Proppian Analysis of Aladdin

Vladimir Propp was a Russian formalist scholar who studied Russian folk tales to classify their similar narrative elements.
In these Russian folk tales, Propp identified only eight main character types which he believed to be present in all stories, of which are;

1) The villain- who struggles against the hero
2) The donor- who prepares the hero or gives them a magical object

3) The (magical) helper- who helps the hero on their quest

4) The princess- the object of the quest the hero is on/ the reward

5) Her father- who rewards the hero

6) The dispatcher- who sets the hero on their way to completing the quest they are on

7) The hero- the person that undertakes the quest set to them

8) The false hero- who takes credit for the hero's actions and/ or tries to marry the princess (the false hero can sometimes also be seen as the villain)

Although Propp focused only on Russian folk tales, his character types can be applied to characters in modern day films, most easily to fairy stories. Below, I have applied Propp's theory to the story, Aladdin as an example.

SYNOPSIS OF ALADDIN

Jafar, Grand Vizier to the Sultan of Agrabah, is attempting to access the Cave of Wonders for a magical oil lamp containing a genie. He and his talking parrot, Iago, learn that only the metaphorical "Diamond in the Rough" can enter the cave.

Meanwhile, Jasmine, the Sultan's daughter is frustrated, living a suppresive lifestyle and escapes the palace and goes to the marketplace. There, she meets the street urchin, Aladdin and his pet monkey, Abu. However, Jafar has Aladdin arrested after finding out that he is the "Diamond in the Rough".

Jafar (disguised) releases Aladdin from prison and leads him to the cave of wonders, where he is instructed to touch nothing but the lamp when he enters the cave. Once in the cave, Aladdin meets a magic carpet which leads him to the lamp. Once there, Abu attempts to steal a ruby which causes the cave to collapse upon itself. Aladdin (holding the lamp) and Abu, with the help of the magic carpet survive the cave in though do not manage to escape and are thus trapped in the cave.

Trapped in the cave, Aladdin rubs the lamp, releasing a genie which grants him three wishes. Aladdin manages to free himself from the cave with the genie's help, though without using up any of his three wishes.

For his first wish Aladdin wishes to become a prince in order to marry Jasmine.

When Aladdin enters the Sultan's palace as "Prince Ali", he is rejected by Jasmine, who considers him idiotic. However, Aladdin later takes Jasmine out on a ride on his magic carpet, where she then realises that he was the street urchin she had encountered in the market.

After returning Jasmine back to the palace, Aladdin is captured by Jafar and is thrown into the ocean. Aladdin then asks Genie to save him with his second wish. Once back at the palace, Aladdin informs the Sultan of Jafar's plans to overthrow him. The Sultan, impressed by Aladdin's bravery names him as his successor to the throne.

Realising Aladdin's true identity, Jafar escapes from the Sultan's bodyguards. Iago, Jafar's parrot steals the lamp and takes it to Jafar, who uses his first wish to become the Sultan. With his second wish, he is turned into a powerful sorceror, and using those powers, sends Aladdin off to a remote, distant place.

Using the magic carpet, Aladdin returns to Agrabah. Whilst attempting to steal the lamp back from Jafar, the Vizier notices and attacks him, boasting that he is the most powerful being on earth. Aladdin replies that Jafar is in fact wrong, as the Genie is the one being more powerful than him. Hearing this, Jafar uses his last wish to become a genie, but forgets that genies are not free entities and is sucked into his new black lamp, dragging Iago with him. Genie flicks the lamp into the Cave of Wonders.

Aladdin uses his last wish to grant Genie's freedom, much to Genie's surprise and happiness. Finally, as Jasmine loves Aladdin, the Sultan changes the law so they can marry.

CHARACTER TYPES IN ALADDIN ACCORDING TO PROPP

1) The villain- Jafar

2) The donor- Jafar (takes Aladdin to the Cave of Wonders)

3) The (magical) helper- Genie

4) The princess- Jasmine

5) Her father- the Sultan

6) The dispatcher- the Genie (granting wishes) and Jafar (taking Aladdin to the Cave of Wonders)

7) The hero- Aladdin

8) The false hero- Jafar

As you can see the character types in Aladdin often repeat themselves, for instance, Jafar taking on several character roles (the villain, the donor, the dispatcher and the false hero). Thus, from this we can glean that though it may be relatively easy to apple Propp's theories to some modern day fairy stories, they are not as clear cut as we may have thought them to be. Today's stories are much more complex than those Propp analysed, so we may say that his theories are not very relevant in today's society. However, though those theories may seem outdated, an understanding of them helps us appreciate films and their narratives as a whole before looking at them in more depth.