacred world, kills the young master of the sacred space. This interpretation is thought to make this narrative more “reasonable.”