<두꺼비 신랑>설화 속 인정욕구와 변신의 대응양상

Abstract

As the toad appearing in folk tale <The Toad-Bridegroom> meets an old couple, he escapes from natural life in a pond and find himself, as a humane existence, to be related with them. The old couple, an other existence he met, becomes his parents, their third daughter marries with him, and people in Jaja's(a wealthy man) house become his wife's family members. And a status of the toad, a subjective being, is elevated as son, bridegroom and son-in-law. In other words, a development of his life derived from natural need leads him to achieve a potential self-fulfillment as a godlike person. Meanwhile, he undergo the metamorphosis from toad through human to godlike person: At first, he is transformed through symbolic death and rebirth by his partner(woman) and then approved as a godlike person through his mission complete, indicating that he is a competent son-in-law. This process proceeds actively through subjective approval of the toad, which consists of several steps. It shows some steps to maturity from aggressive animal's trait through humane one of exchanges depending on conditions to divine one of donation. In addition, <The Toad Bridegroom> may have sufficient mythological feature based on narrative context, in that its narrative plot in which he is segregated from a familiar space and then incorporated into a new group, meanwhile he suffer from distresses and adversities, and eventually his efforts are approved, is similar to a biography of general hero myth: segregating-overcoming-returning. The metamorphosis modes of the toad are examined by categorizing them into three layers: approval as son, bridegroom and son-in-law. In this process, as a narrative subject, the toad's response to a relationship is transformed from exclusive through reciprocal to altruistic style in the last. The metamorphosis is contrived through the approval need of subject desiring other existences' needs that make him develop self awareness, leading to the narrative conclusion: the elevation from toad through human to godlike person. Thus, the approval need derived from relationships with others and the response style of metamorphosis can be seemed to be coincided with an existence variation as a result of the toad's satisfying his desire.