<배반하고 간 사위들의 삼급제>를 통해 본 관계의 상호성과 문제 해결의 원리

Abstract

This study analyzes the folk tale, The Passing of the State Examination by Three Runaway Sons-in-law. Its type is considered to be a variant form, which is a mixture of Tale of King Sukjong type and Three Mistreated Daughters type. However, it is surely worth analyzing since it forms the meanings, different from those of the previous folk tales, while it composes a completed narrative beyond the simple mixture of the types. In The Passing of the State Examination by Three Runaway Sons-in-law, the marriage of all three sisters was broken off on the wedding night. After their break-up, the grooms passed the state examination, receiving help from King Sukjong. Then, they came back home, reunited with their wives and lived happily. This study regarded the process in which the brides and the grooms reached the break-up on the wedding night as the revelation of the problems of the brides and the grooms who were too immature to have a relationship after marriage. The grooms would secure the leadership in the relationship by coercing their own standards to their partners and refused them who were against the standards, rather than understanding the partner. The brides did not put the center of the relationship to other people's eyes and evaluation, not in between the two. In addition, when a problem occurs, the brides would face the problem and try to resolve that, while the grooms turn their faces away and would evade it. The grooms who broke off a marriage pass the state examination, which is a symbol of facing their own problems they have evaded and realizing the way of overcoming conflicts. In the process, King Sukjong helps them pass the state examination, which symbolizes social recognition. The Passing of the State Examination by Three Runaway Sons-in-law shows the process in which men and women, who entered a new dimension of relationship symbolized by marriage, overcome conflicts and grow up. In addition, in that it reveals the awareness that in the process, standing up against rather than evasion is the essential way of conflict resolution, it is a folk tale that has a new value beyond those before the variation.