From Rags to Riches Reconsidered: Cynical Musings About Good Fortunes and Happily Ever Afters in Russian Fairy Tales

Specific Russian fairy tales feature impoverished main characters who encounter fantastic and morally questionable individuals. Through persistent determination or outside help, these key figures are awarded extravagant wealth by the tales’ end. Has the character benefited from the acquisition of substantial riches for having persevered through difficult undertakings? When the unfortunate are able, through help instead of personal effort, to live happily, this project calls into question whether lessons learned and moral character development have occurred. Analysing Russian tales—Right and Wrong, Marco the Rich and Vasily the Luckless, The Wise Wife, and Death of a Miser—from the standpoint of an ancient cynic will show that room for moral improvement in these protagonists remains highly possible. The analysis will concentrate on how those who possess extravagant riches conduct themselves. Using criticisms presented by Diogenes of Sinope about wealth, social status, and their influence on particular individuals, I will scrutinize the rich and powerful for their scrupulous behaviours and mindsets. Exposure to such dispositions seems to test the main character’s moral strength, having one either adopt or avoid what they experience. When the roles between the protagonist and antagonist have switched by the end, is there any personal reflection after one has undergone a change in one’s social standing? A cynical look at corrupt individuals and the wealth they possess or acquire will address whether augmenting a Russian hero’s social standing actually taints one’s moral standing when all is said and done.