The pivotal eighth function and the pivotal fourth character: resolving two discrepancies in Vladimir

Abstract

In Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folktale, uncertainty has continually hovered over the pivotal role occupied by the eighth function in what the Russian theorist suggested was a single invariant wondertale structure. In this article, I suggest that this discrepancy can be resolved: there are in fact two major types of wondertale, with their separate structures pivoting on the choice of one or other of the two eighth function options. By analyzing the Preparation and Complication sections of Charles Perrault's Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper and Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's `The Robber Bridegroom', I suggest further that the notion of a pivotal eighth function requires the positing of the complementary notion of a pivotal fourth character. In conclusion, I briefly examine the introduction of four pivotal fourth characters in four canonical texts in order to pose the question: do such celebrated texts exhibit canonical ordering?