Cultural Values In The Three Kingdoms

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The Three Kingdoms reads like a typical fairy tale, and a cursory glance reveals the usual cast of characters: a brave prince, damsels in distress, a magical villain, and supernatural helpers. A prince must rescue his mother from a magical being, then must face three trials to prove himself after being betrayed by his brothers. A closer inspection of the tale reveals numerous indications of cultural values embedded within the story: some are obvious, but many others are subtler. The elements and devices in The Three Kingdoms reveal the sociocultural values of the Russian culture. Fairy tales are written and structured to be easily understood by young children in order to teach them these cultural values. The tale begins with an apparent violation …show more content…

Loyalty to friends and family is evidently considered very important to Russian culture, as this point is stressed several times throughout the story. At first, the king is distressed and troubled when his queen is kidnapped, but must make a difficult decision between going after the queen himself, or staying to raise his three sons. He ultimately decides he has a duty to support his sons. When they grow up, he inquires, “My beloved children, which of you will set out to seek his mother? (768)”. While the two elder brothers immediately prepare to search for their mother, the younger one is struck by loyalty to his mother, and begs his father for him to be allowed to seek out his mother. The king finally relents, and Prince Ivan sets off, beginning the …show more content…

The old man reveals he is Prince Ivan’s uncle and his intention to help Ivan, again out of familial loyalty. The uncle gives Ivan a magic ball, claiming that it will lead Ivan when he rolls it. The magical ball leads Ivan to a campsite and allows him to rejoin his two older brothers, and they set off together in search of their mother. Eventually, the ball leads the three brothers to a cave beneath a mountain range “so steep and high that… their peaks leaned against heaven (769).” Prince Ivan volunteers to climb the mountain, and the other two brothers stay behind. When Ivan returns with their mother and three other queens, his brothers decide to betray Ivan and claim the glory. This is the sole instance of familial betrayal in the story, and the brothers are punished accordingly. When the treachery of the elder brothers is revealed towards the end of the story, the king “wanted to put his elder sons to death (786),” but Prince Ivan asks his father to pardon them, and requests that they are instead given a much lesser punishment. Ivan displays compassion for his brothers, demonstrating both his duty to his family (despite their perfidy), as well as displaying another Russian value: nobility and mercy towards

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