한·영 발라드에 나타난 ‘여성의 죽음’에 대한 인식 비교 : <죽음의 신이 데리러 온 여자> 노래를 중심으로

Abstract

This paper compared the recognition of the death of women in Korean folk ballads and English folk ballads : focused on "A woman who the Death call for". I selected "A woman who the messenger from the world of the dead call for" in Korea, “Death and the lady” and “The farmer’s curst wife” in England. Three ballads have the common motif “Death call for a woman in a sudden”. "Aeunaegi" in Korea and “Death and the lady” in England are common in that a protagonist is a young woman who has young kids and that she conciliates the Death with bribe to extend her life. “Heoungaegi" in Korea and “The farmer’s curst wife” in England are common in that a protagonist returns from the world of the dead. However, the protagonist in "A woman who the messenger from the world of the dead call for" is a good woman. In the contrast with that, the protagonists in "Death and the lady" and “The farmer’s curst wife” in England are bad women. These ballads show the paradox that a good woman Heoungaegi fails to return from the world of the dead to this world, though a bad woman the farmer’s curst wife successes to return from the world of the dead to this world through the struggle with the Devil. Moreover, "A woman who the messenger from the world of the dead call for" and “The farmer’s curst wife” express the recognition between the resistance about the death and the acceptance of the destiny. These show that women have competed with their reality and destiny consistently.